Atlassino Academy · First visit · Lesson 5 of 8
Joining a table: the unwritten rules
What to look at before you sit down at a casino table, when your money goes on the cloth, and which of the unwritten rules are actually written down.
Nobody has ever shown you how to sit down at a casino table. Almost nobody is ever shown. Everybody at that table who looks as though they were born knowing how walked up to a first table once, knowing none of it. What the sign above the table means is the next lesson, not this one.
You walk up to a blackjack table. Cards are on the cloth, and the one empty chair has a small marker on its betting circle. What do you do?
The short answer
Look at the table before you sit down at it: is a round running, and is that spot really empty, or is something small standing on its circle? You may sit down at any moment, and your first bet waits for the gap between two rounds. Money is never handed to the dealer: the note goes down just outside your own betting circle, on the felt (the cloth of the table, where the bets and the cards go). From the first card the dealer deals, your hands stay off the cards and off your own chips until that hand has been paid out.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
People think the hard part of a first table is the game. It is not — the dealer tells you what your total is. The hard part is the thirty seconds before you sit, the part nobody explains and everybody notices.
And almost none of it is unwritten. It sits in rulebooks and on the beginner pages the provinces put up for people exactly like you.
Three moments, worked through
One: the round is already running
You like this table. Cards are out and one spot is empty. What do you do?
- The table
- 7 betting spots, numbered from the dealer’s left
- Your seat
- you are still standing
- Taken
- spots 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7
- Open
- spot 4
- The round
- cards are out, the round is running
- Cards come from
- a shoe beside the dealer
Spot 4 is the open one, and every other spot has two cards lying in front of it: the round started without you. Nothing here stops you pulling that chair out and sitting down in it. The only thing that has to wait is your money.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Sit down — that is fine at any moment. It is the money that waits:
In our words: A bet counts only if it sits in the betting spot before the first card is dealt.
So you sit down, and then you sit through one round (one full go of the game: bets down, cards or dice, then settling). Your money goes on the cloth in the gap after the dealer has settled that round, and the gap comes round quickly. Spend the round you are sitting through watching the dealer (the person who runs the game at the table). A round watched with nothing of yours on the cloth is the cheapest look you will ever get at a table in motion.
Two: the money
The round ends. You have a twenty in your hand and you want chips. Where does the note go?
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Not into my hand. Nothing here goes from hand to hand — not money, not chips, not a card. Every exchange happens where the camera can see it:
Place your money on the table.
Never hand it to the dealer.
Now finish the sentence for me. On the cloth where, exactly?
You: in front of my seat, but not in the betting circle — the circle is for the bet.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
That circle you have just named is your betting spot (the marked place on the cloth where your bet goes). The note goes down on the cloth just outside that circle.
Place your cash on the table just outside of your betting spot.
I pick the note up, count it where the camera can see me counting it, and slide the chips back to you across the cloth the same way. How much money to change, and which chips to ask for, is the chips-and-cash lesson and not this one.
- The table
- 7 betting spots, numbered from the dealer’s left
- Your seat
- 4
- Taken
- spots 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7
- Open
- none
- The round
- between rounds, nothing dealt yet
- Cards come from
- a shoe beside the dealer
- On the felt
- your money, just outside your betting spot
The same table in the gap after that round: spot 4 is yours, the cards have gone, and your note is the dashed rectangle just outside your betting circle.
Three: the crooked card
You are in. The cards come out face up, and one of yours is at an angle and hard to read. Your turn.
You: leave it alone and ask the dealer what it is.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Exactly. Every rulebook at these tables puts the same line in writing, and Ontario adds why nobody needs to reach for a card in the first place:
In our words: Handling the cards is the dealer’s job alone.
There's no reason to handle the cards you’re dealt, so be sure not to touch them.
The cards lie face up because nobody has to pick a card up: I say every total out loud as I go along. If one of your cards is hard to read, say so, and I will read it out for you.
- The table
- 7 betting spots, numbered from the dealer’s left
- Your seat
- 4
- Taken
- spots 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7
- Open
- none
- The round
- the cards are being dealt
- Cards come from
- a shoe beside the dealer
Your seat again, and the one thing that changed is the cards: two in front of you, two in front of the dealer, one of the dealer’s face down. From this moment until the dealer has paid the round out, your hands touch neither those cards nor the chips in your circle — and the dashed rectangle of your note has gone, because the note came back to you as chips.
The first minute, in order
- Look before you sit down. Is a round running? Is that spot really empty, or is a marker standing on its circle? Reading the smallest bet the table takes costs nothing while you are still on your feet, and that figure is printed on the table sign (the small sign at the table giving the minimum and maximum bet, the payout and the rules of that table).
- Sit down whenever you like; the money waits for the gap between rounds. Chips count as a bet only inside the betting spot, and only before the dealer starts to deal.
- The note goes on the felt, just outside your betting spot. The note never goes into the dealer’s hand, and neither do your chips.
- Once the deal begins, your hands come off the table. Off the cards and off your own chips, until the dealer has paid the round out and taken the losing bets in.
- The phone goes away, and questions go to the dealer. If the player next to you asks what you would do, answering is fine, and the decision is still theirs to make.
- Leave at the end of a hand. Pick your chips up and go; nobody at the table is owed an explanation.
The spot with a marker on it
A spot that looks empty is not always an empty spot. A small marker standing on the circle means the player who was sitting there has stepped away for a few minutes and is coming back, which is why Loto-Québec tells a first-time player to pick a spot with nothing at all on it. That marker has a name of its own: it is a reserved marker (the small marker a dealer puts on a spot whose player has stepped away for a moment).
- The table
- 7 betting spots, numbered from the dealer’s left
- Your seat
- you are still standing
- Taken
- spots 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7
- Reserved marker on
- spot 3
- Open
- spot 4
- The round
- cards are out, the round is running
- Cards come from
- a shoe beside the dealer
One small square on the cloth is the whole difference between spot 3 and spot 4. Spot 3 has a marker standing on it and belongs to a player who is coming back to it. Spot 4 has nothing on it at all, and spot 4 is the one to take.
More than one spot at once
You may play two spots at the same table, or more than two, and what sets the limit is not the same thing in the two provinces whose documents say anything about it:
| Where you are sitting | What the document says | What that means at the table |
|---|---|---|
| Québec | Several spots at once are allowed, and one spot must be given up for a new player if no other spot is free. | Keep your second spot until somebody walks up with nowhere else to sit, and then give that second spot up. |
| British Columbia | More than one position may be permitted, and the limit on how many is the casino’s own. | How many spots you may play is the building’s decision, so ask the dealer before you put chips into a second circle. |
Arriving in the middle of a shoe
In Québec the game rules add one catch at a table dealt from a shoe (the box the dealer deals from, holding several decks shuffled together): a player who did not play in the first deal out of that shoe can be stopped from betting until the cards are shuffled again, or held until then to one spot at the table minimum (the smallest bet the table takes, for each bet on your spot).
