Table Play & Etiquette

"The player at third base can screw up the whole table"

"Third base" is the last seat before the dealer acts. A common belief is that if the third-base player deviates from basic strategy — say, hitting a stiff hand when they should stand — they can pull a card the dealer needed to bust, causing everyone else at the table to lose. You'll hear groans directed at that seat all the time.

It's a myth — seat position doesn't change your long-run odds

Gaming mathematicians have tested this directly. Michael Shackleford (the "Wizard of Odds") ran computer simulations of over a billion hands comparing outcomes when a basic-strategy player acted before vs. after a player making poor decisions. The basic-strategy player's expected loss stayed essentially unchanged (around -0.28%) regardless of what the other player did or which seat either of them sat in. The player making bad decisions only hurt their own results — their expected loss got much worse (past -11%), while everyone else's odds were unaffected on average.

The one grain of truth: a deviation from basic strategy changes the variance of that specific hand for everyone still to act, for better or worse. It just doesn't create a predictable long-run edge or disadvantage for anyone but the player making the deviation.

Things that actually change your odds at a table

• Your own decisions. Following basic strategy (see the chart) is the single biggest lever on your own results — far bigger than anything about seat position.
• The table's rule variant. S17 vs H17, 3:2 vs 6:5 Blackjack payout, DAS, surrender, and number of decks all measurably shift the house edge — see Casino Rules.
• How many hands you see per hour. More players at a full table means fewer hands per hour for you, which doesn't change your per-hand odds but does slow the rate you're exposed to the house edge — a full table is gentler on your bankroll per hour than heads-up play, purely because you play fewer hands.
• Card counting (an advanced skill beyond this trainer's scope) is the one legitimate way skilled players shift the odds in their favor by tracking which cards remain in the shoe — and it works the same regardless of seat.

Seats at the table

Purely for orientation — seating runs left to right from the dealer's perspective, with "first base" acting first and "third base" acting last:

How to play considerately (this part is real)

None of this changes anyone's odds, but it does affect how pleasant the table is — and dealers and other players do notice:

• Know basic strategy before you sit at a full table. Not because it protects others' odds, but because slow, uncertain decisions slow the game down for everyone.
• Use standard hand signals. Tap the table (or scratch cards toward you) for hit; wave a flat hand for stand. It's faster than speaking and keeps the count clear for the eye-in-the-sky cameras.
• Don't touch your bet once cards are out, and in hand-held games, never touch the cards with two hands or let them go below the table edge.
• Keep chips organized and stack bets neatly — it speeds up payouts and makes the count easy for the dealer to verify.
• Play at a reasonable pace. A few seconds of thought is normal; long pauses on routine hands hold up the whole table.
• Tipping ("toking") the dealer is optional but customary in the U.S. for a bet on your behalf or a cash tip after a winning session.
• Keep commentary about others' plays to yourself. As shown above, it's not costing you anything mathematically — and it's not much fun to play next to someone announcing your mistakes.