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About Blackjack
The game of blackjack started in France under the name of vingt-et-un, or “twenty-one”, around the year 1700. In a casino, blackjack is one of the few games where a player can use strategy to give the house the least amount of advantage. Though no casino game exists where the house doesn’t have an advantage, most forms of blackjack carry less than a one percent advantage to the house.
Blackjack is played with an international 52-card deck without jokers. Casinos normally use several decks mixed together (called a shoe), both in order to speed up the game (with more cards in play you don't have to reshuffle after every single hand) and to make card counting more difficult (card counting is a technique used to gain an advantage over the casino by keeping track of the proportions of different value cards remaining in play.)
Blackjack is played on a specially designed table. There is a permanent dealer employed by the casino, and room for up to eight simultaneous players, playing against the dealer. Each player has a designated playing area in front of him where cards are placed and bets are made.
The betting limits should be clearly posted on a sign on the blackjack table. Normally, some of the most important rules, such as "Blackjack pays 3 to 2" and "Dealer must draw on 16 and stand on all 17's" are printed on the table.
The aim of the game of blackjack is for the player to build a hand that adds up to 21 without going over 21. The player is dealt two cards face up, and the dealer is dealt one card face up (up-card) and one card face down (hole-card). A player can be dealt a “soft” hand (where one card is an Ace and the other is a 9 or lower) or a “hard” hand (where the player is not dealt an Ace at all). The player then must make one of five or six decisions, which are explained below:
- Hit – Add another card. You can Hit as many times as you wish until you are happy with the cards you have or go bust.
- Stand – Keep the cards you have and pass to the next player
- Double Down – Double your bet, take only one more card then pass to the next player
- Split – If you have a two of the same cards (e.g. two 10’s) you can split them to play each as a separate hand. You receive one more card for each and then you are able to hit or stand on each hand. You will need to put up another bet as you are now playing two hands.
- Surrender – This allows you to “surrender” your hand and give up half your bet on your first two cards after the dealer checks for Blackjack. This is to your advantage if you are likely to lose your whole bet if you stay in the game. The dealers face down card is then shown. If the dealers card has a card total of seventeen or above then no extra cards are permitted. If the dealer has a hand of sixteen or lower then extra cards are permitted. At the end of this hand if your cards are closer to 21, you will win. You will be paid even money, that is the amount you that wagered plus your original wager. However if the dealers hand is closer to 21 you will lose and your wager goes to the house.
Strategy
Charts are available given some basic blackjack rules, but there are some common strategies throughout basic strategy that a player should follow
- Always stand on a hard 17 or higher.
- Always split Aces or 8’s.
- Never split 10’s.
- Always hit on a hard 8 or lower, unless playing single-deck blackjack where the player may double at times with those totals.
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