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
I have had this argument more times than I can count, and it was never about the player. A table people join and leave mid-shoe is harder to watch. Nobody is judging your face.
How full the table is changes what it costs
An empty table looks like a quiet table, and it is the opposite of one. With six other players sitting at it, the dealer has six other hands to deal and pay before your turn comes round to you again; alone with the dealer, there is nothing at all between the end of one hand and the start of the next.
| The table | Rounds an hour | One round every |
|---|---|---|
| Blackjack, seven players | 52 | 69 seconds |
| Blackjack, just you and the dealer | 209 | 17 seconds |
| Roulette, six players | 35 spins | 103 seconds |
The game is the same game in all three rows and the bet is the same bet; what changes from row to row is how many people are sitting at the table. The number of rounds an hour changes with it, and the gap between one round and the next changes with it too.
At the same bet, a blackjack table where you are the only player takes about 4.0 times as many bets from you in an hour as a table with seven players does. That is not a reason to go looking for a crowd, and it is not a reason to avoid a table with nobody at it. It is a reason to know which of the two you have sat down at, and Price of an hour works an hour out with your own bet in it.
Hands off: the cards, and your bet
What on the table is yours to touch
At a shoe table the cards in front of you are never yours to handle, and your own chips stop being yours the moment the deal starts. Neither rule says why it is there, and the reason we would give is the camera above the table: a camera can settle an argument about cards and chips that nobody has moved, and it cannot settle one about cards and chips that hands have been on.
- The cards — neverThe B.C. rules of play and Casino de Montréal each put it in a single line — only the dealer may touch the cards — and Ontario’s beginner page asks a player not to touch the cards dealt to them.
- Your own chips — in the gap between two roundsIn that gap the chips in front of you are yours: put them into the circle, move them, take them back out again. The gap ends with the first card the dealer deals.
- Hand to hand — never, in either directionMoney and chips are put down on the cloth and picked up off the cloth. Nothing at a table goes from one person’s hand into another’s.
At a hand-dealt table the rule is a different one
| The table | Where your two cards lie | Whose hands may touch them |
|---|---|---|
| A shoe table: six decks, dealt out of a box | Face up on the cloth in front of you, where you and the camera can both read them. | The dealer’s only: at a shoe table no player’s hands go near the cards. |
| A hand-dealt table: one or two decks, dealt from the hand | In your hand, because at that table you do pick them up. | Yours — a different table with a different rule on it, and the blackjack track is where that rule lives. |
What changes between a shoe table and a hand-dealt table is who may pick a card up, and it changes because the cards are lying somewhere else. On a first visit, sit at a shoe table, where your cards stay face up on the cloth, and ask the dealer before you reach for anything at all.
The life of one bet, from the gap to the gap
A bet at a blackjack table passes through four stages, and your hands are welcome in only one of the four: the gap between two rounds, which is where a bet both starts and ends.
- Between roundsHands on. The chips are yours: this is when a bet goes down, and the only time it can be changed or taken back up again.
- The first cardHands off. The deal has started, and the bet sitting in your circle can no longer be made, changed or withdrawn.
- “No more bets”Hands off. Nobody at the table touches a chip from that call until the hand has been played out, and the call itself is "no more bets" (the dealer’s call that closes betting for the round; in Quebec, "Rien ne va plus").
- SettlingHands off. The dealer pays the bets that are due and takes in the ones that are not, and your own bet stays untouched on the cloth while that happens.
- Between rounds againHands on. Whatever is in front of you now is yours to pick up, and picking it up and walking away with it is one of the things you may do.
Telling the dealer what you want
At a blackjack table you answer the dealer with your hand and not with your voice: the camera above the table sees a gesture and cannot hear a mumble. In British Columbia the rules of play put two of those gestures in writing, and those two are the ones a first visit needs.
| What your hand does | What the dealer takes it to mean |
|---|---|
| A tap on the table | Another card, please. |
| The gesture the rulebook calls waving off | No more cards for me; I am standing on what I have. |
Those two gestures answer the question a dealer puts to you on a plain hand: another card, or no more cards. At Fallsview the published advice is to ask rather than guess; its neighbour Casino Niagara does not mention signals anywhere on its own pages. The whole set of signals, the ones for splitting and doubling included, belongs to the blackjack track.
Asking, and being asked
Ask the dealer. Helping you understand how the game is played is part of the job, and Loto-Québec says so in as many words; Ontario’s beginner page adds the place where a dealer’s help stops.
| The question | Who answers it, and how far the answer goes |
|---|---|
| How this game works, and what just happened | The dealer, and answering that is part of the dealer’s job rather than a favour to you. |
| What the chart would do with the hand in front of you | The dealer is allowed to answer a question about basic strategy, and a dealer is allowed to answer nothing beyond it. |
| What you would do with somebody else’s hand | You, if you feel like answering — and then the player whose money it is plays the hand whichever way they want. |
Your neighbour’s decision changes nothing about the cards in front of you, however certain the rest of the table is that it does, and the blackjack track has a lesson on exactly why that is so.
One more thing comes off the table and stays off it: everything you walked in with. Wallets, handbags and the rest of it belong on your lap or on the chair beside you, and not on the cloth.
Phones and photographs
The phone in your pocket is the one part of the first minute where the building does the writing and the province mostly does not. Casino de Montréal writes its own rule and the two casinos at Niagara Falls write theirs, and on phones the two rules arrive at the same answer in different words. On cameras they part company.
| What you have on you | Casino de Montréal | Fallsview and Casino Niagara |
|---|---|---|
| Your phone | No electronic device at a gaming table, smart glasses included, and the table is left behind to use one. | The same answer in two lines: not at table games, and pause your play and step away from the table. |
| Your camera | Narrower, and about people rather than places: no photograph of another person without that person’s consent. | Wider: no photography on the gaming floor at all. |
Neither Casino de Montréal nor the two Niagara casinos speaks for the casino you are walking into this evening. What that building publishes about phones and cameras sits on its own profile in our atlas.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
The phone catches nice people out: they are not being rude, they are being polite to whoever is calling. Step away. Ten seconds, and it costs you a hand you were not going to concentrate on.
A tip is a bet
Of the province rulebooks behind this lesson, only the ones published in British Columbia say anything at all about tipping a dealer, and what they describe there is not a gratuity:
In our words: You can tip by putting out a separate bet that is played on the dealer’s behalf.
In our words: A bet played for the dealer sits apart from your own bet.
In our words: A bet played for the dealer is paid on its own, after the player’s bet is paid.
So the thing you were about to hand over has a name of its own, and the name is a dealer bet (a tip put down as a bet played for the dealer, which is settled like any other bet). Tip or don’t — it is up to you, and the word the B.C. blackjack rules of play use about it is “may”, not “must”.
A chip played for the dealer can lose like any other chip, so it belongs inside the amount you decided on before you left the house, and Game plan keeps a line for it.
