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House Rules

Upon registering an account under YouWager, you must or have accepted and agreed to the Terms of Use of our network. Here you will confirm that you are at least 18 years old and playing from a location in which tournament play on the Internet is legal.

To ensure a fair and honest playing environment, YouWager has established rules governing player behavior, lost connectivity, and policies against illegal funds and unlawful activities. Other non-specific situations will be addressed accordingly.

Your User Name is the identity by which other players can get to know you. Part of the game is having an understanding of how other players bet under different conditions.  Therefore, we do not permit players to change their user name, except under extraordinary circumstances.

YouWager offers players from around the globe the ability to play blackjack from the comforts of their own home, office or at their local Internet Cafe.  It's not necessary to travel to a physical blackjack room.  Along with the convenience of the virtual blackjack room come some opportunities for the unscrupulous.  Rest assured that YouWager actively guards against unfair behavior. Hence, We will not tolerate cheating.

When using the Internet, there are times when players may lose their connection to the server.  This may occur for any number of reasons including:

• Dropped modem connection.
• Routing problems at the local Internet Service Provider (ISP).
• Network congestion somewhere on the Internet.
• Home computer hangs, freezes, or crashes.

 

When this occurs, or if you experience a broken connection due to another cause, the game will wait a reasonable amount of time for your connection to be re-established.  It will also alert you, and wait a reasonable amount of time for you, should you experience a slow connection, or a distraction at home.  The player may re-enter by going back to the lobby and reconnecting to the game.  The player will pick up the game in progress when he/she re-enters.  If you cannot or do not respond the software will automatically continue to make the minimum bet for you and will always hit on 11 or under and will always stand on 12 or over.  These rules are more defined under the specific tournament rules, and are established to maintain a level of play. The player will be marked as offline as well.  Of course, it is poor etiquette to deliberately slow a game down.

If a Player had chips at a table during a server crash, the Game will be cancelled and all chips at the table and in play will be returned to the Player's account. In those and all other circumstances, YouWager, its affiliates, agents and licensors shall not be liable for any loss resulting from delays or interruptions to play due to failure breakdown malfunction or interruption of electronic or mechanical equipment, telephone internet connection or other communications facilities, or to storms, strikes, walkouts or other causes over which they have no direct control or to loss resulting from erroneous statements or to errors in transmission ("force majeure"). YouWager will at all times use reasonable endeavors to overcome any event of such force majeure so far as it can, but does not guarantee its ability to do so.

Tournament Directors reserves the right to deny and/or disconnect any player for participating in a BlackJack Tournament when the player’s internet connection slows down the game to unacceptable levels

At this point the Tournament Director will contact the staff holding a licensee and will communicate the steps to follow. These steps include time frames of delays or interruption of service, replacements of stopped games and flow of returned entrance fees to affected clients.  This contact will be done through a Instant Messaging Conference and through email communication in deeper details of such events.  By this we can guarantee a fluid communicative relationship between the parties involved, called them Brand Managers, Hosts (Customer Service Representative) and End Users.

 

Tournament Cancellation Policy

If you are participating in a BlackJack Tournament and connection to our game server is lost due to failure on the part of the 21GamingNetwork, we will review the details of the tournament and evaluate pay outs accordingly. Our House Policy is to provide full refund to our players if the game is less than 66% complete. If, however, the game is more than 66% complete, then payouts will be provided based on the details of the tournament… meaning, 1st, 2nd, & 3rd  position players, or player awarded positions, will be paid based on their chip amounts when game was terminated.

 

YouWager reserves the right to deny and/or disconnect any player participating in any of our Tournaments when the player’s internet connection slows down the game to unacceptable levels, or levels we deem unsuitable for the level of play in our tournaments. 

All Multi-Tournaments are subject to evaluation by the network provider. Part of this evaluation includes but is not limited to player responsibility and participation in the Multi-Tournaments these players have registered to play in.

IF YOU HAVE REGISTERED FOR A MULTI-TOURNAMENT AND DO NOT SHOW NOR PARTICIPATE, OR SHOW ACTION WITHIN THE FIRST 66.7% OF THE TOURNAMENT, YOUR CHIPS WILL BE EXHAUSTED OR ZEROED OUT BY THE TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR. YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED FROM THE TOURNAMENT FOR NON-PARTICIPATION.

Our software will play on behalf of a player even while the player is offline, giving the player the opportunity to log in after the tournament start time. This is also a functionality of the software provided to the players allowing for unforseen circumstances such as poor internet connections and/or other possible reasons for not showing during the start of the tournament.

