1. A dealer shall announce the dealer's faceup card one time to all the players at a table. As a prompt for optional wagers (splitting pairs or doubling-down), a dealer may announce the point total of each player's hand.

1. 2. A dealer may not allow a player to touch any cards and may not switch or remove a player's card or chip, pay on a tie, or do anything to alter a fair and legal outcome of a betting hand.

2. 3. If a player has split or doubled-down, or both, a dealer shall play each hand as follows:

1. a. When a player places a wager for a split, a dealer shall split the cards side by side. If a player has also placed a tip bet, a dealer shall assign and reposition the tip bet to the split hand located at the foremost left of a betting space, from the dealer's perspective. Each split hand must be played separately. If aces are split, one additional card must be dealt face upwards to each of the hands and placed at a right angle to the first card dealt, except if an additional ace is drawn it may be split again up to a maximum of four hands.

2. b. A doubled-down hand must be dealt one additional card face upwards and placed at a right angle to the first two cards dealt. However, if a table does not have a video surveillance system, the card may be placed beneath a player's original wager.

3. 4. A dealer may not take a hit card from a dealing shoe nor may a dealer bypass a player unless the player has first indicated the player's request for a hit card or to stand by a distinct hand signal.

4. 5. As a player indicates to stand or draw a hit card, other than on a hand that has split aces or a double-down, a dealer shall deal face upwards an additional card or cards as the player requests. A player is responsible for correctly computing the total card count of the player's hand.

5. 6. If a player did not split, double-down, or place an insurance bet, and busts (a player's total card count exceeds twenty-one), the player loses an original wager and any tip bet. A dealer shall immediately collect and place a player's chips, including any tip bet, in a chip tray and the cards in a discard holder.

6. 7. If a dealer's faceup card is not an ace or a ten-count card and a player split or doubled-down and busts, the player loses the wager for that split or double-down hand and any tip bet assigned to it. A dealer shall immediately collect and place a player's chips in a chip tray and the cards in a discard holder.

7. 8. If an organization uses the hole-card-no-peek or no-hole-card method of dealing, a dealer's faceup card is an ace or a ten-count card and a player split, doubled-down, or placed an insurance bet and busts, the dealer shall gather the cards of that hand and place them outside the betting space. Then, a dealer shall reposition the player's split and or doubled-down wagered chips, in the same betting position, on top of the player's cards of that hand. A tip bet for such a split or double-down hand that busts is lost. A dealer shall immediately place the tip bet chips in a chip tray.

8. 9. If a dealer's faceup card is not an ace or a ten-count card and all players bust, a dealer shall end the round. If a dealer's faceup card is an ace or a ten-count card and all players bust, and no player split, doubled-down, or placed an insurance wager, a dealer shall end the round.

9. 10. If the decisions of all players have been carried out, and a dealer is not using a reading device, a dealer shall turn up the dealer's facedown card (hole-card-no-peek method) or deal a second card face upwards to the dealer (no-hole-card method). However, for the no-hole-card method, a dealer shall remove the dealer's second card from a dealing shoe and, without looking at the value of the card, place it beside the dealer's first card. Then, a dealer shall announce the total card count of the two cards. A dealer shall play the dealer's hand as follows:

1. a. If a dealer's faceup card is an ace and the dealer's hand is not a natural twenty-one, the dealer shall immediately, starting with the player to the dealer's right and moving left

around the table, collect all the players' insurance bet chips, with the dealer's right or left hand, in a sweeping motion, and place them in a chip tray. A dealer may not use the right and left hand at the same time. Then, for all the players' busted hands that have been split, doubled-down, or both, a dealer shall immediately, starting with the player to the dealer's right and moving left around the table, collect the chips of busted hands, with the dealer's right or left hand, in a sweeping motion. A dealer may not use the right and left hand at the same time. When no other busted hand remains, a dealer shall place the collected chips in a chip tray, collect those players' busted hands, and place the cards in a discard holder. A dealer may, at an organization's option that is consistently applied at a site, collect each player's insurance bet chips and busted hands and related chips with only the dealer's right hand, on a hand-by-hand basis, and place the chips in a chip tray and the cards in a discard holder. Then, for all the players who have been dealt a natural twenty-one, the dealer shall immediately, starting with the player to the dealer's right and moving left around the table, do the payoff according to subsection 15 or 16, and collect and place those players' cards in a discard holder. If a player's hand remains in play, a dealer shall proceed according to subdivision f or g, and do the payoff procedure on any winning hand according to subsection 15 or 16.

