Playing Blackjack

Winning at Blackjack calls for you to make a hand that totals closer to 21 (but not more than 21) than the dealer will be able to put together.  At all times remember that you are playing against the dealer, players just must beat her or him, players are not attempting to get as near to 21 as they can.  In the event that you have a good hand and you have a good chance that the dealer can’t beat it, stand; don’t continue to acquire cards and chance busting (going over 21).

Playing cards displaying two to nine possess the value that is printed on the playing card.  Playing cards ten, Jack, Queen and King have a worth of ten.  An Ace is your most useful playing card and can be assigned a worth of 1 or 11 by the player in possession of it based on the set of cards he or she is trying to create.  The term Blackjack refers to a two playing card hand (an Ace and a different card whose value is ten) that total 21, it is an automatic winning set of cards.

To try and eliminate cheating casinos do not allow Blackjack players to handle the playing cards; also to make card counting greater difficult the casinos make use of several decks of cards at once.  At the beginning of the game the dealer gives everybody at the table (including him/herself) a single playing card dealt face up.  Following this the dealer gives one more card face up to the other players at the table and finally deals another playing card to her/himself, however this card is placed face down.

Keep in mind that Blackjack is not a group contest.  Although the table will be populated with a few participants they aren’t competing against one another.  Every player is playing by her/himself competing with the dealer; the failure or success on their part will have no impact on your game.

The participants always play ahead of the dealer; they have the option of getting another playing card or not (stand). Any player that takes another playing card and the resulting total is greater than 21 will have busted with the dealer winning by default.  When all of the participants have had their turns the dealer plays her or his hand.  Dealer play is made based on a set of rules (posted for all to check out).  The normal set of rules that the dealer must follow is that if their total is smaller than 16 they are required to take one more card, but if their card total is 17 or greater they stand.

With the dealer finished playing he/she pays out on set of cards that are superior to theirs, collects the wagers from any player with an inferior set of cards than his/hers and pushes (neither collects or pays off) any participant with a tying set of cards.

Betting is finished after which the cards are dealt.  A winning hand pays even money.  A blackjack win pays 3 to 2 (a $2 bet pays $3).

The Player’s Options:

Splitting Pairs – When your first pair of playing cards have the identical value a player has the choice of splitting them.  The participant now has two hands to play separately instead of one set of cards.  With split Aces the house usually gives a participant one further playing card to couple with each Ace; if the additional playing card has a worth of ten he/she is credited with cards worth 21 (rather than a Blackjack) in the case where the dealer makes a Blackjack the dealers hand will be the victorious set of cards.

Doubling Down – When a participant believes that their set of cards will beat the dealers with the addition of one (only one) card they can double their wager prior to receiving this final playing card.

Insurance – An insurance wager is a side bet placed if an Ace is showing as the dealers face up card.  A insurance wager is that the face down dealer’s playing card has the worth of 10.  When the face down card has a value of ten then when combined with the known Ace the dealer will make a Blackjack and the insurance wager will pay 2 to 1.  All of the original wagers are still in play and all the participants will be defeated unless they are fortunate enough to tie the dealer by receiving a Blackjack themselves.

Surrender – The surrender option is available at some venues.  A surrender option is one that a participant can employ if after looking at their initial pair of cards they decide that she/he will be unable to beat the dealer’s set of cards.  After the player announces a surrender their turn is finished and they suffer the loss of half of their wager.