- The table
- 7 betting spots, numbered from the dealer’s left
- Your seat
- 4
- Taken
- spots 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7
- Open
- none
- The round
- bets are down, nothing dealt yet
- Cards come from
- a shoe beside the dealer
- Beside your bet
- one chip you meant for the dealer
The small filled circle beside your betting circle is the chip played for the dealer: clear of your own bet rather than stacked over it, and settled on its own.
Where the dealer’s chip goes depends on which game you are sitting at, and the same province answers the question twice, differently:
| The game | Where the dealer’s chip goes |
|---|---|
| Blackjack | Beside your own bet, in a place of its own, and settled on its own. |
| Roulette, on a number inside the layout | Stacked over your own chip instead of beside it — the other way round from blackjack. |
Two games, one province, two opposite answers in two of its rulebooks. That is the whole reason to ask the dealer where the chip goes rather than carry the habit of one game across to the other table.
Is a tip expected? Two casinos in our register write about it on their own pages, and neither calls it an expectation.
| The casino | What it says about dealers | What it does not say |
|---|---|---|
| Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall, in the Yukon | Tipping at the gaming tables is encouraged, as a way of showing appreciation of the dealers. | The word “customary”, and a figure to go with it, are on the same page — kept for bartenders and servers, not for dealers. |
| Casino of the Rockies, in British Columbia | A tip is appreciated, and dealers are one name in a list of staff it is appreciated by. A bet for the dealer is permissible. | No figure, no share of anything, and no sentence saying a tip is owed. |
Both pages put tipping a dealer forward as something you may do; neither puts a number on it.
What the casinos add themselves
Your table stands inside a building, and the building writes rules for its own tables. Those are sometimes stricter than the province’s, they are published on the casino’s own pages rather than in a rulebook, and they are the ones your dealer will actually hold you to.
- The provinceRules of play, published by the crown corporation of the province: BCLC’s rules of play in British Columbia, Loto-Québec’s game rules in Québec. Each of those books says how its game is dealt.
- The same corporation, for beginnersPlain-language pages for a first visit, from those same corporations: Casinos BC in British Columbia, OLG PlaySmart in Ontario. Guidance for the person at the table rather than rules of play.
- The buildingHouse rules, published by one casino for its own tables. A house rule binds that casino and no other one, and it may ask for more than the province asks for.
| Casino | What the house adds | Where else this is written | The words |
|---|---|---|---|
| Club Regent Casino, Manitoba | Six-deck blackjack: the cards are never the player’s to touch.Also in a rulebook | The B.C. rules of play and Casino de Montréal both put it in one line — only the dealer may touch the cards — and Ontario’s beginner page tells a player not to touch the cards dealt to them. | Players are never allowed to touch the cards on six deck blackjack. |
| Copper Coulee Casino, Alberta | The shoe is out of bounds as well as the cards.The shoe is only here | The cards, yes: only the dealer may touch those. No rulebook quoted on this page keeps a player’s hands off the box the cards come out of. | At no time is the player permitted to touch the cards or shoe. |
| River Cree Resort & Casino, Alberta | Entry in the middle of a shoe can be refused here too, far from Québec.Also in a rulebook | Loto-Québec’s game rules let the dealer hold a newcomer’s bet until the shuffle. | Management reserves the right to refuse mid-shoe entry. |
| Casino Regina, Saskatchewan | Its own device rule, naming the Touch Bet pits alongside the tables.The pits are only here | Casino de Montréal rules every electronic device out at its own gaming tables, and no rulebook quoted on this page names a Touch Bet pit. | Use of electronic devices is not permitted at table games or in Touch Bet pits. |
| Copper Coulee Casino, Alberta | At roulette, once the ball is moving, nobody buys in.A rulebook fixes another moment | The B.C. roulette rules fix a buy-in between the payout of the last round and the call of “no more bets”. | No buy-ins will be taken once the ball is in motion. |
Three of those five lines name something no rulebook quoted on this page names: Copper Coulee puts the shoe itself out of bounds, Casino Regina names its Touch Bet pits alongside its tables, and Copper Coulee shuts its roulette buy-in at the moment the ball starts moving, where the B.C. rulebook shuts it at the call of “no more bets”. The building you are standing in makes the rules for its own tables, and every casino’s profile in our atlas carries that building’s house rules, each one dated.
Practice: your first minute
A moment at a table, three or four answers, and after each answer the rule it rests on in the words that rule is written in. Nothing here is a matter of taste: every answer comes out of a rule somebody published, and where a province publishes nothing about a moment, that moment is simply not shown for that province.
Level 1 is a blackjack table under the rules of the province you pick: 10 moments for British Columbia, 10 for Québec, 10 for Ontario, drawn from 19 situations in all. Every square on the strip is one of those moments, and they are all there from the start; when the squares are full, level 2 begins by itself. Level 2 is a signpost rather than practice: 9 moments at roulette and in the poker room, one for each rule, with no score attached — roulette and poker each have a track of their own.
Each moment shows only rules published for the province you pick. Where a province’s documents say nothing about a moment, that moment is not shown at all — a rule of one province is never presented as another’s.
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Level 1 · At a blackjack table, British Columbia
Blackjack · rule published by BCLC
- The table
- 7 betting spots, numbered from the dealer’s left
- Your seat
- 4
- Taken
- spots 1, 2 and 5
- Reserved marker on
- spot 6
- Open
- spots 3 and 7
- The round
- the round is over, betting is open
- Cards come from
- a shoe beside the dealer
- On the felt
- your money, just outside your betting spot
You have sat down with a twenty-dollar note in your hand and you want chips. Where does the money go?
The answer: Put it on the cloth just outside your betting spot.
On the cloth, just outside your betting spot — never into the dealer’s hand. The dealer takes it from there, counts it where the cameras can see, and passes the chips back the same way.
Place your cash on the table just outside of your betting spot.BCLC · Casinos BC — Casino etiquette · section Blackjack etiquette tips — Buying chips · read
Level 2 · The other tables
Roulette · rule published by BCLC and OLG PlaySmart
- The table
- a corner of the roulette layout, eighteen numbers of it drawn here
- The ball has landed
- on one number, marked darker
- The dolly
- standing on that number
- The round
- the previous round is being paid
Roulette. The ball has landed and a small clear marker is standing on one of the numbers. Can you put chips down?
The answer: Not yet: wait for the marker to come off.
Wait for the dolly. It is the clear marker standing on the number that came up, and while it is there the table is still paying out the previous round — chips, hands and money stay off the layout. Roulette has a lesson of its own in the roulette track; this is only the door into it.
You can join a game anytime the ball has landed and the croupier has finished paying off winning bets from the previous round.
