How Many Decks Are Used In Casino Blackjack
To know how many decks of cards do casinos use for blackjack also depends on the number of decks that the players will use different games, if most players are playing 8 deck blackjack games, then more cards will be used than compared to users who use single decks. Blackjack cards may also be damaged by spilt drinks on the tables. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how many a deck of 52 cards in Blackjack is used. Let us discuss this in detail. Number of Decks Required to Play the Game. Generally, if you want to involve yourself in a decent activity, you can start with only 21 cards. In most of the casinos, there are usually 6 to 8 decks used. All the 52 cards are included, and joker cards are excluded.
- This is not possible in online casinos as the decks are automatically reshuffled after each hand in an online blackjack game, so it is impossible to count cards. In live blackjack games, however, the cards are not shuffled after each hand, but the dealers are given instructions to shuffle the cards (deck) at close to 50% deck penetration to.
- The standard 52-card pack is used, but in most casinos several decks of cards are shuffled together. The six-deck game (312 cards) is the most popular. In addition, the dealer uses a blank plastic card, which is never dealt, but is placed toward the bottom of the pack to indicate when it will be time for the cards to be reshuffled.
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How many decks are used in blackjack at a casino Mobile and Applications Casinos usually use 6 or 8 decks for most games, and sometimes in high stakes games use only 2 decks. Due to differences in the number of decks, the odds and house advantage varies.
Introduction
In playing blackjack online one problem I often face is not knowing how many decks are being used. This is a particular problem with Real Time Gaming casinos. The help files often do not indicate this rule, as well as other rules, and customer support are notorious for giving incorrect information on their own rules. So I devised a test to help determine the number of decks. This test is based on the player's first two cards and the dealer's first two.
The following table shows the probability for various configurations of the initial four cards in blackjack. Note the probabilites for a suited pair. Of all the hands I feel this is the best to test for, given both it's frequency and correlation to number of decks.
| 4-Card Hand | 1 deck | 2 decks | 4 decks | 6 decks | 8 decks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 singletons | 0.676110 | 0.63692 | 0.618504 | 0.612530 | 0.609573 |
| Non-suited pair | 0.304250 | 0.286614 | 0.278327 | 0.275638 | 0.274308 |
| Suited pair | 0.047769 | 0.069582 | 0.076566 | 0.080006 | |
| Two non-suited pairs | 0.010372 | 0.009771 | 0.009488 | 0.009397 | 0.009351 |
| Two suited pairs | 0.000271 | 0.000593 | 0.000725 | 0.000796 | |
| Two pair - 1 suited | 0.003257 | 0.004744 | 0.00522 | 0.005455 | |
| 3 of a kind - 3 suits | 0.009220 | 0.008685 | 0.008434 | 0.008353 | 0.008312 |
| 3 of a kind - 2 suits | 0.006514 | 0.009488 | 0.010441 | 0.010910 | |
| 3 of a kind - 1 suit | 0.000527 | 0.000773 | 0.000909 | ||
| 4 of a kind - 4 suits | 0.000048 | 0.000045 | 0.000044 | 0.000044 | 0.000043 |
| 4 of a kind - 2 suits (3&1) | 0.000033 | 0.000048 | 0.000057 | ||
| 4 of a kind - 2 suits (2&2) | 0.000017 | 0.000037 | 0.000045 | 0.000050 | |
| 4 of a kind - 3 suits | 0.000136 | 0.000198 | 0.000218 | 0.000227 | |
| 4 of a kind - 1 suit | 0.000001 | 0.000002 | 0.000003 | ||
| Total | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
How Many Decks Do Casinos Use For Blackjack
To determine the number of decks in an online blackjack game keep a tally of both the total number of hands played and the number of suited pairs. Only count a hands as a suited pair if the other two are singletons. For example one suited pair and one non-suited pair does not count. In a single deck game the ratio of suited pairs to total hands will obviously be zero. In double deck this ratio will be about 4.8%. In a 4-deck game the ratio increases to 7.0%. After that the differences are too subtle are to tell without a gigantic sample.
Of course if you ever notice three of the same card on the screen at once that rules out a double deck game immediately. Despite my lack of faith in customer support knowing their own rules I would suggest at least asking. If they give you an incorrect answer, and you can prove it, you may get some free money in your account as a way of thanks. This has happened to me several times.
How Many Decks Are Used In Casino Blackjack Casino
Unfortunately it takes a fairly large sample size to have confidence in the number of decks between 2 and 4. After 250 hands the probability that the sample mean in a 2-deck game will be greater than 6.96% (the 4-deck theoretical mean) is 5.29%. Likewise the probability that the sample mean in a 4-deck game will be less than 4.78% (the 2-deck theoretical mean) is 8.76%. Increasing the sample size to 500 these numbers become 1.11% and 2.76%. At 1000 the numbers are 0.06% and 0.34%.