3 Blackjack Mines Games Tips Tells to Look for to Help You Win
Usually, when gamblers think about tells, they’re thinking about playing poker. Good poker players often pick up on things their opponents do that can give them an edge. What most gamblers don’t know is that there are other tells you can use to your advantage in the casino.
One area where you should always look for tells is at the blackjack table. Smart blackjack players can get an edge by paying attention and learning how to read the dealer. Some dealers don’t give tells, but some can help you win if you know what to look for.
Here’s a list of three tells you should always look for when you play real money blackjack. I also explain what to watch for and how to use the information.
1 – Sloppy Dealing Technique
Did you know that some advantage blackjack players are able to make a profit by identifying and exploiting sloppy dealers? Most blackjack players don’t even realize the opportunity they’re missing when the table has a sloppy dealer.
When blackjack dealers don’t use the proper technique when they deal, they can show the value of their face down card to some players at the table. Your ability to see the value of the card depends somewhat on where you’re sitting, but if you’re not watching for it you’re not going to see it.
What’s the value of knowing the value of the dealer’s face down card? You can use this information to make more profitable playing decisions. If you know the dealer has a face card as his or her down card and an ace showing, you need to take the insurance bet.
If you know the dealer’s down card isn’t worth 10 points, you know you need to decline the offer of insurance.
Blackjack Tip:
The proper strategy play when you have a hard 16 against a dealer 10 is to hit. But if you know the dealer’s down card gives them a hard 16, your best option is to stand on a hard 16.
Knowing the value of the down card is helpful on almost every hand. Even if you only see the value 10% or 20% of the time, it can be enough to reverse the house edge and let you play with an advantage.
If you want to have the best chance to see the value of down cards, you want to sit either directly in front of the dealer or to the opposite side of the hand they deal with. If the dealer deals with their right hand, you want to sit at first base.
Shorter people have an advantage when it comes to seeing down card values because their eyes are closer to the felt. You want to get your eyes as close to the felt as possible without being obvious. You can slouch down in your seat and angle your body away from the table to help.
Casinos know that players sometimes try to see hole cards, so you need to be careful. The casinos understand how much it costs them in profits when players see face down cards, so if they think a dealer is giving information away, they’ll replace the dealer and they might stop you from playing.
Start watching every blackjack dealer you see for sloppy technique. The worst thing that can happen is it takes you a long time to find one. Once you see your first sloppy dealer, it gets easier to identify them in the future.
2 – Insurance Bets
Many casinos have changed their dealer instructions so that when the dealer has an ace showing, they offer insurance before they look to see if they have a natural blackjack. But some dealers still look before they offer insurance.
As a general rule, the insurance bet is a bad bet. With no additional information, you should always decline insurance. Only in some rare cases,
Insurance only pays 2 to 1, and the odds of the dealer having a blackjack are 9 to 5. This means that the bet would need to pay 2.25 to 1, or the odds would need to be 8 to 4 or 9 to 4.5 for it to be an even money wager.
Dealers who’re trained the right way offer insurance the same way each time. They take the same amount of time to let each player make a decision, and they don’t give away any information.
But a few dealers try to help the players. I don’t know if they try to help on purpose or subconsciously, but the reason doesn’t really matter. Any time you’re playing blackjack and the dealer looks at his or her hole card before offering insurance, pay close attention to how they offer it.
If a dealer knows they don’t have a blackjack, they might offer insurance and quickly move on to the next player. This may be a sign that you should not take it. On the other hand, if a dealer pauses longer, it might be a sign that you should take the insurance bet.
This tell isn’t one you’re going to see often. But blackjack is a game that offers such a low house edge that you need to find any edge you can. If a dealer helps you in some way that makes one losing decision turn into a winning one, it can go a long way toward overcoming the casino house edge.
3 – Moving Lips
One of the things that you have to be careful of when you’re learning to count cards is moving your lips while you count. It’s natural to count with your mouth while you’re learning, but it’s also a dead giveaway that you’re counting.
Some dealers can count cards, and when the dealer knows the count, they can identify card counters by the way they raise their bets in high count situations and lower them in low count situations. If you’re counting cards, you need to be aware of it as much as possible to keep from getting caught.
One thing to watch for is the dealer counting cards, too. If the dealer is moving his or her lips while silently counting, you should find somewhere else to play as a card counter.
It’s important to understand that the dealer usually isn’t the one who identifies possible card counters. With advanced surveillance techniques, many casinos have people watching games from the security room to identify possible card counters. Many pit bosses are also trained to identify card counters.
Your best defense against being caught as a card counter is to change where you play often. Don’t give any casino enough time to catch you and your counting career will last longer. But you also need to be constantly looking for danger, and this includes watching the dealer to see if they’re counting cards along with you.
Just a friendly reminder that this does not only apply to blackjack. Casino security has a close eye on all casino games. Yes, even slot machine games. So just remember to be on your best behavior at all times.
Conclusion
Tells aren’t just for the poker table. You can look for tells in many gambling games.
The most valuable thing you can learn from blackjack dealer tells is when you find a sloppy dealer. But you can also protect yourself when you’re counting by watching for counting dealers and occasionally finding a dealer who’s trying to help you.
The house edge is so small in blackjack that every little edge you can find goes a long way to helping you win. The good news is that if you can learn how to spot dealer tells at the blackjack table, you can use the same skills at other table games in the casino.
Any game with face down cards, like Let It Ride and Mississippi Stud Poker, can give you an overall edge if you see the value of any cards before they’re turned over. The added bonus is these games aren’t watched as closely as blackjack tables, so you can get away with it longer.
The final piece of advice I have to offer is when you find a sloppy dealer, don’t tell anyone. If more gamblers start taking advantage of a dealer, the casino is going to figure out something is wrong and replace the dealer or change the way they deal.