Blackjack at home game? Need help (1 Viewer)

[pipdenny]

I’m thinking of mixing in some blackjack into my home games but I have 0 idea how to go about this.
For those who play blackjack at home, I have many questions. I did some searching and gathered a few thoughts, but I want to make sure I have a solid plan.

- I assume this must be done in a tournament style? How does that work? Chip leader at the end of some set round wins? Best of 5? Are people eliminated at some point?
- How many decks do you have in a shoe?
- What would be a good chipset breakdown (I’d like to do $25 or $100 minimum chip, just to make it feel somewhat big)
- How do you establish the “house” rules? Should blackjack pay 3:2, should dealer hit on soft 16, insurance.. etc

I’d appreciate any input! Thank you!

 

[DirtyTIVA]

I run the following at an annual charity event. 6 players per round. 6 deck shoe. It could easily be adapted to $20/person. Winner gets $100. Second place gets their money back. Dealer button moves every hand and that player gets last action. I give all of the rules that favor the player including blackjack pays 2:1 to encourage betting rather than just trying to lose the least. What I’ve found is it almost always comes down to the last hand and everyone goes all in. Unless there’s a clear big stack or two. Then there’s some strategy involved.

 

[DirtyTIVA]

I also encourage players to count, try to cheat. If they can get away with it, it stands. If they’re caught, no penalty

Definitely use a 25/100 base. It’ll also give you a chance to put some high denoms into play. If you do it right it can feel quite authentic for your players.

There are some fun authentic felts out there too

 

[allforcharity]

I do tournament style, 6 players, 25 minutes or until the shoe runs out.
Shoe has 6 decks.
Blackjack pays 3:2 (none of this 6:5 bullshit)
I use all higher denoms so people feel like high rollers, min $1000 per bet, start stack $20000.
Allow double downs, allow splits, allow insurance. I don't allow surrender.
Dealer hits on any 16, stays on any 17.

I also use a dealer button so info is spread evenly. Players all cards up, they're not allowed to touch. Dealer one card up.

 

[pipdenny]

I run the following at an annual charity event. 6 players per round. 6 deck shoe. It could easily be adapted to $20/person. Winner gets $100. Second place gets their money back. Dealer button moves every hand and that player gets last action. I give all of the rules that favor the player including blackjack pays 2:1 to encourage betting rather than just trying to lose the least. What I’ve found is it almost always comes down to the last hand and everyone goes all in. Unless there’s a clear big stack or two. Then there’s some strategy involved.

About the dealer button.. do you mean the dealer/house hand changes? Like the players are playing against the hand on the button?

Has anyone ever had it such that everyone is winning against the dealer and the house runs out of chips? Trying to estimate what a good chip breakdown would be.

 

[DirtyTIVA]

About the dealer button.. do you mean the dealer/house hand changes? Like the players are playing against the hand on the button?

Has anyone ever had it such that everyone is winning against the dealer and the house runs out of chips? Trying to estimate what a good chip breakdown would be.

Nah. It’s a physical dealer button like in poker. All players play against the house’s hand. Left of the dealer button is always first action. Player with the button acts last. This prevents the player sitting at the far left of the table from always having advanced information every hand before making an action.

 

[exodus]

This is how we play blackjack at my home game. We start with a winner takes all poker tournament. Once that completes, whoever is the winner is now the house. The most the house can lose is all their poker winnings + their initial buy in. We usually use double deck and standard casino blackjack rules. One thing to note is there has to be a max bet or people will martingale until they win their money back. Also, if the house cant pay the rest of the bets due to too many people betting, the house will payout the biggest bet first. It sucks, but we usually keep a good eye on how much the house has left in their tray. Hopefully this helps.

 

[Darson]

We do a simple grudge match style where I’m the house and everyone starts with the same amount of chips and the one with the most at the end (time limited or first to bust) wins the prize. Some of my friends don’t like to play with money so to keep it simple there is non cost to play and I give a bottle or wine to the winner. But easy to change to cash if desired.

We play blackjack pays 3/2 and dealer draws to 16.

 

[pipdenny]

Nah. It’s a physical dealer button like in poker. All players play against the house’s hand. Left of the dealer button is always first action. Player with the button acts last. This prevents the player sitting at the far left of the table from always having advanced information every hand before making an action.

and the house must act after the button player right? Hard to imagine the house not acting last. Sorry, just trying to visualize in my head.

 

[allforcharity]

and the house must act after the button player right? Hard to imagine the house not acting last. Sorry, just trying to visualize in my head.

