Play Blackjack

To play Bklackjack or online blackjack, first of all you need to know the point of blackjack game. The object of Blackjack or online blackjack is to accumulate cards with point totals as close to 21 without going over 21. Face cards (Jacks, Queens and Kings) are worth 10 points and aces are worth 1 or 11, whichever is preferable. Other cards are represented by their number. When you play blackjack and you tie with the House, it is a push and no one wins. Ace and 10 (blackjack) on the first two cards dealt is an automatic player win at 1.5 to 1, unless the house ties. A Blackjack player may stand at any time.

Playing Blackjack

When you play Blackjack or online blackjack to win you need to beat the dealer without busting. You bust when your cards total to more than 21 and you lose automatically. The winner of a Blackjack game is whoever has closest to a total of 21. You reach 21 by adding up the values of the cards. The Blackjack table seats about 6 players. Either six or eight decks of cards are used and are shuffled together by the dealer and placed in a card-dispensing box called 'Shoe'. To play Blackjack before receiving any cards players must place a wager. Then the cards players are dealt two cards face up. The dealer gets one face up, one face down. Each Blackjack player in turn either stays or takes more cards to try and get closer to 21 without busting. Players who play Blackjack do not bust, waiting for the dealer's turn. When all the players are done, the dealer turns up the down card. By rule, on counts of 17 or higher the dealer must stay; on counts of 16 or lower the dealer must draw.

If you play Blackjack and make a total of 21 with the first two cards (a 10 or a face and an Ace), you win automatically. This is called 'Blackjack'. If you have Blackjack, you will win one and one-half times your bet unless the dealer also has Blackjack, in which case it is a Push or a Tie (or a Stand-off) and you get your bet back. The remaining Blackjack players with a higher count than the dealer win an amount equal to their bet. Players with a lower count than the dealer lose their bet. If the dealer busts, all the remaining players win. There are other betting options namely Insurance, Surrender, Double Down, Even Money and Split.

Insurance is side betting up to half the initial bet against the dealer having a natural 21 - allowed only when the dealer's showing card is an Ace. If the dealer has a 10 face down and makes a Blackjack, insurance pays at 2-1 odds, but loses if the dealer does not. Surrender means giving up your hand and lose only half the bet when you play Blackjack, Early Surrender is a type of surrender allowed before the dealer checks for Blackjack and in Late Surrender the dealer first checks to see if he has Blackjack. If he does, surrender is not permitted.

Double Down means doubling your initial bet following the initial two-card deal, but you can hit one card only. Even Money in cashing in your bet immediately at a 1:1 payout ratio when you are dealt a natural Blackjack and the dealer's showing card is an Ace. With Split Hand  Blackjack betting option you split the initial two-card hand into two and play them separately - allowed only when the two first cards are of equal value. Use each card as the start to a separate hand and place a second bet equal to the first. Hard Hand is a hand without an Ace, or with an Ace valued at 1 is said to be Hard in that it can only be given one value, unlike a Soft Hand that contains an Ace counted as 11 is called a Soft Hand. When you play Blackjack house advantage (approximate, may vary with different rules) is 7% average without basic strategy and 0.5% or less with basic strategy. If you use card counting when you play Blackjack, it can reverse the advantage up to 1% to yourself.