If it’s sitting on the table, you can’t join the game… just yet.BCLC · Casinos BC — Casino etiquette · section Roulette etiquette tips — How to join a game · read
Watch out for a clear plastic piece called a dolly.OLG PlaySmart · Roulette — etiquette · section How to Join a Game · read
| The moment | What to do | Where this rule is published | The words it rests on |
|---|---|---|---|
| You have sat down with a twenty-dollar note in your hand and you want chips. Where does the money go? | Put it on the cloth just outside your betting spot On the cloth, just outside your betting spot — never into the dealer’s hand. The dealer takes it from there, counts it where the cameras can see, and passes the chips back the same way. | British Columbia | Place your cash on the table just outside of your betting spot.BCLC · Casinos BC — Casino etiquette · section Blackjack etiquette tips — Buying chips · read |
| Cards are already coming out, and the seat you want is empty. When can your bet go down? | After this round, before the dealer starts dealing the next one Between rounds. Sit whenever you like, but the bet goes down in the gap: once the deal has started, the round belongs to the people already in it. | British Columbia | In our words: A bet counts only if it sits in the betting spot before the first card is dealt. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 5.1 · read |
| The cards are dealt face up, and one of yours is lying crooked and hard to read. | Leave it, and ask the dealer if you cannot read it Hands off. At a shoe table the cards come out face up and only the dealer touches them — that is written down in all three provinces this lesson reads. Hand-dealt games where you do pick the cards up exist, and they are a different table with a different rule; ask before you reach. | British Columbia | In our words: Handling the cards is the dealer’s job alone. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 1.2 · read |
| The dealer has started dealing and you would like to add one more chip to your bet. | Leave your chips alone until the hand is finished Hands off your bet. Once the dealer has started dealing, the amount in the circle is the amount you are playing — there is nothing to add, tidy or exchange until the hand is settled. | British Columbia | In our words: Once the dealer starts dealing, keep your hands off your chips. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 5.3 · read |
| The dealer has called "no more bets". When can you touch your chips again? | Not until the hand is finished and settled Not until the hand is over. "No more bets" is the line that closes the round, and from there your chips are the dealer’s to settle. | British Columbia | Once the dealer calls “no more bets”, that’s your cue to not touch your chips until the play on the hand is completed.BCLC · Casinos BC — Casino etiquette · section Blackjack etiquette tips — Touching your chips · read |
| It is your turn and you want one more card. How do you tell the dealer? | Use the hand signal — tap the cloth for a card, wave your hand over it to stop With your hands. The B.C. rules of play name both signals: tapping the table means another card, waving off means you are standing. They exist because the game is recorded, and a gesture is visible where a mumble is not. | British Columbia | In our words: To take a card, tap the felt. In our words: To stand, wave your hand flat over your cards. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.1.2 and 4.2.1 · read |
| You have had a good half hour and you would like to thank the dealer. How is that done here? | Put it down as a separate bet for the dealer — or do not tip at all; both are fine Separately, and only if you want to. In B.C. the rules of play call it a tip bet: a wager played for the dealer, placed apart from yours and settled apart from yours. It is a bet, so it can go either way, and it is money you have not yet counted — ask the dealer where it goes at that table, because at roulette it goes somewhere else entirely. | British Columbia | In our words: You can tip by putting out a separate bet that is played on the dealer’s behalf. In our words: A bet played for the dealer sits apart from your own bet. In our words: A bet played for the dealer is paid on its own, after the player’s bet is paid. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 6.1 to 6.3 · read |
| Every spot is taken. The player at the spot you wanted says you are welcome to put a bet on their hand. | You can, if that player does not object — and every decision on the hand stays theirs You can, on their say-so, and you get no vote. B.C. calls it back betting and sets it out in a list: the table has to be on the main floor, only one person may back a spot, side bets are out, each of you plays at least the table minimum, and every decision on the hand belongs to the player in the seat. If you would rather decide your own hands, wait for a seat. | British Columbia | In our words: the player who holds the spot does not object; In our words: the seated player who holds the spot makes every call on that hand; BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 5.5 · read |
| The spot next to you is empty and the table is quiet. Can you play both? | You may be allowed to; it is the casino’s call, so ask the dealer Ask. More than one spot is allowed subject to house limitations, so the answer belongs to that table on that night. Two things worth knowing before you do it: the table is busier than it looks when it fills up, and two spots is two bets an hour rather than one — the money lesson of this track counts what that does. | British Columbia | In our words: The house may let one person play several spots, within its own limits. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 5.4 · read |
| You have decided to stop, and your bet is already out with cards on the table. | Let the hand finish, then take your chips and leave Finish the hand, then stand up. Your bet is committed once the cards are out, and leaving is the easiest thing at the table: you take your chips and go, at the end of any hand, with nothing to explain. | British Columbia | Your original bet must stay untouched on the layout until it wins, loses, or ties.BCLC · Casinos BC — Casino etiquette · section Blackjack etiquette tips — Touching your chips · read |
| You have sat down with a twenty-dollar note in your hand and you want chips. Where does the money go? | Put it on the cloth just outside your betting spot On the cloth, just outside your betting spot — never into the dealer’s hand. The dealer takes it from there, counts it where the cameras can see, and passes the chips back the same way. | Québec | Place your money on the table. Never hand it to the dealer.Loto-Québec, Casino de Montréal · Blackjack · section The initial bet · read |
| Cards are already coming out, and the seat you want is empty. When can your bet go down? | After this round, before the dealer starts dealing the next one Between rounds. Sit whenever you like, but the bet goes down in the gap: once the deal has started, the round belongs to the people already in it. | Québec | The dealer will exchange your money for value chips and you may place your bet in the betting spot indicated on the table before the first card is dealt.Loto-Québec, Casino de Montréal · Blackjack · section The initial bet · read |
| Two spots look empty. One of them has a small plastic marker sitting on it. Where do you sit? | At the spot with nothing on it The unmarked one. The marker means the player has stepped away for a moment and is coming back; Loto-Québec adds that such a spot may be used until they return, which is a decision for the dealer, not for you. | Québec | First, find a spot that isn’t already occupied. A special marker is used to indicate spots reserved for players who have temporarily left the table.Loto-Québec, Casino de Montréal · Blackjack · section Taking a seat at the table · read |
| You are playing two spots. The table fills up and somebody is waiting behind you with chips in hand. | Give one of them up Give one up. Playing more than one spot is allowed, and it stops being allowed the moment it leaves a new player with nowhere to sit. | Québec | Although players are allowed to occupy several spots at the table, they must give up a spot for a new player if there are no other available spots.Loto-Québec, Casino de Montréal · Blackjack · section Taking a seat at the table · read |
| You sit down halfway through the shoe. The dealer tells you that you will have to wait for the shuffle. | Wait — or bet the table minimum on one spot, if that is what you are offered Wait. In Québec this is in the rulebook: a player who was not in the first deal from the shoe can be held until the cards are shuffled again, or held to the table minimum on one spot until then. It is not a judgement of you — it is the same rule for everyone who arrives mid-shoe. | Québec | Please note that the dealer can prevent a player who did not play in the first deal from the shoe from placing a bet until the cards are shuffled again. What’s more, a bet from a player who did not play in the first deal from the shoe can be limited to the minimum at the game table and to a single betting spot.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section THE BETS · read |