Once 66.7% of the tournament is complete, it is up to the Tournament Director’s discretion to disqualify a player. This rule is subject to scheduled Multi-Tournaments and is not applicable to Single Tournament play.  ENTRY FEES WILL NOT BE REFUNDED for non-participation.

 

 

This is a community and as in any community there are rules about behavior.  These rules are intended to maximize the enjoyment and comfort of all players and visitors.  Please follow these rules. In the event of breaching any of the above rules, violators will be contacted, and the Company shall have the right to immediately terminate your membership. Upon such termination the Company shall refund to you any funds which may be in your account over and above any amount which may be owing to the Company at such time (if any).

Chat Feature
The Company reserves the right to review the Chat facility in relation to any game on the Site and to keep a record of all statements made on such facility. In the event that you use the Chat facility on the Site you shall be bound by the following rules:

Polite Chat:

• Users can not make statements that are sexually explicit or grossly offensive, including expressions of bigotry, racism, hatred or profanity.
• Users shall not make statements that are abusive, defamatory or harassing or insulting to others.
• Users shall not make statements that advertise or promote any other online entities.
• Users shall not make statements that are disparaging of the Company or the site or any other internet site connected to the Company.

Kibitzing:

• Only players who are remaining in a hand should make comments on the current hand. Observers, including those who have folded, must not comment about the play, or style of any player, or how the game is being played.

Coffee housing:

• Players are asked to refrain from "table talk" or "coffee-housing" or talking during a hand in a way that compromises and opponent's hand. This applies to players playing in the hand or watching the hand.

 

Please note that the only activities on these sites are skilled blackjack tournaments and there is no gaming, sports or casino play.

ABOUT BLACKJACK

Blackjack Glossary

The purpose of The Blackjack Player's Virtual Glossary is to provide both experienced and inexperienced players with a well written, authoritative reference that explains the interesting and colorful terminology encountered in the world of Blackjack Tournament play.

Following, you will find the vital inside words and phrases associated with Blackjack wherever it is played on the planet. Most of them are right here. In addition, you will receive many solid hints on how to improve your play, and increase your winnings. In effect, you just select whatever you need.

A sound grasp of the players' vocabulary will not only enable you to better understand and enjoy your favorite sporting activities, but will also make you a better, more complete player.

(Please Note: The words he, his, him, and himself, as used in this glossary, are intended to apply to all genders.)

Action - a general gambling term that refers to the total amount of money wagered within a specific period of time. For example, ten bets, of 20 dollars each, amount to $200.00 of action. The term, action, typically refers to a wager of any kind. The word, action, may also be used in much the same way that a movie director uses it. For example, if a player appears to be unaware that it is his turn to play, the dealer may say, "Your action, sir."

Active Player - a player who is playing a hand during a Blackjack game, as opposed to someone who occupies a seat at the table, but is sitting out a hand.

Alpo - a dog, puppy or underdog, i.e., the team, side or contestant in any given event considered to be the least likely to win.

Anchor - the last player to the button holder’s right at the Blackjack table.

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Back Counting - to count cards in Blackjack and wait for the count to become favorable before sitting down to play. Back counting is usually done while standing behind the active players in the game.

Balanced Count - any counting system in Blackjack, which begins at zero when the cards are shuffled, and ends at zero when all cards in the deck(s) have been exposed. Most counting systems use a balanced count.

Bad Beat - a tough loss, e.g., when winning points are scored against your wager in the dying seconds of an event, or your horse loses by a nose, after leading all the way, or to have a blackjack hand, that is a obvious underdog, beat a heavily favored hand. A normal reaction of a losing player is to mumble something about dumb luck.

Banker - the dealer, or the player, who books the action of the other bettors at the table during a card game.

Bankroll - the total available chips held by the player.

Basic Strategy - a playing system adopted by a player with the idea of optimizing his edge over the house in the longer term. Most strategies take into account the player's cards and the dealer's exposed card(s).

Basic Strategy - Blackjack - a predetermined set of decisions a player should make to maximize his average gain or expectation, while he is playing a single hand against a deck(s) of cards.

Bet - the amount of chips the player wagers on a card hand, or other game or sport.

Bet Spread - the ratio between the maximum and minimum bet size. A game using $50.00 maximum bets and $5.00 minimum bets is using a 10:1 bet spread.

Betting Limit - the set minimum and/or maximum amount of chips that the player can wager on a single bet. The player cannot bet less than the minimum or more than the maximum amount posted.

