Card Games and Games

Blackjack Blackjack, also known as Twenty-one, Vingt-et-un (French for twenty- one), or Pontoon, is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. The standard game is played with one or more packs of cards containing 52 cards. The basic rules of the game involve adding the value of an initial two card hand in the hope of being dealt a value of twenty-one. If a value of less than twenty-one is dealt, the player may choose to be dealt single cards until they either reach a value of twenty-one, reach a value they feel comfortable to play, or reach a value that exceeds twenty-one. The winner holds a hand with a value of, or nearest to, twenty-one without exceeding it. The game is played in many variations at casinos with different table rules. Much of Blackjack’s popularity is due the mix of chance, skill, and the publicity that surrounds card counting (varying one’s wager and playing strategy to take advantage of knowledge of the cards yet to be dealt). The casino game should not be confused with the British card game Blackjack.

Bridge Contract Bridge, usually known simply as Bridge, is a card game played with 52 cards. It is played by four players who form two partnerships: partners sit opposite each other at the table, so that North and South form one partnership and East and West are the other. In each hand after the cards are dealt (13 to each player) there is an auction (bidding) and then the cards are played. The bidding usually ends with a contract, which is a declaration by one partnership that their side will win at least a stated number of tricks, with a specified suit as trump or without trumps. The declarer will try to make the announced tricks, and the opponents will try to stop them. Declarer’s partner places his hands on the table and these cards are played by declarer. The play consists of 13 tricks. Each player contributes one card to each trick, and the highest card (or the highest trump) wins. Players must follow suit if possible. The winner plays first to the next trick. Then the hand is scored. Each hand takes about eight minutes.

A bridge session at a club typically lasts for about 3 hours, during which about 24 hands are played. This usually consists of duplicate bridge in which the same hands are played several times by different players. The scores are obtained by comparing the results. This partly eliminates the element of luck.

Chemin De Fer Chemin De Fer (French for ‘railroad’ – probably depicting the shoe as a train travelling around the table) is the version of Baccarat that is mainly played in France.

In this game you cannot bet on Player or Bank, you must BE one or the other. The House (or Casino) has no direct involvement in the betting. The players wager among themselves.

The House provides a ‘Croupier’ or dealer to make sure the rules are adhered to and that everything runs smoothly. Also the House provides all the necessary gaming equipment: table, chairs, the shoe called ‘sabot’ and the cards. For that the House takes a percentage commission, or rake, (usually 5%) on all winning Bank hands.

Each player can be Banker in turn. The player who is acting as the banker is responsible for all losing bets with his/her own money, as well as collecting all winning Bank bets.

Unlike Baccarat, Chemin De Fer has flexible third-card-rules; that is, there is some optional play whereby the Player and Banker can decide whether to call a third card or not. Also, the game is played entirely in French.

Cribbage Cribbage, or crib is a card game traditionally for two players, but commonly played with three, four or more, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points. Cribbage has several distinctive features: the cribbage board used for scorekeeping, the eponymous crib or box (a separate hand counting for the dealer), two distinct scoring stages (the play and the show) and a unique scoring system including points for groups of cards that total fifteen.

Whist Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was played widely in the 18th and 19 Centuries. It derives from the 16th century game of Trump or Ruff. Although the rules are extremely simple, there is enormous scope for scientific play.

Dominoes Dominoes (or dominos) generally refers to the collective gaming pieces making up a domino set. The traditional domino set consists of 28 dominoes, each domino is a rectangular tile with a line dividing its face into two square ends. Each end is marked with a number of spots or is blank. The backs of the dominoes in a set are indistinguishable, either blank or having some common design. A domino set is a generic gaming device, similar to playing cards, in that a variety of games can be played with a set.

Roulette Roulette is a casino game named after a French diminutive for ‘little wheel’. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number or a range of numbers, the colours red or black, or whether the number is odd or even. To determine the winning number and colour, a croupier spins a wheel in one direction, then spins a ball in the opposite direction around a tilted circular track running around the circumference of the wheel. The ball eventually loses momentum and falls on to the wheel and into one of 37 coloured and numbered pockets on the wheel.