To be clear, I acknowledge that this post could be viewed as rude. I tried to clarify that upthread when I was saying that people were throwing around accusations of rudeness or assholish behavior before I even posted - that’s what I was addressing.
I love playing at tables full of lousy players. It feeds my need to feel superior, and I can feel confident that the casino is (over time) using more of their money than mine to pay for the free drinks, flashing lights, and cheap rooms.
It certainly would be, if it happened. Has anyone ever seen it happen? I can’t imagine someone deliberately losing money just to annoy someone else.
But id you encounter it, so what. They are losing more than you. Just laugh it off.
I’ve only played blackjack with friends so it was interesting to learn that there’s blackjack etiquette. Curious what is considered proper etiquette, I googled and visited 3 sites. Most of the rules of etiquette listed on these sites were aimed at avoiding miscommunication between player and dealer (like using gestures instead of saying “hit me”) and to avoid conflict between players. But none of the sites mentioned “hitting on 20” and “splitting tens”. One site did list the following rules of etiquette:
[ul]
[li]Avoid giving unsolicited advice to others.[/li][li]If you become upset with the play of others, leave the table. [/li][/ul]
Source: Casino Poker Rules and Etiquette for the Card Room
Another site (http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/blackjack5.htm) has a section on Table Etiquette and mentions that you should not touch your chips after you placed your bet and you should place additional chips beside the original chips and not on top of them when doubling down. I’m curious: won’t the dealer inform you of the proper etiquette if you keep touching your chips or if you put additional chips on top of your original chips?
Some folks are extremely literal, and latch on to every single word, and won’t let go. Like I said earlier, the splitting tens thing was mainly a joke, but I was still serious about the intent, which was that playing like someone who’s never even heard of Blackjack is rude to the table. Part of “avoiding conflict between players” involves not committing table faux pas. Even if you’ve never played at a casino before, it doesn’t take more than an hour of crazy ass bets, with everyone glaring at you, to realize that everybody hates it.
As I’ve said at least three different times, no, you should not make a scene about how other people play. Don’t throw a tantrum if someone isn’t playing “right.” To do so makes you a big jerk. If a person’s behavior is upsetting you, often the correct response (at the Blackjack table, or anywhere for that matter) is to leave.
And yes, the dealer will tell you not to touch the chips you’ve placed in the circle, but that’s an effort to make sure everyone plays nice. They’re trying to avoid cheating.
Pretty much anything that can be construed as some kind of sleight-of-hand is forbidden. If you double down or split you put the extra bet next to the first bet that way you can’t hide 2 $100 chips in a pile somewhere and claim they were there all along.
Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize the splitting tens thing was a joke. I’m very confused, though, and maybe I’ve missed something here. As I understand it, “crazy ass bets” refer to bets that are detrimental to the player making the bets. My confusion lies in the fact that I don’t see why a player making such bets would offend other players. I would be offended if someone cuts in line in front of me but I don’t care if another player throws away his money. If he enjoys doing that, then I say enjoy! 
What I was trying to say in my previous post was that when I googled I didn’t see any rule of etiquette stating you shouldn’t make crazy ass bets. What I mean is that I didn’t see any rule that specifies how a player should make bets (like “It is against table etiquette to hit on a 20.” or something like that). Maybe there’s a cite (book or url) you could suggest?
I’m not trying to rag on you. I’m just genuinely curious. And confused.
All right, folks, let’s ease up on being hyper-precisely-literal for a second. Like a lot of jokes, it wasn’t meant to be the exactly-as-stated gospel. It was intended to be an example of the sort of behavior that is rude. For the purposes of the (apparently just plain awful) joke, you can switch out “splitting tens” with “hitting on 20,” “hitting on 16 when dealer has 3,” or if you’re not the kind of person who likes examples, “playing with no apparent regard for basic strategy.” Then again, if you use that last one, it’s not really a joke of sorts anymore, and is just me stating explicitly and literally what I think. I guess I should have been literal in the first place, and should not have assumed that people clicking on this thread would be blackjack players, instead people going, “Really? There is a list of plays that is not allowed? Where can I find said list?” I thought I clarified this later after everyone went “What’s this about 20s?,” but maybe not.