Blackjack - an ace and any card having a point value of ten dealt as the initial two cards to a player or a dealer, except that this shall not include an ace and a ten point value card dealt to a player who has split pairs.

BR - an abbreviation for bankroll.

Buck - a $100.00 wager.

Bust - to go over the total of twenty-one in the game of Blackjack. If the player busts, he loses.

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Card Counting - keeping track of all cards that have been played since the shuffle.

Card Shark - a person who is an expert at cards.

Card Weight - the value assigned to each card face in a counting system. This weight is added to the count as each new card is exposed. Weights are usually small integer values like minus one, plus one or plus two.

Case - the last card of a certain rank in the deck, e.g., the case ten would be the last ten in the deck(s).

Cashier's Cage - the place in a casino where players may redeem casino chips for cash, cash checks, or arrange credit. It is often referred to as, the cage, for short.

Check - a term for a chip in casino gambling. It also refers to the word, check, used by a poker player, who does not wish to bet on a round of cards, but wishes to stay in the game with an option to call or raise later in the betting round.

Chips - round tokens that are used in tournaments.

Cold - a term for a player on a losing streak

Count - a number that represents the player's estimate of how favorable or unfavorable the non-dealt cards in the deck may be.

Counter - a player who counts cards.

Crack - to beat a hand, i.e., typically a big hand.

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Deal - to distribute the cards during a hand.

Dealer – deals the cards in the tournament

Dime - the sum of $1000.00.

Discard Tray - a tray on the dealer's right side that holds all the cards that have been played or discarded.

Dollar - the sum of $100.00.

Dollar Bet - a $100.00 wager.

Double Bet - a wager that is twice the amount of the player's usual wager.

Double Down - to double the original bet in Blackjack in exchange for receiving only one more card. To do this, the player turns over his first two cards and places an equal bet alongside the original bet.

Down Card - a card that has been dealt face-down on the Blackjack table.

Due For - a term referring to a contestant or team that is considered to be overdue for a win or loss in their next contest or sports event. It could also refer to a losing player who is overdue for a good hand. The, due for, wager is a favorite strategy of many players.

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Edge - an advantage over an opponent, or the house, in any wager, or it can be the advantage that the casino has on any given wager.

Even Money (Blackjack) - when the player takes insurance even while holding a Blackjack. This results in a clear net gain of one bet. Some casinos will allow the player to be paid without actually placing such an insurance bet. This is called, taking even money. Also, see insurance.

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Face Cards - the jack, queen, and king of any suit of cards.

Favorite - the contestant, competing in any given event, that is considered to be the most talented or, otherwise, has the best chance to win.

Firing - the wagering of large sums of money, i.e., a player who does so is said to be firing.

First Base - the position on the far left of the dealer at the start of each hand at the Blackjack table is considered to be first base, and is the first position dealt during play.

Flat Bet - a bet of the same amount on successive hands, which the player does not vary i.e., if the player makes a flat bet of five dollars, he is betting five dollars on each and every hand without changing the betting amount from one hand to the next.

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Get Down - make a wager.

Going Down - losing a wager, or series of wagers.

Green - the most common color used for $25.00 chips.

Grinder - a player who wagers small money.

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Hand - the cards that the player holds

Hard Hand - any hand in Blackjack valued at eleven that does not contain an ace, or in which any ace held is counted as one and not as eleven. This is also called a hard total.

Hit (Blackjack) - the card received from the dealer in Blackjack, when the player says, hit me, or otherwise indicates the need for an additional card. Along with deciding whether or not to stand on a total card count, whether to take a hit or not is the most common decision a player must make during the game of Blackjack.

Holding Your Own - the result of breaking even, i.e., neither winning nor losing, during a wager, or series of wagers.

Hole-Card - any dealt card, which is played face-down on the table. The definition most often refers to the dealer's single, face-down card.

Hot - a player who is on a winning streak or a slot machine that is paying out.

House - a term for the establishment that runs a game.

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Insurance - a side bet in Blackjack of up to one half the original bet, that is offered only when the dealer's up-card is an ace. The insurance bet wins double, i.e., 2:1, if the dealer has a natural, but loses if the dealer does not. Also see even money.

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Layout - the imprinted surface of a gaming table, which shows all the areas where bets can be placed.

Surrender - a surrender which is allowed only when the dealer does not have a natural. If the dealer has a natural 21 (Blackjack), the player's bet will lose. If the dealer does not have a Blackjack, the player loses half the bet, and does not play the rest of the hand.

