Learn blackjack before you buy in.

You play against the dealer, not the other players. Each of you gets two cards; one of the dealer's is face down. The goal is a total closer to 21 than the dealer's without going over. Number cards count as their value, faces count as 10, and an ace counts as 1 or 11, whichever helps.

Once every player has acted, the dealer turns over the hole card and plays by a fixed rule: hit until 17, then stand. The placard says whether the dealer stands or hits on a soft 17, a 17 that counts an ace as 11. Standing is better for you.

• Hit or stand. Take another card, or keep what you have.
• Double down. Double your bet and take exactly one more card.
• Split. Turn a pair into two hands, with a second bet equal to the first.
• Blackjack. An ace and a ten-value card on the deal. It pays 3 to 2 at a good table.

Basic strategy is the mathematically correct play for every hand against every dealer upcard. The full chart is a grid of every total against every upcard, but a handful of rules cover most of the hands you'll see at a six-deck table where the dealer stands on soft 17:

• Always split aces and eights. Two aces are a weak 12; two eights are 16, the worst total there is.
• Never split tens or fives. Stand on 20. Treat a pair of fives as 10 and double it.
• Double 10 against a dealer 2 through 9, and double 11. These are the hands where the extra bet earns the most.
• Stand on 13 to 16 against a dealer 2 through 6. Let the dealer take the risk of busting.
• Hit 12 to 16 against a dealer 7 or higher. Standing on a stiff hand against a strong card loses more often.
• 12 is the exception. Stand against a 4, 5 or 6; hit against a 2 or 3.
• Soft 18 is not a stand-everywhere hand. Double it against 3 to 6, stand against 2, 7 and 8, and hit against 9, 10 or an ace.

Knowing the rules on a page is the easy part. Making them without thinking while a dealer waits on you is what Table Ready drills.

At a 3 to 2 table a $10 blackjack wins $15. At a 6 to 5 table the same blackjack wins $12. You'll be dealt one about once every 21 hands, so the gap adds up quickly.

Moving from 3 to 2 to 6 to 5 adds about 1.4% to the house edge. That's more than every other common rule change put together. A 6 to 5 table costs you several times more per hour even if you play perfectly, so walk past it, even when the minimum is lower.

When the dealer shows an ace you'll be offered insurance: a side bet of up to half your wager that the dealer has blackjack. It pays 2 to 1, so it needs to win a third of the time to break even. The dealer has a ten under that ace less than a third of the time, and in a six-deck shoe insurance carries a house edge of around 7%.

Even money, offered when you hold a blackjack against an ace, is the same bet in a different coat. Basic strategy declines both.

The small sign on every table gives the minimum and maximum bet, for example $15 to $5,000. The felt and the placard also tell you how blackjack pays and whether the dealer hits soft 17. Check all three before you sit down; they change both the house edge and the right plays.

Bring at least 20 to 40 minimum bets for a session. At a $15 table that's $300 to $600. With less, an ordinary losing streak can end your night in minutes.

The dealer and the cameras go by your hands, not your words. In a shoe game with the cards dealt face up:

• Hit. Tap the felt behind your cards, or point at them.
• Stand. Wave your hand flat over your cards.
• Double. Place a matching bet next to your circle, not on top of it, and hold up one finger.
• Split. Place a matching bet beside the circle and make a V with two fingers.
• Hands off. Never touch face-up cards, and don't touch your bet once the hand starts.