Table game lovers have a great variety of games offered at both traditional and online casinos. While most games have some basic rules that players and dealers need to adhere to, here’s a term commonly used in the game of blackjack. Rule of six is used in blackjack games where it refers to the number of times the cards are shuffled.
Are you wondering what that means? To make it simpler, the rule of six connotes that the number of players playing the game and the number of rounds played before the shuffle should sum up to ‘six’. So, this applies to games and Blackjack variants where the number of players is five or lesser. You’ll find several blackjack tables that accommodate five players and thus the application of this rule is not difficult.
How does the rule of six work?
In any game of Blackjack, players and dealers are dealt two cards each. When players choose to hit, more cards are distributed to them. The game ends with all the cards being collected and either kept to the bottom of the deck or discarded to another side. Many times the following round commences with the cards played from the top of the deck itself though it depends on the dealer whether he shuffles it or not. He could also choose to shuffle the deck before distributing them.
If you are a regular player or have read on strategies used in blackjack games, you may have heard about the card counting strategy. In cases where regular shuffling is done between rounds, card counting becomes difficult. Though shuffling can restrict cheating using the card counting technique, it hinders the smooth flow of the game by slowing down its pace.
In most online casinos, where automated shuffling takes place, card counting could look impossible as the deal is random. In top casinos, to keep the balance, a standard number of shuffling is scheduled in blackjack games and this is known as the rule of six.
Rule of six and player number
If there’s a single player playing against the dealer, then he has to play five rounds before the shuffle so that the dealer can then shuffle once adding it up to a total of six. In a game where four players sit at the blackjack table, there will be two rounds followed by the shuffle adding two rounds and four players to make it a total of six, thus adhering to the ‘rule of six’.
Some experts say that the depth of the ‘cut card’ placement does make a difference. Now whether it would be an advantage for the card counter when it’s placed at ½ the deck or ¼ of the deck is a question. Card counting is not considered as illegal as long as the counter is using his mind and not an external device to do so. However, casinos reserve the right to prevent or even ban a player from playing any longer if they realize it.