Limit - the maximum wager accepted in the game

Lock - an easy winner, or a clear no-lose situation.

Longshot - an extreme underdog.

Loyalty Points – points earned toward prizes for playing at our site.

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Natural - a two-card hand of twenty-one points in Blackjack, or a two-card total of eight, or nine, in Baccarat.

Nickel - a $500.00 wager.

Nickels - a casino term for chips with a five-dollar denomination.

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Odds - the ratio between the amount to be paid to the winning player and the amount bet.

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Pat Hand - a good Blackjack hand worth at least 17 points. The player, in such cases, is said to have a pat hand.

Payoff - the winning return or payout the player receives on a wager.


Player – a person playing in a tournament

Point Count - the net value of the card count at the end of a hand. This is a card counting term.

Point Total - the total value of cards in a hand.

Press - to wager a greater amount than usual.

Press a Bet (Press) - to increase a bet by doubling it.

Pressing - wagering winnings along with the original bet. A player is pressing a bet when he lets winnings ride.

Puppy - an underdog, Alpo or dog.

Push - a tie hand between a dealer and a player where no money changes hands. A push in the game of Blackjack occurs when both the player and the dealer have legitimate hands with the same total points.

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Quarters - a term for chips of a twenty-five dollar denomination.

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Rank - the numerical playing value of each card in a set of cards, as opposed to its suit.

Red - the most common color used for $5.00 chips.


Rich Deck - a partial deck that has a disproportionately high percentage of face cards and aces.

Round of Play - a period of play commencing with the removal of the first card from the shoe or shuffling device by the dealer and concluding when the dealer, after drawing the last card, announces a result and if applicable, pays out winnings.

Running Count - the total count of the weights of all cards that have been exposed since the cards were shuffled, i.e., from the beginning of a deck, or shoe. The running count is updated by the value of the point count after each hand.

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Session - a series of plays during any gambling game.

Settlement - the last stage of any particular bet. Either, the dealer takes the player's chips, pays out player winnings or in the case of a push, exchanges no chips with him.


Shoe - a plastic or wooden box for holding and dealing multiple decks of cards used in Baccarat and Blackjack. The shoe can hold up to eight decks of cards and is designed to enable a dealer to slide out one card at a time.

Short - a slang term for Alpo, puppy, dog or underdog. It is often expressed as, the short.


Short Stack - a stack of chips in front of a player that is smaller than the stacks of the other players at the table. If a player has $10.00 in front of him, and everybody else at the table has over $100.00, he is playing on a short stack.

Shuffle - to mix the order of the cards by hand prior to the start of a game. The dealer normally does the shuffling.

Shuffle Tracking - a system used by card counters to predict which sections of the deck/shoe will be favorable to the player. Shuffle tracking is based on studying the locations of favorable sections of the previous deck/shoe, as well as the method used by the dealer to shuffle the cards.


Shuffling Device - a card shuffling machine approved by the Casino Control Authority for use in the game of Blackjack, but does not include a multi-shuffler.


Side Count - a count in addition to the main count, usually involving a single card face, e.g., ace side count.


Soft Hand - any hand in Blackjack that contains an ace counted as eleven, without having the value of the hand exceed 21. It is always possible to draw one card to a soft hand without busting.

Split Hand - a hand in Blackjack, consisting of two dealt cards of the same rank, that is split to form two independent hands. The split hand is played as two separate hands after the player adds a new bet to the second hand.


Spread Limit - a betting structure in which a player may bet any amount, within a set range, on every betting round. A typical spread limit structure is $2.00 to $6.00, where a player may bet as little as $2.00 or as much as $6.00 on every betting round.

Stand - to refrain from taking another card in Blackjack; to stop at the current total and await the dealer's total to see if the hand wins, loses or ties that of the dealer. Along with taking a hit card, whether to stand or not is the most common decision a player must make during the game of Blackjack.

Standoff - a tie in cards between players, or among one or more players and the house. When referring to a wager, it means that it shall neither win nor lose.

Star - a rating given to certain high performers.


Stiff - a hand in Blackjack that is not pat, and may bust if hit once. Stiffs include a hard twelve through sixteen. A stiff hand has a small chance of winning regardless of how it is played.

Strategy Variation - varying a basic strategy when the count indicates that it is profitable to do so.

Square - an unsophisticated player.


Surrender - to give up half the value of a bet for the privilege of not playing out a hand of Blackjack. Some hands, such as a 16 against the dealer's 10, are so bad that surrender is less costly than playing the hand.