When you’re sitting down at a blackjack table, there is the general expectation that everyone is going to play like they want to win. Disregard for this very basic spirit of the game annoys everyone at the table, and is rude. Everyone is expected to play like they want to win, like they want everyone else at the table to win, to show empathy for other’s losses, “Good job” the guy who’s on a winning streak, even though he didn’t actually do anything, and doesn’t control the cards, and so on. I don’t want to get into the song and dance over and over about why people consider it rude if it doesn’t harm them. I’ll go ahead and assume you recognize that we, and let me get away from generalities for a second to say even you specifically, would consider many behaviors rude that don’t cause measurable harm to other people.
You’re playing blackjack with a bunch of gamblers. This is an irrational game whose odds are inherently stacked against you. There is often some superstition involved, and “good vibes,” hot streaks, and other imaginary casino juju. Consistent, poor play may not actually change the odds of the game overall, but it’s in poor taste, and is inconsistent with how everyone else is playing, and wants to play. Now if you want to sit down and play Captain Logic and let a random number generator decide your move because you’re only hurting yourself, at the very least, understand that you’re harshing everyone’s buzz. Now if you want to deliberately harsh buzzes, or don’t care about people’s buzzes, because anyone who is bothered is obviously retarded anyway, so why consider the mood of an idiot, and bla bla bla, my very humble opinion is that you are rude.
Again, let’s back away from being literal, please. This was my way of saying learn about etiquette, then we’ll talk. Similarly, if I told someone to go download a sense of humor, I’d be just as surprised if the person came back and said, “You know, I went on iTunes, and I couldn’t find this sense of humor thing you were talking about.” Although I suppose it’s slightly different, because I’m sure somewhere there’s a guide that says it’s rude to consistently make shitty bets. You’ll be less likely to find one (I’m guessing) that says “The following bets are rude” and then goes on to list a specific, bulleted plays one should never make.
Here’s a cite I would suggest: Go sit down at a blackjack table, and report how long it takes the table to start groaning, glaring, and clearing out after you’ve been playing like you don’t care whether you win or lose. I put the over under at 6 rounds.
Seriously, don’t you think that is largely a function of people who believe that the offending player is fucking up everybody else’s chances? Not you, you understand that’s not the case. But everybody I’ve ever heard mention this explained it by saying the jerk was screwing up everybody else. I have never heard anyone but you, frankly, explain it as “certainly there’s no real harm, but everyone knows it’s just bad manners.” I’ve never heard that, ever. Yet there is no end of players who believe the jerk at third base is fouling it up for the rest of us. That’s the source of the groans.
I think some people might think the faulty player is messing up their game, sure.
People I know realize nobody else at the table is affecting your winnings, but people I know are usually like me, so this doesn’t mean anything. I think most people don’t like it because it may cost them that hand, which is annoying. It may not have any bearing on the overall game, but it irks when it happens. But then, even if people are winning, and there’s someone sitting around splitting tens, the table is still irritated
I have no doubt that there are some who think one player’s poor strategy is messing up the cards, or whatever, but I don’t think that’s 100% of the reason tables generally don’t like it. Even if everyone who was bothered was so due to this illogical belief, so what?
I don’t go into churches and start tearing pages out of the Bibles. “What the hell are you people so pissed off for? None of this stuff is real. Well if you’re offended, that’s *your *problem for believing in hocus pocus. I am going to keep making origami from these Bible pages.”
This is getting pointlesser by the second. At the table, or wherever else in life, behave however you wish. Every single day, every single one of us makes several conscious decisions to do things strictly to be polite, and for no other reason, even if the potential to offend due to being impolite isn’t based in solid, water-tight logic. We also will make exceptions, because we’ll think even if such and such thing is impolite, we won’t do it, and don’t care if we offend for whatever our reasons are. If blackjack is one of those exceptions for you, then cheerio, and Happy Kwaanza.
I’m hungover and need bacon.
I was just reacting to your comment that anyone could test this, and the groans that would inevitably result would be proof of your point about etiquette. I don’t think so, though I absolutely agree that there’s lots of common courtesies that we do “just because,” even though there’s no real benefit or harm avoided. I just don’t think this is one of them.