b. If a dealer's faceup card is a ten-count card and a dealer's hand is not a natural twenty-one, for all the players' busted hands that have been split, doubled-down, or both, the dealer shall immediately, starting with the player to the dealer's right and moving left around the table, collect the chips of busted hands, with the dealer's right or left hand, in a sweeping motion. A dealer may not use the right and left hand at the same time. When no other busted hand remains, a dealer shall place the collected chips in a chip tray, collect those players' busted hands and place the cards in a discard holder. A dealer may, at an organization's option that is consistently applied at a site, collect each player's busted hands and related chips with only the dealer's right hand, on a hand-by-hand basis, and place the chips in a chip tray and the cards in a discard holder. Then, for all the players who have been dealt a natural twenty-one, the dealer shall immediately, starting with the player to the dealer's right and moving left around the table, do the payoff according to subsection 15 or 16, and collect and place those players' cards in a discard holder. If a player's hand remains in play, a dealer shall proceed according to subdivision f or g, and do the payoff procedure on any winning hand according to subsection 15 or 16.

c. If a dealer's faceup card is an ace, the dealer's hand is a natural twenty-one, and a player has placed an insurance bet, the player wins the insurance wager at the rate of two to one. A dealer shall do the payoff procedure according to subsection 15 or 16. However, if a player's original hand also is a natural twenty-one, subdivision d also applies.

d. If a dealer's faceup card is an ace or a ten-count card and the dealer's hand is a natural twenty-one, the organization wins all original wagers and original tip bets, unless a player's original hand also is a natural twenty-one which results in a tie (push). All other players lose.

e. If a player has doubled-down or split against a dealer's faceup card of an ace or a ten-count card and the dealer's hand is a natural twenty-one, only the player's original wager is lost unless the player's original hand also is a natural twenty-one which results in a tie. All separate splitting and doubling-down wagers are voided. A dealer shall return the chips of the separate wagers to the players.

f. If the count of a dealer's hand is sixteen or under, the dealer shall draw a hit card until the count exceeds sixteen. An additional card must be dealt face upwards to the immediate

right of a dealer's first two cards dealt, from the dealer's perspective, and the dealer shall announce the total card count.

1. g. If the count of a dealer's hand exceeds sixteen but does not exceed twenty-one, the dealer shall stay (not draw a hit card). At its option, an organization may permit a site to allow a dealer to take a hit card when the dealer has a soft seventeen (ace card and a six). If the organization allows this option, it must be posted at the site. If a dealer's hand contains an ace and a count of seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, or twenty-one can be obtained by counting the ace as an eleven, a dealer shall value the dealer's hand as such and stay. A dealer shall announce the final total card count of the dealer's hand.
2. h. If a dealer's hand busts, the remaining players with active hands win.- 11. If a player's original hand is a natural twenty-one and a dealer's faceup card is not an ace or a ten-count card, the player's hand wins and is paid off at a rate of three to two, unless the player chooses to double-down. A dealer's chip payoff on a player's wager may occur immediately or when the dealer, in the order of hands, comes to that player's hand.
3. 1. A wager is won or lost by comparing the total card count of each player's hand to the dealer's hand. A dealer or player with the highest total card count wins. Wagers, including tip bets, are paid off at an equal amount according to subsection 15 or 16. All ties are a push - no payoff is made, including on a tip bet.
4. 1. If a player's hand loses against a dealer's hand, an organization wins any tip bet. A dealer shall immediately, starting with the player to the dealer's right and moving left around the table, collect the chips of adjacent losing hands with the dealer's right or left hand, in a sweeping motion. A dealer may not use the right and left hand at the same time. A dealer may, at an organization's option that is consistently applied at a site, collect the chips of losing hands with only the dealer's right hand, on a hand-by-hand basis. When a tie hand is reached, the dealer shall recognize that hand with a tap on the tabletop and announce that it is a push. When a winning hand is reached, a dealer shall place any previously collected chips in a chip tray and do the payoff procedure for adjacent winning hands according to subsection 15 or 16. When a losing hand is again reached, the dealer shall repeat the collection and payoff procedure until all losing wagers have been collected and all winning hands have been paid. The dealer shall then collect all the remaining cards according to subsection 17.
5. 1. If a player's hand wins against a dealer's hand and the player placed a tip bet, the dealer wins the tip bet and the one-to-one payoff from a chip tray according to subsection 15 or 16.
6. 1. If a player's hand wins against a dealer's hand and a table does not have a video surveillance system, the payoff procedure is:
7. a. Normal hand. A payoff chip must be placed beside the original wagered chip in a betting space.
8. b. Split hand. The payoff chip must be placed beside the wagered chips in a betting space.
9. c. Double-down hand. The payoff chips must be placed beside the two wagered chips in a betting space.
10. d. Insurance bet. A payoff chip must be first placed beside the insurance bet chip, fanned, then placed on top of the insurance bet chip and the chips pushed to a player.

