Are the Cards at the Blackjack Table Marked?

Are the cards at the blackjack table marked? I thought the dealer knew I busted before I gave up my cards. Other times after a hit, I’ve noticed the dealer approving the hit. First two cards dealt down.

[Editor's Note: Regular readers of Question of the Day won't be surprised that we handed this question off to Arnold Snyder, an original member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame, our go-to responder to all things blackjack, and a novelist par excellence, as seen in the QoD from last Wednesday.]

I'm assuming you’re asking about cards used in legal casinos in the U.S. and not in private games.

Thus, my answer is no, the cards aren't marked. There are so many ways a crooked casino could cheat players at blackjack without resorting to gaffed equipment that even if a casino had no legal, ethical, or moral qualms about cheating, they would likely shy away from using fraudulent gaming equipment that, if busted by state game protection authorities, could put a casino out of business.

That said, I can imagine a really smooth crooked dealer switching in a marked deck for the purpose of one quick playing session where he might pass a ton of money to a confederate. But if he was that good at sleight of hand, he’d likely prefer to use standard house cards with other techniques, such as peeking, dealing seconds, false shuffling, overpaying bets, stacking the deck, etc. In fact, back when the casinos were Mob-run, they used good mechanics who could cheat players without resorting to crooked equipment. The last thing crooks leave at the scene of a crime is hard evidence.

My guess is that you exhibit subtle physical tells that indicate your immediate reaction to good or bad down and/or hit cards. If a dealer is watching your face for a reaction at the moment you see your down cards or he deals your hit card, he might know immediately if you liked them or not.

Back when dealers physically peeked under their ten upcards., professional blackjack players used to read dealers’ tells. In fact, this was one of the reasons casinos started using autopeek devices on their blackjack tables.

Marked cards might be used to great advantage in private blackjack games, where no outside authority would ever be inspecting the equipment, but you’re so unlikely to run into them in legal U.S. casinos that, I can assure you, it's one less thing to worry about.

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[email protected] Jun-19-2022

crooked blackjack?

I occasionally play blackjack on casino boats that travel three miles offshore before gambling begins. I have noticed over the years that my results are substantially worse on these boats than in (regulated) land based casinos even though my style of play does not vary (basic strategy and press up on a 212 basis). I acknowledge that this may be coincidence but I once asked a craps dealer with whom I had become friendly if the boat management removes ten value cards from the six or eight deck shoes they use or if they utilize some other unfair method to part me from my money, although marked cards would not be an advantage as players' cards are dealt face up. He declined to give a firm answer. It may be wise to exercise caution when playing blackjack on the high seas.

Randall Ward Jun-19-2022

cheating

casinos don't need to cheat, and really most dealers couldn't handle it if they tried.

Hoppy Jun-19-2022

Re: wer4unc

Picture this: Blackbeard dealing Blackjack on the high seas.

JimBeam Jun-19-2022

Dealer Tells

When I was doing more AP than I do now, my favorite dealer was this Russian broad at the Orleans. She would blink when she had an Ace under her 10 and not blink when she didn't. God I loved that woman!

Breakeven Jun-19-2022

Why cheat?

When the house has a 0.5%+ advantage on every bet made on BJ they don't need to cheat.  Their objective is to have you play as many hands as fast as possible and keep you entertained.  In the long run they will get your bankroll.

gaattc2001 Jun-19-2022

Years ago, a common conception was....

that the casino itself probably would not cheat the players, for all the reasons given in this thread. OTOH, casinos keep running records on the winnings of each pit, each shift, each table, and each dealer. If the numbers get too low, they may consider the possibility of fraud. So if a crooked dealer were dumping to a player/accomplice, it would make sense to cheat other players to keep the casino's bottom line up and avoid suspicion.
Of course with the rise of six-to-five Blackjack, this question has become largely irrelevant. As long as people are willing to play it, six-to-five will get all the money in sight eventually, and there's no reason to cheat.

rokgpsman Jun-19-2022

Cheating bj dealers

Now and then a dealer is suspected or proven to be cheating for a player to get more tips. Or they might be suspected of being partners with the player. The casinos have a lot of lattitude to simply fire the dealer, there's plenty more dealers wanting a job. Now that only three or so corporations own a majority of the Vegas casinos if a dealer gets fired everyone in the business knows it and he'll have a hard time getting hired again, the casinos share info like that. So crooked dealers sometimes get a job on cruise ships and continue their crooked ways. The cruise ship industry is beyond US territorial waters and can operate its casino pretty much however it wants to. So have fun in the cruise ship casino, but don't trust the slot machines or table games to be honestly run. There are companies overseas that provide replacement chips for the slot machines, and that's not done for your benefit.

Fumb Duck Jun-19-2022

Confirmed Cheating

Gaatte2001:

Years ago, I met a formerly cheating dealer who told me precisely what you have outlined. He took me around to several strip and downtown casinos and pointed out the moves a dealer had to make to know the next card, and then decide weather to use it as a hit or double down card or deal seconds, if necessary. He said this applied to pitch and shoe games. 

One of he tells he pointed out was that the dealer had to slow down slightly to peek This applied to even the most skilled cheaters.

He then went to the gaming commission and took an agent around town to see for himself. The agent said that he could only document a specific dealer was cheating at that specific time and could not confirm cheating generally.

One of the cheating dealers was a little old grandma at a major casino that is no longer in existence.

Gregory Jun-19-2022

For the answer to tomorrow's question.....

Read here...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_Liquors

Roy Furukawa Jun-19-2022

Penalty Deterrence

The penalty is too steep for US casinos to cheat, so I have to agree player tells are the likely culprit. When you do a job that is really repetitive like dealing BJ, I am pretty sure most dealers just get to know good and bad hand tells before the players even turn their cards.

Bob Nelson Jun-20-2022

JimBeam

That makes absolutely no sense.  If she sees an ace under her 10 she is going to flip it over and it is too late for you to do anything about it!  Insurance bets are closed before the dealer peeks.

Bob Nelson Jun-20-2022

JimBeam

Actually you wouldn’t even have the option for insurance.  Not an ace up and no action you can take.

Doozey Jun-22-2022

Blackbeard

Blackbeard dealing Blackjack on the Black Sea

Question of the Day - 19 June 2022

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