| You have been playing, and you skip one round to read a message. What can happen to your seat? | You can be kept out until the cards are shuffled again You can be kept out until the next shuffle. Worth knowing before you step away for a moment: at these tables a short break can end your evening at that table until the cards go back through the machine. | Québec | Similarly, a player who has placed a bet in a game but did not play in a subsequent game can be prevented from placing a bet until the cards are shuffled again.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section THE BETS · read |
| The cards are dealt face up, and one of yours is lying crooked and hard to read. | Leave it, and ask the dealer if you cannot read it Hands off. At a shoe table the cards come out face up and only the dealer touches them — that is written down in all three provinces this lesson reads. Hand-dealt games where you do pick the cards up exist, and they are a different table with a different rule; ask before you reach. | Québec | Only the dealer may touch the cards.Loto-Québec, Casino de Montréal · Blackjack · section The game · read |
| The dealer has started dealing and you would like to add one more chip to your bet. | Leave your chips alone until the hand is finished Hands off your bet. Once the dealer has started dealing, the amount in the circle is the amount you are playing — there is nothing to add, tidy or exchange until the hand is settled. | Québec | The dealer will exchange your money for value chips and you may place your bet in the betting spot indicated on the table before the first card is dealt. Initial bets cannot be made, changed or withdrawn after that point.Loto-Québec, Casino de Montréal · Blackjack · section The initial bet · read |
| It is your turn and you genuinely do not know what to do with your hand. | Ask the dealer Ask the dealer. Loto-Québec tells first-timers not to hesitate and says that explaining the game is part of a dealer’s job. | Québec | Once you are at the table, don’t hesitate to ask the dealer any questions you may have. Helping you understand how the game is played is part of their job.Loto-Québec, Casino de Montréal · Blackjack · section Good to know · read |
| Your phone rings while a hand is in play. | Let it ring, finish the hand, then step away from the table Step away. At Casino de Montréal any electronic device at a gaming table is out, and the rule names what to do instead: leave the table to use it. | Québec | Unless otherwise specified, the use of any electronic device (including smart glasses) at gaming tables is strictly prohibited. Customers must leave the gaming table to speak on or use their phone (or any other electronic device).Loto-Québec, Casino de Montréal · Plan your visit · section Rules of conduct · read |
| You have sat down with a twenty-dollar note in your hand and you want chips. Where does the money go? | Put it on the cloth just outside your betting spot On the cloth, just outside your betting spot — never into the dealer’s hand. The dealer takes it from there, counts it where the cameras can see, and passes the chips back the same way. | Ontario | Place your cash on the table just outside of your betting spot.OLG PlaySmart · Blackjack — etiquette · section Chips — Buying Chips · read |
| The cards are dealt face up, and one of yours is lying crooked and hard to read. | Leave it, and ask the dealer if you cannot read it Hands off. At a shoe table the cards come out face up and only the dealer touches them — that is written down in all three provinces this lesson reads. Hand-dealt games where you do pick the cards up exist, and they are a different table with a different rule; ask before you reach. | Ontario | There's no reason to handle the cards you’re dealt, so be sure not to touch them.OLG PlaySmart · Blackjack — etiquette · section Cards — Touching your cards · read |
| The dealer has called "no more bets". When can you touch your chips again? | Not until the hand is finished and settled Not until the hand is over. "No more bets" is the line that closes the round, and from there your chips are the dealer’s to settle. | Ontario | Once the dealer calls “no more bets”, that’s your cue to not touch your chips until the play on the hand is completed.OLG PlaySmart · Blackjack — etiquette · section Chips — Touching your Chips · read |
| It is your turn and you want one more card. How do you tell the dealer? | Ask the dealer what the signals are at this table Ask, then use the signal. Hand signals are how the table talks, and Fallsview’s own blackjack sheet says plainly to ask your dealer for the proper ones rather than guess. The full set of signals is the blackjack track’s own lesson. | Ontario | Non-verbal communication between you and the Dealer to indicate “hit” or “stand”. Ask your Dealer for the proper signals.Fallsview Casino Resort · Blackjack · section Hand Signals · read |
| You have a bag with you. Where does it go while you play? | On your lap, or on the floor next to you Off the table. Wallets, bags and phones make the cloth harder to read for the dealer and for the cameras, and a clear table is the whole of the rule. | Ontario | Keep the Blackjack table free of personal items. Wallets, handbags and other pieces should be tucked away, placed on your lap or next to you, not on the table.OLG PlaySmart · Blackjack — etiquette · section On the Table · read |
| It is your turn and you genuinely do not know what to do with your hand. | Ask the dealer Ask the dealer — and know what they may answer. In Ontario the published line is that the dealer is allowed to answer basic strategy questions, which is a limit on what to ask, not a reason not to. | Ontario | The dealer is only allowed to answer basic strategy questions.OLG PlaySmart · Blackjack — etiquette · section Ask for advice · read |
| The player beside you turns to you and asks whether they should take another card. | Say what you think, and leave the decision to them Answer if you are asked, and stop there. Offering an opinion is fine; playing their hand for them is not, and neither is being annoyed when they ignore you. Whatever they do next changes nothing about your own hand — the blackjack track has a whole lesson on why. | Ontario | If another player asks for your advice, feel free to offer it. But other players will play the way they want with their money, and it’s best to let them do so.OLG PlaySmart · Blackjack — etiquette · section Ask for advice · read |
| Your phone rings while a hand is in play. | Let it ring, finish the hand, then step away from the table Step away. Both Niagara casinos publish the same two lines: no phones at table games, and if you need yours, pause your play and step away from the table. | Ontario | The use of cell phones or other electronic devices is not permitted at table games or slot machines. If you require the use of your cell phone while playing casino games, you must temporarily pause your play and step away from the gaming table or slot machine.Fallsview Casino Resort · FAQ · section Can I use my cell phone or other electronic device? · read The use of cell phones or other electronic devices is not permitted at table games or slot machines. If you require the use of your cell phone while playing casino games, you must temporarily pause your play and step away from the gaming table or slot machine.Casino Niagara · FAQs · section Can I use my cell phone or other electronic device? · read |
| You would like a photo of the table to send to a friend. | Not here: photography is out on the gaming floor Not on the gaming floor. Fallsview and Casino Niagara both publish a flat ban, and it covers the room rather than the table you are at. | Ontario | Photography/videography is strictly prohibited on the gaming floor.Fallsview Casino Resort · FAQ · section Photography · read Photography/videography is strictly prohibited on the gaming floor.Casino Niagara · FAQs · section Photography · read |
| You have decided to stop, and your bet is already out with cards on the table. | Let the hand finish, then take your chips and leave Finish the hand, then stand up. Your bet is committed once the cards are out, and leaving is the easiest thing at the table: you take your chips and go, at the end of any hand, with nothing to explain. | Ontario | Your original bet must stay untouched on the layout until it wins, loses, or ties.OLG PlaySmart · Blackjack — etiquette · section Chips — Touching your Chips · read |