11. e. Natural twenty-one. The payoff chips must be pyramided with the higher value chip placed beside the original wagered chip in a betting space and the smaller value chip placed on top over the center of the other two chips.

12. f. Tip bet. A payoff chip must be placed beside the tip bet chip and any double-down chip in the inner table area. Then, a dealer shall place the chips directly in a tip receptacle.16. If a player's hand wins against a dealer's hand and a table has a video surveillance system, the payoff of each winning hand must be done on a hand-by-hand basis. The payoff procedure is:- a. A dealer shall fan all of a player's wagered chips toward the dealer or side with only the dealer's left hand. A dealer may, at an organization's option that is consistently applied at a site, fan all of a player's wagered chips toward the dealer or side with only the dealer's right hand. However, for a site that has a pit boss on duty and the organization requires a double-down wager to equal the original wager, a dealer may, for a player who has placed a split bet or double-down bet, or both, fan only one of the player's stacks of wagered chips. A dealer shall reposition a player's tip bet chips in the inner table area with the dealer's left hand and fan the chips. A dealer may, at an organization's option that is consistently applied at a site, fan all the players' tip bets after the payoff procedure has been done on all winning players' hands. However, if a player's bet exceeds five dollars, the dealer shall separate the player's chips, by value, fan them in sets of five chips, and then fan any remaining chips. A dealer shall, with the dealer's right hand, take chips from the chip tray, equal in value to the player's wagered chips (not tip bet chips), place the payoff chips beside the wagered fanned chips, and fan the payoff chips toward the side or toward the dealer, and move the dealer's hands away from the chips. However, if the prize payoff exceeds twenty casino chips of the same value, the dealer may use a rack to account for one or more sets of twenty chips and fan the remaining chips. A dealer shall repeat this procedure for each separate winning hand.

13. b. After the payoff procedure has been done on all winning players' hands and the tip bet chips have been fanned, a dealer shall, with the dealer's right hand, take chips from the chip tray equal in value as the tip bet chips, place the payoff chips beside the fanned wagered tip bet chips, and fan the payoff chips. A dealer shall repeat this procedure for each separate winning tip bet. Then, a dealer shall move the dealer's hands away from the chips. After a dealer has picked up the cards according to subsection 17, the dealer shall place the chips directly in a tip receptacle.17. At the end of a round of play, a dealer shall pick up all the cards remaining on the playing surface so that they can be played back to recreate each hand, starting with the player to the dealer's right and moving to the left around the table. After the cards have been collected in a sweep or hand by hand, a dealer shall pick up the dealer's cards against the top of the players' cards and place them in a discard holder.18. If a table has a video surveillance system, a dealer's shift ends, and the dealer:- a. Does not desire to exchange the dealer's tips for other chips in the chip tray, the dealer shall momentarily show both sides of the dealer's hands, with fingers extended, within a camera's view. A dealer shall then take the tip receptacle and leave the table.
14. b. Does desire to exchange the dealer's tips for other chips in the chip tray, the dealer shall take all the chips out of the tip receptacle. A dealer shall place the chips in the inner table area at the dealer's left; sort, stack, and fan only the chips to be exchanged; take chips from a chip tray equal in value to the fanned chips; place the replacement chips at the dealer's right; sort, stack, and fan the chips, momentarily move the dealer's hands away from the chips so the chips are within a camera's view; place the exchanged chips in a chip tray; then place the replacement chips and unexchanged chips in a tip receptacle. A dealer shall then momentarily show both sides of the dealer's hands, with fingers extended, within a camera's view, take the tip receptacle, and leave the table. As an option, a dealer for the next shift may exchange the present dealer's tips.

19. An organization may adopt a policy to allow a dealer, when a player leaves a table, to exchange two or more of the player's casino chips for higher value chips provided that the dealer first asks the player's permission, the player agrees, and the dealer announces the value of chips being exchanged.

History: Effective May 1, 1998; amended effective July 1, 2000; July 1, 2002; July 1, 2004; October 1, 2006; July 1, 2010; July 1, 2012; April 1, 2016; January 1, 2023.

General Authority: NDCC 53-06.1-01.1

Law Implemented: NDCC 53-06.1-01.1, 53-06.1-10