RCI Blackjack Rules

[CurlyTorn]

I was interested if there were a listing of the Blackjack rules for the RCI cruise line. I am not sure if they are the same on each ship but was wondering if the rules are advantageous of a little on the down side. I know I played thanksgiving and won a lot but I forget how many decks there are, if its double after spit, and so on.

Please, any information will be greatly appreciated.

[derf5585]

May I be the first to welcome you to CruiseCritic

 

Details

In Blackjack, you win if you get a higher hand than the dealer without going over 21. Should you go over 21 (Bust), you lose immediately. Face cards count as 10, aces are either 1 or 11, and all other cards are face value. The players and the dealer each get two cards. If your first two cards total, for example, 15, you can "Stand" (take no additional cards) or you can "Hit" (ask for additional cards, one at a time). You can indicate your decision to hit or stand by using hand gestures. The dealer will be happy to show you how. After each player in turn has taken all the extra cards he wants, the dealer exposes the "Hole" card. On 16 or less or soft 17 (a combination of cards adding up to either 7 or 17, such as an ace and a 6), the dealer hits. The dealer stands on hard 17. Should the dealer bust, you win.

from

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experience/html.do;jsessionid=0000mePKeKeobGGPtOCzPbgb1a_:12hbioan0?exCode=503

[cruisinfanatic]

May I be the first to welcome you to CruiseCritic

 

Details

In Blackjack, you win if you get a higher hand than the dealer without going over 21. Should you go over 21 (Bust), you lose immediately. Face cards count as 10, aces are either 1 or 11, and all other cards are face value. The players and the dealer each get two cards. If your first two cards total, for example, 15, you can "Stand" (take no additional cards) or you can "Hit" (ask for additional cards, one at a time). You can indicate your decision to hit or stand by using hand gestures. The dealer will be happy to show you how. After each player in turn has taken all the extra cards he wants, the dealer exposes the "Hole" card. On 16 or less or soft 17 (a combination of cards adding up to either 7 or 17, such as an ace and a 6), the dealer hits. The dealer stands on hard 17. Should the dealer bust, you win.

from

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/experience/html.do;jsessionid=0000mePKeKeobGGPtOCzPbgb1a_:12hbioan0?exCode=503

the op didn't ask how to play

[CurlyTorn]

I am sorry. I must not have been clear. I am an experienced player and was wondering what the house rules are for their blackjack games.

[bubbie617]

I was interested if there were a listing of the Blackjack rules for the RCI cruise line. I am not sure if they are the same on each ship but was wondering if the rules are advantageous of a little on the down side. I know I played thanksgiving and won a lot but I forget how many decks there are, if its double after spit, and so on.

Please, any information will be greatly appreciated.

 

They have multiple deck games (5 or 6 decks I believe) and recently they have had single deck blackjack on the RCCL/Celebrity ships we've been on. Yes, you can double after a split on any one of the new hands. When you split aces, you only get one card on each hand. Any other card, you can take as many cards as you wish until/unless you bust.

 

Feel free to ask any other questions. I'll try to answer them.

[labeachcomber]

I have one of those "cheat" plastic cards that you can buy in Vegas that gives you basic strategy. Anyone know if the dealers will allow its use at the table?

[TEXASMUNK]

you sure can use it.

 

Ship will even give you lessons.

[mamaza]

They increase the house odds by hitting on soft 17 and not allowing surrendering. Other than that, they play a good game and you have the same first time, I saw the movie "21" (or some other blackjack training movie once), playing at the table with you. The $5 min. table is always full but the $10 table usually has lots of room, and if they have a $25 min. table it's empty.

 

Good luck.

 

Forgot: I pretty sure they use a 6 card shoe, but it could be 8.

[Uncle Fester]

I was interested if there were a listing of the Blackjack rules for the RCI cruise line. I am not sure if they are the same on each ship but was wondering if the rules are advantageous of a little on the down side. I know I played thanksgiving and won a lot but I forget how many decks there are, if its double after spit, and so on.

