BLACKJACK

The game of Blackjack (21) is the most popular casino table game in the world today. An enticing blend of skill, strategy and luck, there's no wonder that blackjack is the most played casino table game around the globe.

In contrast to most casino games, players with knowledge and strategy can obtain an edge over the house. This makes Blackjack one of the few 'beatable' casino games. There are different forms of blackjack but all have the same basic premise – a player must have a hand value higher than the dealer's, without going over a value of 21 points.

The first actual references to Blackjack appear around the early 1700's in France. The card game made its way to America by the early 1800's and has been the country's most popular and favorite casino table game ever since. Online Blackjack is the ultimate combination of strategy/skill with an exhilarating measure of chance.

Learn The Basics of Blackjack

If you can count to twenty one and are accurate in your arithmetic skills, you are already on your way to playing this widely popular casino game. Once your counting surpasses that twenty one mark (or “pontoon” in British English), rest assured your wallet will begin to hurt, so no need to show off how high one can count in this game.

Sitting yourself at the blackjack table pins you solely against the dealer and, unlike many other games, not against the other players. Blackjack rules are quite simple. The foremost objective is not to bust, or reach a hand with a higher total than 21. Only then can you still be eligible to vie with the dealer and be in the running to collect winnings.

Card values are the following: Two through ten are worth their face value and face cards (jack, queen, king) are worth 10. The ace’s value is 11 unless such a value would bring the player’s hand to a bust, in which case it is worth 1. The ways to reach that cherished 21 are varied: if in your two-card hand you’ve accumulated 21 through an ace plus a ten-value card, your work is done, for you’re an automatic winner (except for the rare cases that the dealer also has a blackjack, in which case nobody wins). If this is not your luckiest day and you have to work towards your win, you can do so by requesting (or “hitting”-see glossary of terms in the advanced player link) additional cards beyond the two dealt to you to get as close as possible to 21 without going over.

Ok, so how do I win?
As stated above, in this game, your only competitor is the dealer. He is bound by a set of rules that guide how he will play and represent the house. It is the player’s aim to gauge the dealer’s position throughout the game and make his moves accordingly. There is no reason why several players on the table can’t win simultaneously on the same hand.

For the Advanced Player

A bit of the game’s terminology so that you can feel more comfortable at the table
To hit means to take another card from the dealer

If you want to stay with your card value and match that against the dealer’s, you opt to stand.

Doubling your wager and taking exactly one more card and standing is what’s called doubling down.

On the condition that you were dealt two cards with the same value, you have the option of splitting. This means that you double your wager and have each card be the first card in a new hand.

A surrender, where the player forfeits half the bet and gives up the hand, is no longer available at most casinos.

Of the dealer’s initial hand of two cards, the one that is turned down and concealed from the rest of the players is the hole card.

Another name for the two-card hand of 21 (“blackjack”) is a natural.

Both player and dealer showing the same hand value at the end of play is called a push, and in such a case neither one wins the hand.

A Soft hand is one in which the player's ace card can be given an 11 value without going over 21. It is always possible to draw another card on a soft hand without busting.

Insurance in Gambling?

Yes, even in gambling there is the opportunity of purchasing insurance. This, as would be expected in gambling, carries with it a risk just as well. Taking insurance is possible when the dealer’s top card shows an Ace. An insurance bet can be in the sum of up to half of the player’s original bet and must be placed before the dealer checks his hole card. So, what is it? Placing this type of bet (in addition to your original bet) means that you are expecting the dealer’s hole card to be a 10-value card (10, Jack, Queen, or King). Insurance also plays a part in "card counting" (see next section), where a player believes he has a better chance to correctly predict a 10.