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Calling the hand like a dealer

Lesson 6 of 24 · The third-card rule · 6 min

Mixed practice, then meet the Drill tab.

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Here's the whole rule as a checklist. Dealers run through it in their heads on every hand:

  1. Natural? If either side has 8 or 9 on two cards, stop. Higher total wins.
  2. Player: 0–5 draws, 6–7 stands.
  3. Banker, if the Player stood: 0–5 draws, 6–7 stands.
  4. Banker, if the Player drew: use the Player's third card: 0–2 always draw · 3 all but 8 · 4 on 2–7 · 5 on 4–7 · 6 on 6–7 · 7 stands.
What the Banker does, by the Banker's two-card total (rows) and the Player's third card (columns). Banker 8 or 9 is a natural and always stands.
Banker totalPlayer stood0123456789
Banker 0DrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDraw
Banker 1DrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDraw
Banker 2DrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDraw
Banker 3DrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawStandDraw
Banker 4DrawStandStandDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawDrawStandStand
Banker 5DrawStandStandStandStandDrawDrawDrawDrawStandStand
Banker 6StandStandStandStandStandStandStandDrawDrawStandStand
Banker 7StandStandStandStandStandStandStandStandStandStandStand
  • Player 0–5: the Player draws a third card.
  • Player 6, 7: the Player stands.
  • Player or Banker 8 or 9 on two cards is a natural: both hands stand.
  • When the Player stood: Banker 0–5 draws, Banker 6, 7 stands.
  • Banker 0 always draws.
  • Banker 1 always draws.
  • Banker 2 always draws.
  • Banker 3 draws on anything except a Player third card of 8.
  • Banker 4 draws when the Player's third card is 2–7.
  • Banker 5 draws when the Player's third card is 4–7.
  • Banker 6 draws when the Player's third card is 6, 7.
  • Banker 7 always stands.

You don't need to be fast. At a real table the dealer does all of this for you, and a dealer who makes a mistake is corrected by the supervisor. But being able to follow along means no hand ever looks like magic, and nobody can fool you about what "should" have happened.

The Drill tab is a quick-fire trainer for exactly this: it deals a hand, stops, and asks "Does the Banker draw?" (and other questions), then shows the rule row that decides it. Try a few rounds of Banker mode until it feels easy.

Quiz

Player Banker

Player , Banker . What happens first?

  1. Player draws
  2. Player stands on 6
  3. Banker draws
  4. Natural
Show the answer

B: Player stands on 6. 9 + 7 = 16 → 6. Player stands, so the Banker's 6 also stands: a tie.

Quiz

Player draws a . Banker has . Does the Banker draw?

  1. Draws
  2. Stands
Show the answer

A: Draws. Banker 5 draws on a Player third card of 4 to 7. A 7 is in range.

Quiz

Player draws an . Banker has . Does the Banker draw?

  1. Draws
  2. Stands
Show the answer

B: Stands. Banker 3 stands only on an 8, and this is that case.

Quiz

Player draws a . Banker has . Does the Banker draw?

  1. Draws
  2. Stands
Show the answer

B: Stands. Banker 7 always stands.

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