The Basic Rules Of Blackjack

Blackjack has got to be one of the most if not the most famous casino game. The whole objective of the game is to get the closest possible to the number 21 without exceeding it. Face cards (jack, queen, king) are worth 10 points each, Aces are either worth 1 or 11 points (depending on the cards in your hand). Every other card in the deck is represented by their numeric value.

When a player and the dealer come to a tie, it is called a push and each player receives their bet back. If a player receives an Ace and 10 on the first two dealt cards, it is an automatic win and the payout is of 1.5 to 1, unless a tie occurs which makes it a push. A player can stand at any time that he wishes.

In order to win the round, you need to beat the dealer without exceeding 21 points (exceeding 21 points is called a “bust”). The winner is whoever gets the closest to 21 points by adding all the card values.

At a Blackjack table, there are usually 6 seats and 6 to 8 decks are used in a game. These 8 decks are shuffled by the dealer and placed in a card dispensing box also called a “shoe”.

Before any cards are dealt, players place their bets and afterwards get dealt 2 face up cards. The dealer deals himself 1 face up card and another one face down. At each players respective turns, they have the choice to either keep their cards, which is called a “Stand”, either request more cards to get closer to 21 points, which is called a “Hit”. Players who didn’t bust wait for the dealer to flip his face down to see what are the results of his hand. By the rules of Blackjack, the dealer must stand once he gets 17 points or higher and he must hit if he has 16 points or less.

Getting a 10 or any face card along with an Ace is an automatic win and is called “Blackjack”. Getting Blackjack awards you a payout of 1.5 to 1, unless the dealer gets Blackjack as well which makes it a push.

All the remaining players who’s face card value is greater than the dealers win with a payout ratio of 1 to 1. All the other players who’s card value is lower than the dealers lose their bets. However, if the dealer busts himself, all players win and get a payout ratio of 1 to 1. In Blackjack, there are a whole bunch of betting options, below is a complete list of all of them.

• Split Hand: If you get two cards with the same numeric value or the same face card, you could split them in two and play them as 2 separate hands. A player must place the same bet on the 2nd hand.
• Surrender: Give up your current hand and take back half your bet.
• Early Surrender: This type of surrender is when a player gives up his hand before the dealer checks for Blackjack.
• Late Surrender: This type of surrender is after the dealer checks for Blackjack, if he does, Surrender is not permitted.
• Hard Hand: A hand that doesn’t contain an Ace or that has an Ace valued at 1 is called a “Hard Hand” because in that hand it could only have 1 value.
  
• Soft Hand: A hand that contains an Ace that counts as 11 is called “Soft Hand”.
• Double Down: Double your initial wager once the two first cards were dealt, but hitting only once isn’t permitted.
• Insurance: This is a side bet that is half the size of the initial wager which bets that the dealer doesn’t have 21 in his hand. This is only allowed when the dealer is showing an Ace face up. If the dealer has Blackjack at the end, the insurance wager has a payout of 2 to 1 but loses if the dealer does not have Blackjack.
  

Now that you know the basic rules of Blackjack, you can now start playing on your favorite online casino and start winning big !