I’m a very small-time gambler. I hit the casinos mostly when on the road for business, maybe a half dozen times a year, and I usually play 3-card poker, which is one notch above betting on a coin flip for all the strategy required. No pressure, I relax, pass the time, smoke my cigar and pretend I’m James Bond at the Baccarat table while I sit betting $5 hands. That said, there is an optimum way to play, a minimum hand to bet on, below which you should fold. It’s math, just like proper blackjack strategy–it maximizes your chances.
And yet, you would not believe some of the crap hands people stay in with, putting an extra $15 on the table for the privilege. And you know what? Nobody else gives a crap. Ever. I have never once seen anyone groan or roll their eyes or leave the table because somebody thought a 2, a 4, and a 7 (all of different suits) was a good hand to bet on. Why? Because in this game there isn’t even a perception that anything you do can influence anyone else’s outcome. Yes, people chat and give each other “attaboys” at the table, and that’s part of the fun. But so long as someone doesn’t blow smoke at anybody else, nobody else seems to care how that person plays or what he does. That’s the etiquette I see.
Now, maybe blackjack players have their own rules and culture, but I don’t believe it (and I watch them play, too, and play myself infrequently). When they bitch and moan (other than rare cases like you), it’s because they think somebody is fouling up their hands, same as the 3-card poker players would if they thought it possible in that game. Just my opinion, and the topic is nothing to lose sleep over, of course.
And every single person I have ever seen playing blackjack plays to win. Every one. I have NEVER seen anyone hit on 19, or stay on 6, or do anything else unbelievably insane. Ever.
You do occasionally see people make decisions on the margins that are not profit-maximizing calls - splitting tens is not a frequent beginner mistake so much as, say, holding on 13 against a dealer’s 8 or some such thing, betting on insurance, stuff like that. But playing like you’re insane? Rarely happens.
Every time I’ve seen some snarly, mean asshole at a blackjack table criticize someone else’s play it was always for marginal decisions. Always. And it was ALWAYS snarled in the sense of “you’re fucking up my cards,” in defiance of all logic and common sense. That’s what actually happens.
I’ve called for a hit on a blackjack. The dealer gave me a 10. The pit boss just about kicked both of us out of the casino.
(It involved both of us being distracted by a very spathic young lady who was passing by at the time.)
Ah, I get it now. Thanks for clearing that up for me, Stratocaster.
These are the same people that believe the house changes craps dealers in the middle of a hot roll so that the shooter will cool off.
Probably not what you’re looking for, but I’ve seen a couple of spurned spouses use the tables to empty their spouse’s bank account before the split. 
I play a fair amount of blackjack. Really there are only three things other players can do that will reliably drive me away or annoy me.
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Smoke really smelly cigars. This is allowed and not particularly rude, I just don’t want to deal with it.
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Take forever to make decisions or have rituals that just slow everything down. The people who rub the wheels while slot machines are spinning are quirky. Someone who has to rub each card, say a little prayer, and act like turning over the card will be the greatest revelation since Jesus should be run out of town.
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Talk to me about how I should play when I haven’t requested any advice. The only person who should question my play is the dealer and that should only be after they’ve watched me enough to know that I’m consistent in my play and I just did something different suggesting I’ve made a mistake.
Everything else I just chalk up to living in a world that has other people in it.
Best line I’ve heard at a blackjack table: a newbie asked the dealer her advice about splitting tens. She said the only time to split tens is if the table is crowded and you want to make room for your friends…because doing so will clear the table in a heartbeat. (And it’s a very stupid play. You’re turning an excellent hand into 2 worse hands.)
Playing badly isn’t rude, but it’s not smart. If you’re at 3rd base and you play your hand correctly, and the dealer turns over a killer card, everyone else just shrugs and blames bad luck. If you play your hand badly with the same outcome…everyone blames you.
But poor play doesn’t bother me. Slow play does. If someone agonizes over their decision for 5 minutes, I want to yank the cards from their hand and say; HIT!! GODDAMMIT HIT THE GODDAM HAND!!. Learn basic strategy – add up your cards, look at the dealer’s up card, and make the goddam decision in 0.05 seconds.
Well, what’s the point of being upset at someone for “taking” “your” card? And how are you supposed to know not to if you don’t know what the card is?
I used to do this fairly frequently–felt it was a good bet that I’d get another couple tens. Until I woke up in the middle of the night and decided winning hands are a statistical anomaly to begin with and decided to stop doing it. I still split aces though.