Is It a Shoe or Shoot in Blackjack?

There’s a famous scene in the movie Rain Man where Raymond (Dustin Hoffman) is counting cards at a Las Vegas casino. He gets so excited when he has a winning hand that he shouts out, “Shoe! Shoe!” The other players look at him funny, but he’s just happy to have won.

In blackjack, the term “shoe” is used to refer to the card dealing box that holds several decks of cards. The dealer will deal cards from the shoe until it’s time to reshuffle.

So, what does this have to do with the game of blackjack? Well, some players believe that they can use the number of decks remaining in the shoe to their advantage.

The idea is that if there are fewer decks remaining, the player has a better chance of getting a blackjack (21) or a natural (a two-card hand totaling 21). Conversely, if there are more decks remaining, the player has a better chance of getting a bust (going over 21).

Of course, this is all just theory. In reality, the number of decks remaining in the shoe has no bearing on the outcome of any given hand.

It’s just something that some players like to think about when they’re playing blackjack.