House always acts last. Button is to determine order of players only.

Tournaments are always interesting. Usually in BJ the players are working collaboratively to bust the house. But in the tournament they are also trying to beat all the other players. Puts a different dynamic on the game.

I forgot to mention: Anybody who busts out can immediately rebuy for a full starting stack, unlimited times, as long as there is still time left on the clock and cards in the shoe.

 

[greenchip]

@casinochipper22

 

[Dugthefish]

We used to play a variant my buddy called Canadian Blackjack. Deal rotates, dealer posts $X in the pot, and plays a hand vs each player, one at a time. Players could wager up to the pot, if the player wins, he takes that from the pot. If he loses, he pays into the pot. After 2 full rotations, dealer could either deal an additional round, or claim the pot, and the next player became dealer.

 

[Ragsy]

1) TOURNAMENT
4-6 players

I used to do a $2000 starting stack but now I find myself holding tournaments on Allforcharity's suggestion to me a while back in a similar thread....and I employ the same rules (dealer stands on 17) as above

I do a $10,000 Starting Stack (10x$100 10x$500 4x$1,000) min $200 Max $2000

I do a 2 X 6 deck shoe game (sometimes 1 shoe games)

Dealer button is rotated and used for who places the first (blind ) bet

Buy in is usually $2 or $5 and goes into a pot
The winner gets the pot (sometimes the group wants 1st and 2nd prizes and we'll agree a suitable split)

Sometimes there's no buyin at all and I'll give out small prizes to the winners

I rarely play....I deal and act as the house because I have the chips, the tray, shoe etc

-----

2) MICRO CASH Game (self dealt)
4-6 players

Each player has 5 turns (no more than 2 consequetive rounds) at being the dealer/bank (2-2-1)...meaning they have to pay out using their own stack.
BJ pays 2:1
Insurance pays 2:1
Splits and Doubles allowed

For a $5 buyin game
Min bet 5c
Max bet 50c
Starting Stack (18×25c 10x5c)

For a $10 buyin game
Min bet 25c
Max bet $1
Starting Stack (20×25c 5x$1)

No rebuy if you bust...you sit it out until the next game

The buyin $ goes into a pot (I replace a note or two or a couple of $1s from the pot with a mix of 5c, 10c, 20c to make it easier to split up the pot at the end)

The winner is the one with the most in their stack once everyone has dealt for 5 rounds.
Each person tallies up their stack and gets that total from the pot.... The winner gets a small plastic medallion and a trincket/lucky dip (eg key chain)

There's usually about 4-6 players and we go around about 5 times before we get bored of it.

Before we move on to SIC BO...but that'll be another thread

 

[doublebooyah85]

Following…

 

[timinater]

We used to play a variant my buddy called Canadian Blackjack. Deal rotates, dealer posts $X in the pot, and plays a hand vs each player, one at a time. Players could wager up to the pot, if the player wins, he takes that from the pot. If he loses, he pays into the pot. After 2 full rotations, dealer could either deal an additional round, or claim the pot, and the next player became dealer.

That is also called Stook. It is an absolutely fantastic game, it rewards aggression and as the dealer you need to be willing to pony up when it's your turn or your pot won't last.

My uncle taught me that game ages ago. He learned at work camps in northern Canada. Geologist, engineers, miners, surveyors etc. type camp. Said it was quite lucrative for him since most of them were drunk and/or scared money.

 

[pipdenny]

That is also called Stook. It is an absolutely fantastic game, it rewards aggression and as the dealer you need to be willing to pony up when it's your turn or your pot won't last.

My uncle taught me that game ages ago. He learned at work camps in northern Canada. Geologist, engineers, miners, surveyors etc. type camp. Said it was quite lucrative for him since most of them were drunk and/or scared money.

We used to play a variant my buddy called Canadian Blackjack. Deal rotates, dealer posts $X in the pot, and plays a hand vs each player, one at a time. Players could wager up to the pot, if the player wins, he takes that from the pot. If he loses, he pays into the pot. After 2 full rotations, dealer could either deal an additional round, or claim the pot, and the next player became dealer.

If a player takes the whole pot before the 2 rotations, does the dealer button move and on to the next person? Let’s say if the very first or second person wins and claims the whole pot..

 

[timinater]

If a player takes the whole pot before the 2 rotations, does the dealer button move and on to the next person? Let’s say if the very first or second person wins and claims the whole pot..

Yep, deal would pass.