| Roulette. The ball has landed and a small clear marker is standing on one of the numbers. Can you put chips down? | Not yet: wait for the marker to come off Wait for the dolly. It is the clear marker standing on the number that came up, and while it is there the table is still paying out the previous round — chips, hands and money stay off the layout. Roulette has a lesson of its own in the roulette track; this is only the door into it. | see the source | You can join a game anytime the ball has landed and the croupier has finished paying off winning bets from the previous round. If it’s sitting on the table, you can’t join the game… just yet.BCLC · Casinos BC — Casino etiquette · section Roulette etiquette tips — How to join a game · read Watch out for a clear plastic piece called a dolly.OLG PlaySmart · Roulette — etiquette · section How to Join a Game · read |
| Roulette. When can you buy in for colour chips? | After the round has been paid and before the croupier calls "no more bets" In the gap. B.C.’s rules of play put buy-ins and colour changes after the payouts and before the call, which is the same gap you join the game in. | see the source | After all bets have been paid; Before the Dealer announces “no more bets”.BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Roulette · section 6.1 · read |
| Roulette. You want to put a chip down for the croupier on a number you are already playing. Where does it go? | Stacked over your own chip on that number Over your own chip — and that is the point of putting this here. At blackjack the rulebook wants a dealer bet placed apart from yours; at roulette, on a number, it wants it stacked over yours, and only outside bets go apart. Same gesture, different table: ask the dealer rather than carry one game’s habit to another. | see the source | A Dealer bet on the “outside” area shall be placed separately from Player’s bet. Dealer bets on the “inside” shall be placed on top of the Player’s bet:BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Roulette · section 4.3 and 4.4 · read |
| Roulette. You are leaving the table with a stack of your colour chips. What do you do with them? | Change them with the croupier before you stand up Change them at the table, before you leave it. Colour chips carry no printed amount: their value lives with the croupier who sold them, and it does not travel. All three sources this lesson reads say the same thing in their own words, which for a rule of etiquette is unusual. | see the source | Non-value chips shall have monetary value only at the table where they are purchased.BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Roulette · section 5.2 · read Coloured chips can only be used at the table where they were purchased. They have no value and must be exchanged for cash chips before leaving the table.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Roulette · section THE CHIPS · read When you’re ready to leave a table do not bring the roulette chips from that table to any other – they will be worthless, even at other roulette tables.OLG PlaySmart · Roulette — etiquette · section Leaving a Table · read |
| Roulette in Québec. The croupier says "Rien ne va plus". What has just happened? | Betting is closed: hands off the layout "No more bets", in French. Worth knowing before your first visit to a Québec casino: it is the same call, the same moment and the same rule — nothing is placed, changed or taken back after it. | see the source | Players can place bets until the dealer says “Rien ne va plus” (meaning “No more bets”). Bets cannot be placed, changed or withdrawn thereafter.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Roulette · section HOW TO PLAY · read |
| A poker room. You are called to a table and the empty seat sits between the two blinds. Are you dealt in at once? | No: you wait for the button to pass, and then you are in You wait a hand or two. The button is the disc that moves one seat each hand, and a player who sits between the blinds waits for it to go past before being dealt in. The poker track has its own lessons on the room, the list and the stakes. | see the source | A new Player to the game shall not receive a hand between the blinds. They shall wait for the button to pass.BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Poker · section 17.0 Texas Hold'em, 4.3 · read |
| A poker room. How much do you have to sit down with? | At least the minimum the room has posted for that game At least the posted minimum. The B.C. rules of play put it on the house to post one, so it is written up somewhere near the game. What the stakes mean, and what the rake takes out of the table, are the poker track’s own lessons. | see the source | The house shall post a minimum buy-in amount.BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Poker · section 17.0 Texas Hold'em, 5.1 · read |
| A poker room. A better seat is empty — its player has gone for a coffee and left chips there. | Leave it. Ask the staff how seat changes work here Leave it alone. A seat with chips in it belongs to the player on a break, and moving seats is something the room arranges rather than something you do. The same published line rules out playing a hand over somebody who has stepped away. | see the source | Remember not to play over another player, or take another person’s seat if they get up to take a break.OLG PlaySmart · Poker — etiquette · section Wait your turn · read |
| A poker room. You are in a hand and your phone rings. | Not while you hold cards — fold or finish, then step away from the table Away from the table, always, and never while you hold cards. Poker rooms are stricter about this than the pit, because a phone at a live hand is also a way to pass information. Rooms differ on what is allowed between hands, so read the sheet on the wall. | see the source | When a Player has cards, they MUST NOT use their phone. Players may not talk on the phone at the table at any time.Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto · Poker · section House rules · read Cell phones are not permitted to be in use while a hand is in play.Cascades Casino Langley · Poker · section House rules · read Cell phones and other electronic devices are not permitted when a player has a live hand (guests are required to step away from the table to use their cell phones).Casino Regina · Casino etiquette · section Poker room rules · read |
How the practice table works
Where the answers come from. Every moment names a topic; every published rule about that topic is stored with its document, its section, the date we read it and the exact sentences it is written in. The rule states what it requires, each answer on the screen carries a code for what it would do, and the right answer is the one whose code matches. Nothing is typed in as “the answer”, so a document that changes changes the answer with it. Two documents of one province that required different things would stop the build rather than let you pick either.
What you will not see. No moment shows one province’s rule under another province’s name. Where B.C.’s rulebook says nothing about phones, there is no phone moment in the B.C. list — an empty list would be worse than a short one, and a borrowed rule worse still.
One strip, no rounds. Every square on the strip is one moment of level 1, and they are all there from the start. Your first answer fills the square; when they are full, level 2 begins by itself, with no button in between. Practising a mistake turns a cross into “fixed in practice” and does not change the count: only first answers do. Level 2 is not scored and has no squares: reading it through is all there is to it. Progress stays in this browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
Check yourself
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Five quick ones. Pick an answer, then check it. No timer, no points: just whether it stuck.
The question we opened with. Look for a different chair. A marker on the circle means that player has stepped away for a moment and is coming back, and Loto-Québec tells first-timers in as many words to pick a spot that does not have one. Sitting down mid-round is fine at a spot that is genuinely free — it is the bet that waits for the gap, not you.
Where these games are in Canada
Blackjack is named among the games at 89 of the 103 casinos in our register; roulette is named at 84 casinos in the same register. Each profile carries what that casino publishes about its own tables, in the casino’s own words.
19+ (18+ in AB, MB, QC) · Play responsibly · the helplines for every province are at the end of this page
Further reading
- Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · British Columbia Lottery CorporationThe B.C. rulebook, including the sections on betting, touching the cards, hand signals and dealer bets.
- Game rules: Blackjack · Loto-QuébecThe Québec rules, including what a dealer may do about a player who arrives in the middle of a shoe.
