Blackjack rules

Well-known card game blackjack is played between a player and a dealer. While in brick and mortar casinos several players take part in the games, online casinos offer a bit different kind of gaming experience. In online casinos most of the time blackjack is played face to face.

Blackjack is one of the most popular gambling games in both land and online casinos. 1-8 decks of 52 cards dealt from a special box (a shoe) are used to play blackjack. After each game the decks are reshuffled.

In blackjack, player's main task is to end the game with hand higher than the dealer's hand, but not higher than 21. If player has hand that is over 21 - such hand called a bust, and its a n automatic loss. There's another term in blackjack terminology - to be Too Many. The strongest combination in Blackjack is a combination of two cards totaling 21 and is called Blackjack or Natural.

Card Value

2-9 small cards are valued as numbered. I.e. 7 - 7 points, 5 - 5 points, etc. All face cards have equal value - 10 points. Depending on the situation Aces can represent 1 or 11 points. For example, if you have 17 points on your hands, it is better for you to use Ace as 1 point card. And if you have 10 points on your hands, it is better for you to use Ace as a 11 points card.

Blackjack hands

There are several most common hands in blackjack. Let's have a look at them.

* Blackjack or Natural. Combination of any 10-valued card and an Ace is called Blackjack or Natural. This hand wins automatically in most cases, but if the dealer has a Blackjack too, then it's a tie or a push and all the bets are returned.

* Soft Hand

A hand of two or more cards where the Ace is counted as 11 is called a Soft Hand.

* Hard Hand

A hand of two or more cards where the Ace counted as 1 or without an Ace is called a hard hand.

How to Play

1. The game begins when all players made their bets (btw, bets may be limited by the table betting limits). The dealer passes twice, then deals two cards to each player face up (btw, according to some blackjack rules, Pontoon rules, for example, cards may be dealt face down), after that he deals card to himself: one face down (the Hole card) and the other face up.

2. After all players were dealt their cards, they have to decide how to play them. The dealer proceeds from one player to another waiting for players either to Hit (take one more card) or to Stand (no more cards taken). Additionally, players have an option to Split or Double Down (look below to find an explanation of these terms).

3. After the players have finished the dealer plays his hand. There are strict rules that dealer has to obey. Dealer should take cards when his hand is less or equal to 16 and stand when his hand higher or equal to 17. This rule can be seen on the most of the blackjack tables. It looks like an inscription "Dealer Stands on All 17's".

4. Each player plays only against the dealer and that is why player's hand is compared only to the dealer's hand. Because of that cards of other players are not important unless the player is counting or trying to count cards. Anything else doesn't matter, don't believe in those myths that other player's game may somehow influence your game - those are just myths.

5. Dealer wins in case player gets a hand lower than dealer or busts. If the dealer wins, player loses everything he wagered. If the player wins, the dealer pays him winnings. Blackjack pays 3 to 2. If the dealer has won, player loses everything he wagered on this hand (except for the side bets).

Player Option

* Hit - Hit means ask for another cards. Unlimited hits allowed until player has Blackjack or busts.

* Stand - Stand means ask for no more cards. When player stands he does not play his hand anymore, and this hand is compared to the hand that dealer has.

* Double Down - Double Down means double the initial bet and ask for one more card. When player asked for Double Down he stands automatically.

* Split - If the first two cards dealt are of the same value, the player allowed to to split them into two hands thereby increasing the bet twice. After the dealer deals the second cards and it's up to player to decide how to play each hand. If player has a hand two aces or two eights it will be the best choice to split them. (...)

* Insurance - When the dealer shows an Ace, an extra bet is offered. It is called Insurance. This bet protects player when he does not have a Natural on his hand. After the Insurance bet has been igonred or taken, it is time for the dealer to check his Hole card. All insurance bets win two-to-one and the player loses initial bets if the dealer has a Natural. On the other hand(?), the players keep on playing their hands and the Insurance bets are lost if the dealer does not have a Natural.

* Even money - Player has a right to make the Even Money bet if the dealer's open card is an Ace and the player has a Natural. This bet is made to protect the player from a push if the dealer also has a Natural. Even Money bet equals half of the initial bet and if the dealer has a Natural, player gets the Even Money bet two-to-one and gets his original bet back.

* Surrender - Most of the casinos do not have the Surrender option, however, some of them do. Surrender is player's chance to surrender half of the initial bet and save the other half in case players thinks he has a losing hand. This bet is made before any decisions like Stand or Hit are made and allows saving half of the initial bet.

There are two types of the Surrender option:

1. Early - Early Surrender is a chance to save half of the bet before dealer makes check for Blackjack. There are only few casinos providing players with this option, because this gives advantage to the player.

2. Late - Late Surrender option allows the player to forfeit his bet only after the dealer checked his Hole card for a Natural. By the way, Late Surrender can be met more often than Early Surrender.