Blackjack's Advanced Toking Strategy
Blackjack has had many customs develop through the years. One of these is putting down a bet that your dealer has a stake in, as a tip. It's called a toke bet.
If you are in a game where the dealer has discretion over his or her penetration of the deck, try to tip the dealer when you want them to continue to deal into a favorable deck.
To do this most effectively, place a bet in the betting box, where you control the bet. If you place the toke outside the box, if the bet is won, the dealer must remove the toke. If it's lost, it's lost along with your bet. But keeping it in the betting box allows you to control it. You can either hand it to the dealer, or let it ride if the bet is won, and the dealer can't touch it.
If you make a toke bet in the betting box and the dealer continues to deal, but the deck gets unfavorable, then hand the tip to the dealer as a signal that they can now shuffle up.
If the deck remains favorable, keep the toke bet going. A good thing to say is "let's win this together," or words to that effect.
Even though dealers share tips, with the whole shift usually participating, they want those tokes, because the more each dealer gets, the more there is for everybody.
Dealers share tokes because sharing is more equitable. The dealers in the bigger games usually make the most in tokes, whereas the smaller games yield the least. This way, no matter what game the dealer deals, he or she knows the share will be equal at the end of the shift.
If you make a toke bet in the box and the dealer doesn't keep dealing, then remove the toke bet and just keep your own bet. Then try it again. If it still doesn't have the desired effect either you have an uncooperative dealer, or the dealer is afraid to bend the rules. If you are hurt by this, leave the table.
A small toke is always welcome after you've been dealt a blackjack. It doesn't have to be much. You will find that a $1 or $2 bet out there for the dealer is happily accepted. Some never give a bet directly to the dealer. They often put it in the betting box. There may be exceptions, however. Sometimes, if you are really friendly with the dealer, then you might ask if they want the toke directly, or wants you to bet it for them. Usually, they want it bet, but sometimes a dealer will want it directly.
3. If the dealer is being helpful, even though you're not getting great cards, never complain to the dealer, or blame them. It's best to still tip, especially if the deck is favorable, and you have a big bet out. In fact, anytime you have a big bet out at a juncture where the cards may or may not be reshuffled, you might consider putting a toke bet out, because you want another round of cards dealt before the shuffle.
4. Even when dealers can't control the shuffle point, such as multiple deck games dealt from a shoe, where the shuffle card comes up arbitrarily, you can toke the dealers to keep them friendly. If you're a card counter, and are playing skillfully, you don't want an expert move, such as a double-down of a soft 19 against the dealer's 6, brought to the attention of the floorman. You don't want any attention, period.
If a dealer signals a floorman to come over and watch your play, then this would mean it's unadvisable to toke that dealer, or maybe it's best to just leave the table immediately. If the deck is unfavorable at this point, you can make a minimum bet and play the hand crazily. You may stand on soft 17, which any floorman knows is an amateur move. Or you may hit a hard 14 against a dealer's stiff card, another bad play. All of these moves generally send a floorperson away, annoyed that the dealer bothered them. But only make these crazy plans if you don't want to leave the table because you've been winning at it.
5. Sometimes if a dealer is really cooperative, he or she may go out of his or her way to help you in a way you would never dare to ask for. It's been known to happen that toked dealers just pass by your request to get a hit when they have a hard 16, with the 6 in the hole. It can help when they have a stake in you winning the hand.
It's even been known to happen that a dealer will indicate to you what their hole card is. You toke a dealer like that, but never ask a dealer to do this for you - that's going over the line, but if they do it voluntarily, gladly take the information.
Sometimes a dealer is angry at the casino their working for, or at a floorman/pit boss. Or just angry. You come along and treat them decently, and they decides to reward you. Though it only happens occasionally, it's amazing when it happens, for it comes at the most unexpected times. In those situations, you just keep toking steadily. It can be great fun playing with the dealer, instead of just against them.
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