Black Jack

BlackJack

The basics

The object of the blackjack game 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. Aces are worth 1 or 11, whichever is preferable. Other cards are represented by their number.

If player and the House tie, 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 player may stand at any time.

Playing 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 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'.

Before receiving any cards players must place a wager. Then the players are dealt two cards face up. The dealer gets one face up, one face down. Each player in turn either stays or takes more cards to try and get closer to 21 without busting. Players who do not bust wait 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 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 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.

Blackjack Basic Strategy

The Basic Strategy is simply the best way to play every possible situation, without any knowledge of the distribution of the rest of the cards in the deck. The Basic Strategy below is for four or more decks, when the dealer stands on soft 17, which is a common game. Below are links to more basic strategy charts for other rules. If you only memorize one table I would suggest the one below. It can be played effectively under any rules.

To use the basic strategy, look up your hand along the left vertical edge and the dealer's up card along the top. In both cases an A stands for ace. From top to bottom are the hard totals, soft totals, and splittable hands. Rule variations can have an effect on some borderline situations. The most flexible rules are the number of decks, whether the dealer hits or stands on a soft 17, and whether doubling is allowed after splitting.

Winning Black Jack Strategies

Split: If a player’s first two cards have the same rank, the player can choose to make an additional bet and play as if each card is the start of a new hand.

A player can use this online blackjack strategy when his starting hand consists of pairs. Placing an equivalent bet next to your initial bet indicates to the dealer that you are splitting your pairs. When you split pairs you create an additional hand and the dealer issues cards for each hand.

A split bet is a good bet to make if a player has paired middle cards (sixes, sevens, eights), a bad bet if he has paired high cards (nines, tens) and a very smart bet with aces.

Double Down: For an additional bet, a player can take only one additional card.

For example, players employ this blackjack strategy with a starting hand of four-seven, for a total score of eleven. The player places an additional bet behind his cards, signaling to the dealer that he wants to double down. The dealer deals the next card, a queen, and places it across the top card. The player now has a total score of twenty-one

Double down bets are best when the player’s starting hand totals ten or eleven and the dealer is showing a weak up card (four, five or six).

Surrender: This option allows the player to lose only half their original bet before seeing the dealer’s down card.

For example, a player has a total of fifteen and the dealer’s up card is a jack. If the player hits, he risks busting. If he stands, he risks losing to the dealer’s better hand. His best blackjack strategy option is to surrender and only lose half his bet rather than risk losing it all.

Surrender is a way to “stop the bleeding” if the player’s weak hand runs into a dealer’s strong up card.

Insurance: If the dealer’s up card is an ace, the dealer will offer the chance to make an “insurance” bet of an amount up to half the original bet. The player wins the insurance bet only if the dealer’s starting hand is a “natural”.