- Blackjack — etiquette · OLG PlaySmartOntario’s beginner page on chips, cards, personal items and asking for advice at the table.
- Casino etiquette · BCLC (Casinos BC)The same beginner guidance published for British Columbia, with a roulette section.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Decide your break before you sit down. Where the cards come out of a shoe, the shuffle is a natural place to stand up — it happens on its own, and you do not have to invent a reason. At a table with a shuffling machine there is no such moment at all, so the clock is the only one you get: pick a time before you sit and write it down (Game plan does that in a minute).
And remember the other half of the Québec rule: sitting one round out can keep you out until the shuffle. So if you are going to step away, step away properly — take the chips with you and come back to a table you choose again.
If it stops being fun
If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. 19+ in most of Canada; 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. More on responsible gaming.
How it’s worked out
Sources, numbers and hosts
Sources. 78 sentences from 22 documents, each stored with its address, its section and the date we read it. Three kinds, and the page says which is which. A rulebook of a province — BCLC’s rules of play, Loto-Québec’s game rules — is quoted as the rule of that province; for each of those we record the checksum of the file we read, and it is the same file the rules presets of this site already cite. A beginner page published by a crown corporation — PlaySmart in Ontario, Casinos BC in British Columbia — is quoted as that corporation’s guidance, not as law. A rule quoted from one casino belongs to that casino alone, and the page names it.
Numbers. Every figure is worked out when the page is built. Rounds an hour come from Kilby’s tables, the same source our Price of an hour uses, and the gap between rounds is 3,600 seconds divided by them. The counts of casinos come from the same register the rest of the site is built from.
Where this happens. Every table on this page is a real table with cloth on it, standing in a room you can walk into. A table dealt by a person on a screen at home is asked for different things by a different book of rules, and it belongs to a track of its own.
What this lesson does not cover. Buying chips and cashing out, the sign above the table, the full set of blackjack hand signals, the roulette layout and the poker room each have a lesson of their own. Where one of those five lessons owns a subject, this page points at it and stops.
Hosts. Maya is an illustrated character. Her backstory, a former floor supervisor, is written for the course: she is not a real person and does not speak for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from her experience.
No promise. Knowing how to join a table is not a reason to join one. Nothing on this page says an evening at a table is a good idea for you, and nothing here tells you how one would end.
Arriving in the middle of a shoe
Please note that the dealer can prevent a player who did not play in the first deal from the shoe from placing a bet until the cards are shuffled again.
What’s more, a bet from a player who did not play in the first deal from the shoe can be limited to the minimum at the game table and to a single betting spot.
Section THE BETS
Sitting a round out
Similarly, a player who has placed a bet in a game but did not play in a subsequent game can be prevented from placing a bet until the cards are shuffled again.
Section THE BETS
Hands off the cards and the bet
In our words: Handling the cards is the dealer’s job alone.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 1.2
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
In our words: Once the dealer starts dealing, keep your hands off your chips.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 5.3
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Phones at the table
The use of cell phones or other electronic devices is not permitted at table games or slot machines.
If you require the use of your cell phone while playing casino games, you must temporarily pause your play and step away from the gaming table or slot machine.
Section Can I use my cell phone or other electronic device?
Unless otherwise specified, the use of any electronic device (including smart glasses) at gaming tables is strictly prohibited.
Customers must leave the gaming table to speak on or use their phone (or any other electronic device).
Section Rules of conduct
Personal items on the table
Keep the Blackjack table free of personal items.
Wallets, handbags and other pieces should be tucked away, placed on your lap or next to you, not on the table.
Section On the Table
What a dealer bet is
In our words: You can tip by putting out a separate bet that is played on the dealer’s behalf.
In our words: A bet played for the dealer sits apart from your own bet.
In our words: A bet played for the dealer is paid on its own, after the player’s bet is paid.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 6.1 to 6.3
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Joining a poker game
A new Player to the game shall not receive a hand between the blinds.
They shall wait for the button to pass.
Section 17.0 Texas Hold'em, 4.3
Somebody else’s seat
Remember not to play over another player, or take another person’s seat if they get up to take a break.
Section Wait your turn
The words this rests on
In our words: A bet counts only if it sits in the betting spot before the first card is dealt.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 5.1
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
The words this rests on
Place your money on the table.
Never hand it to the dealer.
Section The initial bet
Glossary: betting spot
In our words: A bet counts only if it sits in the betting spot before the first card is dealt.
Section 1.0, 5.1
BCLC · BCLC Rules of Play for Table Games - Blackjack · read
The words this rests on
Place your cash on the table just outside of your betting spot.
Section Blackjack etiquette tips — Buying chips
The words this rests on
In our words: Handling the cards is the dealer’s job alone.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 1.2
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
The words this rests on
There's no reason to handle the cards you’re dealt, so be sure not to touch them.
Section Cards — Touching your cards
When a bet counts
In our words: A bet counts only if it sits in the betting spot before the first card is dealt.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 5.1
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Where the money goes
Place your cash on the table just outside of your betting spot.
Section Blackjack etiquette tips — Buying chips
Place your money on the table.
Never hand it to the dealer.
Section The initial bet
Hands off
In our words: Once the dealer starts dealing, keep your hands off your chips.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 5.3
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Once the dealer calls “no more bets”, that’s your cue to not touch your chips until the play on the hand is completed.
Section Blackjack etiquette tips — Touching your chips
Asking and advising
Once you are at the table, don’t hesitate to ask the dealer any questions you may have.
Helping you understand how the game is played is part of their job.
Section Good to know
If another player asks for your advice, feel free to offer it.
But other players will play the way they want with their money, and it’s best to let them do so.
Section Ask for advice
The bet stays until the hand is settled
Your original bet must stay untouched on the layout until it wins, loses, or ties.
Section Blackjack etiquette tips — Touching your chips
An empty spot and a reserved one
First, find a spot that isn’t already occupied.
A special marker is used to indicate spots reserved for players who have temporarily left the table.
Section Taking a seat at the table
More than one spot in Québec
Although players are allowed to occupy several spots at the table, they must give up a spot for a new player if there are no other available spots.
Section Taking a seat at the table
More than one spot in B.C.
In our words: The house may let one person play several spots, within its own limits.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 5.4
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Glossary: shoe
In our words: The dealer deals from a shoe holding six ordinary decks.
Section 1.0, 1.1
BCLC · BCLC Rules of Play for Table Games - Blackjack · read
Arriving in the middle of a shoe
Please note that the dealer can prevent a player who did not play in the first deal from the shoe from placing a bet until the cards are shuffled again.
What’s more, a bet from a player who did not play in the first deal from the shoe can be limited to the minimum at the game table and to a single betting spot.
Section THE BETS
Rounds an hour by number of players
Worked out: Kilby’s table of hands per hour in blackjack gives 52 hands at seven players and 209 at one player; 209 divided by 52 is about 4.0, and 3,600 seconds divided by each of the two gives the gap between one round and the next.