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Tapped Out - a condition experienced by players who are broke (busted). It is a common result of pressing.

Ten Poor - a deck that has a lower than average density of tens and face cards.

Ten Rich - a deck that has a higher than average density of tens and face cards.

Third Base - the last player to the button’s right at the Blackjack table.

True Count - an adjustment to the running count, in order to account for the number of cards left to be dealt in the deck or shoe. The true count usually is determined by dividing the running count by the number of undealt decks, or half-decks.

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Unbalanced Count - any counting system where a count starts or ends on a non-zero value. Red seven is an example of an unbalanced count. Also, see balanced count.

Underdog - the contestant in any given event considered the least likely to win. See also short, puppy, Alpo, or dog.

Under the Gun - the position of the player who acts first on a betting round.

Unit - the dollar amount of a basic bet, i.e., one chip.

Up Card - the first card the Blackjack dealer deals himself that he places face-up for all players to see before they play their hands. The player's decision to draw or stand involves some consideration of the dealer's up card.

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Victory Points - accumulate Victory Points to play in special free games

Void - means invalid with no result;

THE HISTORY OF BLACKJACK

The history of Blackjack, indeed, the history of most of the card games we know today, is sketchy to say the least. We know from early records that playing cards were being used in China and/or India and/or Egypt as early as 900AD. At first they may have been used as a form or currency, mystical power, or social entertainment, and later used as markers in games simulating battle maneuvers.

Some scholars believe cards originated in India as a derivation of chess. Others insist the Chinese were first, having originated one type, which they apparently derived from paper money, and another from the ancient game of dominoes. While the dispute goes on, it is significant that, in China today, the general term for playing cards means, paper tickets.

Over the centuries, playing cards and card games gradually were introduced into the Middle East, then Europe, and finally North America. The first mention of playing cards in Europe dates from the 13th and 14th centuries, and the earliest known examples were usually hand-painted paper. As a result, the cost of a single deck was prohibitive, and its use was, therefore, restricted to the aristocracy.

In 1397, however, a decree was issued in Paris forbidding the playing of cards by working people on workdays. This seems to indicate that cards were available to the working class, and by then being mass-produced, probably by wood-block printing, before the invention of the printing press. During the 15th century, wood-block cards were designed in Germany and exported in great numbers. With the advances in printing, card playing increased in popularity.

The exact history of the game of Blackjack, itself, is still somewhat cloudy, but most agree it probably originated in French casinos around 1700, where it was called Vingt-et- Un which, translated, means twenty-one. Many agree it is was probably derived from the French card games, Chemin de Fer, and French Ferme, which were in vogue at that time. It was introduced into the United States during the 1800's and has been played in North America since. Early in its rise in popularity, the contemporary 52 card deck used in England was referred to, not surprisingly, as the French Pack, but was later adopted by the United States and others, becoming known as Blackjack. You might well ask then, how did the playing of Blackjack develop into a serious gambling game?

The earliest forms of gambling are said to have appeared in China around 2300 B.C. Gambling also was very popular in Ancient Greece, even though it was illegal. Gambling has been a part of the human experience ever since. The gradual acceptance of games of chance using playing cards was a very natural outgrowth of many and varied antiquated human pastimes.

Gambling was legal in western United States from the 1850's to 1910 until the state of Nevada, ironically, made it a felony to operate a gambling game. In 1931, Nevada then legalized casino gambling with Blackjack becoming one of the primary games of chance offered to gamblers.

In the early days of western gambling halls, poker and craps were the preferred games of the high rollers and Twenty-One, as it was played at the time, had not really caught on. To make the game more enticing some clubs began offering a tempting ten to one payout to any player who got a very special hand on his first two cards, i.e., an ace of spades plus a black jack, i.e., a jack of clubs or jack of spades. Thus, the game of Twenty-One became Blackjack because of those particular cards. Nowadays, the payout of three to two, or 150 percent is standard in most casinos, regardless of which face card accompanies the ace.

In 1978, casino gambling was legalized in Atlantic City, New Jersey. By 1989, only two states had legalized casino gambling. Since then, literally hundreds of casinos have sprung up online and offshore, while over 20 states have opened a number of small independent casinos in places such as Black Hawk and Cripple Creek, Colorado, and in river boats on the Mississippi.

Approximately, 70 North American Native reservations operate, or are building casinos as well. In addition to the United States, countries operating casinos include France, England, Monaco (Monte Carlo), Canada, Central and South America, and many of the islands in the Caribbean. A player, nowadays, can find one or more active Blackjack tables in any one of these locations.