Please, any information will be greatly appreciated.

 

While on the Mariner in March of this year, they were using 6 decks, but had a $100 double-deck table open every night. This was probably a special event since they had a large group of cruisers from Harrah's on-board that week.

 

Two other things I noticed. First, I actually saw a floor supervisor back-off an advantage player at the game, so they seem to track the games pretty well. Second, the dealers had the authority to comp drinks. This happened to me twice, and I wasn't even toking that heavily, just making friendly conversation.

[Host Mick]

They have multiple deck games (5 or 6 decks I believe) and recently they have had single deck blackjack on the RCCL/Celebrity ships we've been on. Yes, you can double after a split on any one of the new hands. When you split aces, you only get one card on each hand. Any other card, you can take as many cards as you wish until/unless you bust.

 

Feel free to ask any other questions. I'll try to answer them.

 

You can also double any hand, one additional card dealt naturally. They also offer insurance and even-money (not that anyone would want them) but not surrender.

 

The single-deck table has a bunch of rules regarding splitting and doubling making it very restrictive. I didn't bother with it even though I like the pace of the single-deck table (and the counting opportunities).

[derf5585]

I saw the movie "21" .

 

Could you imagine a MIT crew of card counters break the bank on a cruise ship.

[CurlyTorn]

does anyone know the table max

[DON M.]

does anyone know the table max

 

Curly, I believe its $300 per hand but I could be wrong.

[nellydean]

On NOS this May they used 8 decks at the table I played at ($5 minimum)

 

You could split, but could only have one card after that and not hit again, which I found confusing. Also, the dealers played so fast you had to have your wits about you - several times the woman dealer took my chips when I should have won, but I was too intimidated to challenge - next time I will

[DON M.]

On NOS this May they used 8 decks at the table I played at ($5 minimum)

 

You could split, but could only have one card after that and not hit again, which I found confusing. Also, the dealers played so fast you had to have your wits about you - several times the woman dealer took my chips when I should have won, but I was too intimidated to challenge - next time I will

Are you sure you are not confusing spliting with double down. When you double down, you only get one card. When you split .2's for example, you play the two seperate hands and can hit all you want.

[nellydean]

Are you sure you are not confusing spliting with double down. When you double down, you only get one card. When you split .2's for example, you play the two seperate hands and can hit all you want.

 

yes, beg pardon,

[vator90]

The ships normal min/max is:

$5-$300 and $25-$500. You can get higher limits if you ask and the floor agrees. It is 8 decks, only about 70% penetration, around 5-5.5 decks, not real good. Your splits/doubles are normal. The good thing is you can play up to 7 hands (the whole table) by yourself, unlike conventional U.S. rules allowing only 2.

[CurlyTorn]

I know this is a reach but does anyone know what shuffling technique they use

[DON M.]

I know this is a reach but does anyone know what shuffling technique they use

 

You will probably find alot of the tables have the continious muti-deck shuffler.

[mamaza]

You will probably find alot of the tables have the continious muti-deck shuffler.

So, they've finally turned to those, huh. I figured they would, concidering all the high level, card counting, pros they have playing at the tables. :rolleyes:

 

The game still plays the same for me. I could never keep up with the card counting thing anyway.

[vator90]

Most of the games are still hand shuffled. They use a modified riffle/strip technique. They only divide the cards into 2 piles for this, instead of the normal 2-3 piles per half. They only run through once instead of twice to speed up the game a bit. Most dealers use the same techniques when they break the slug (unused cards), 1/3 top of discard, 1/3 mid, 1/3 bottom of discard. Without any more details, you can gain advantages from this style of dealing.

[derf5585]

Without any more details, you can gain advantages from this style of dealing.

 

Tell us more, Tell us more

 

(Summer Nights)

[CurlyTorn]

which ship was this on vator?

[pepster1]

Can you surrender? if I have 16 and the dealer is showing a 10

[rbschultz]

6 decks

dealer hits on soft 17

split aces, one card each

split anything else you can double

4 hands max (if you split multiple times)