Spins an hour at a roulette table
Worked out: Kilby’s table of spins per hour in roulette gives 35 spins at six players; 3,600 divided by 35 is about 103.
Only the dealer touches the cards
In our words: Handling the cards is the dealer’s job alone.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 1.2
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Only the dealer may touch the cards.
Section The game
There's no reason to handle the cards you’re dealt, so be sure not to touch them.
Section Cards — Touching your cards
When a bet counts
In our words: A bet counts only if it sits in the betting spot before the first card is dealt.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 5.1
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Where the money goes
Place your cash on the table just outside of your betting spot.
Section Blackjack etiquette tips — Buying chips
Place your money on the table.
Never hand it to the dealer.
Section The initial bet
Only the dealer touches the cards
In our words: Handling the cards is the dealer’s job alone.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 1.2
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Only the dealer may touch the cards.
Section The game
There's no reason to handle the cards you’re dealt, so be sure not to touch them.
Section Cards — Touching your cards
Not after the deal has started
In our words: Once the dealer starts dealing, keep your hands off your chips.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 5.3
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
The dealer will exchange your money for value chips and you may place your bet in the betting spot indicated on the table before the first card is dealt.
Initial bets cannot be made, changed or withdrawn after that point.
Section The initial bet
After “no more bets”
Once the dealer calls “no more bets”, that’s your cue to not touch your chips until the play on the hand is completed.
Section Blackjack etiquette tips — Touching your chips
Once the dealer calls “no more bets”, that’s your cue to not touch your chips until the play on the hand is completed.
Section Chips — Touching your Chips
The bet stays until the hand is settled
Your original bet must stay untouched on the layout until it wins, loses, or ties.
Section Blackjack etiquette tips — Touching your chips
The signal the rulebook calls a hit
In our words: To take a card, tap the felt.
In our words: To stand, wave your hand flat over your cards.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.1.2 and 4.2.1
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
The signal the rulebook calls standing
In our words: To take a card, tap the felt.
In our words: To stand, wave your hand flat over your cards.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.1.2 and 4.2.1
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Ask for the proper signals
Non-verbal communication between you and the Dealer to indicate “hit” or “stand”.
Ask your Dealer for the proper signals.
Section Hand Signals
Asking the dealer
Once you are at the table, don’t hesitate to ask the dealer any questions you may have.
Helping you understand how the game is played is part of their job.
Section Good to know
How far a dealer may go
The dealer is only allowed to answer basic strategy questions.
Section Ask for advice
Advice at the table
If another player asks for your advice, feel free to offer it.
But other players will play the way they want with their money, and it’s best to let them do so.
Section Ask for advice
Personal items
Keep the Blackjack table free of personal items.
Wallets, handbags and other pieces should be tucked away, placed on your lap or next to you, not on the table.
Section On the Table
Devices at the table in Québec
Unless otherwise specified, the use of any electronic device (including smart glasses) at gaming tables is strictly prohibited.
Customers must leave the gaming table to speak on or use their phone (or any other electronic device).
Section Rules of conduct
Phones at the table in Ontario
The use of cell phones or other electronic devices is not permitted at table games or slot machines.
If you require the use of your cell phone while playing casino games, you must temporarily pause your play and step away from the gaming table or slot machine.
Section Can I use my cell phone or other electronic device?
The use of cell phones or other electronic devices is not permitted at table games or slot machines.
If you require the use of your cell phone while playing casino games, you must temporarily pause your play and step away from the gaming table or slot machine.
Section Can I use my cell phone or other electronic device?
Casino Niagara · FAQs · read
Photography in Québec
No photos, videos or audio recordings of another person may be taken without their consent.
Section Rules of conduct
Photography at the Niagara casinos
Photography/videography is strictly prohibited on the gaming floor.
Section Photography
Photography/videography is strictly prohibited on the gaming floor.
Section Photography
Casino Niagara · FAQs · read
The words this rests on
In our words: You can tip by putting out a separate bet that is played on the dealer’s behalf.
In our words: A bet played for the dealer sits apart from your own bet.
In our words: A bet played for the dealer is paid on its own, after the player’s bet is paid.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 6.1 to 6.3
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Glossary: dealer bet
In our words: You can tip by putting out a separate bet that is played on the dealer’s behalf.
Section 1.0, 6.1
BCLC · BCLC Rules of Play for Table Games - Blackjack · read
What a dealer bet is
In our words: You can tip by putting out a separate bet that is played on the dealer’s behalf.
In our words: A bet played for the dealer sits apart from your own bet.
In our words: A bet played for the dealer is paid on its own, after the player’s bet is paid.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 6.1 to 6.3
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
At roulette it goes the other way
A Dealer bet on the “outside” area shall be placed separately from Player’s bet.
Dealer bets on the “inside” shall be placed on top of the Player’s bet:
Section 4.3 and 4.4
A Yukon casino on tipping
In Canada it is customary to tip bartenders and servers 15-20%.
Tipping is encouraged at the gaming tables to show your appreciation of our friendly dealers!
Section Is there a tipping policy?
A B.C. casino on tipping
Tipping cashiers, dealers, slot attendants, servers, shuttle bus drivers, guest service representatives and housekeeping is appreciated.
Bets for the dealer are permissible.
Section Tipping
Only the dealer touches the cards
In our words: Handling the cards is the dealer’s job alone.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 1.2
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Only the dealer may touch the cards.
Section The game
There's no reason to handle the cards you’re dealt, so be sure not to touch them.
Section Cards — Touching your cards
The words this rests on
Players are never allowed to touch the cards on six deck blackjack.
Section Blackjack
Club Regent Casino · Gaming · read
The words this rests on
At no time is the player permitted to touch the cards or shoe.
Section Blackjack house rules
Arriving in the middle of a shoe
Please note that the dealer can prevent a player who did not play in the first deal from the shoe from placing a bet until the cards are shuffled again.
What’s more, a bet from a player who did not play in the first deal from the shoe can be limited to the minimum at the game table and to a single betting spot.
Section THE BETS
The words this rests on
Management reserves the right to refuse mid-shoe entry.
Section Blackjack house rules
Devices at the table at Casino de Montréal
Unless otherwise specified, the use of any electronic device (including smart glasses) at gaming tables is strictly prohibited.
Customers must leave the gaming table to speak on or use their phone (or any other electronic device).
Section Rules of conduct
The words this rests on
Use of electronic devices is not permitted at table games or in Touch Bet pits.
Section House rules
Buying in at roulette in B.C.
After all bets have been paid;
Before the Dealer announces “no more bets”.
Section 6.1
The words this rests on
No buy-ins will be taken once the ball is in motion.
Section Roulette house rules
How these two counts are worked out
Worked out: a casino is counted when its own pages name a game whose title contains “blackjack” or “roulette”, with the sentence we read it in and the address it came from; electronic versions are named the same way on many of those pages, so read it as “this casino lists the game”, not “this casino has a live table”.
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