Blackjack is a gambling game dating back to the 17th century and 2-8 players are allowed to play. It is played with a standard deck of 52 cards, and the deck number can vary between 1 and 8. Usually, more than 1 deck is used by online casinos.
Introduction to Blackjack
In Blackjack, the players are not each other’s rivals, but they are all competing with the dealer. The aim is to reach 21 or the closest number to 21, but not more than that. If the dealer or any of the players collect cards that add up to more than 21, they “bust”, which means they lose.
The dealer can draw cards until he reaches 17. Once it reaches 17 (or over, but less than 21) he can not draw any cards anymore. In this case, the player who has the highest card value wins. If the players fail to have higher card value than the dealer, they all lose and the dealer wins.
If a player and the dealer have reached equal points, than it’s a “push”: nobody loses or wins money, but the game continues with the next round beginning with the same bet. Getting the exact point of 21 is called the “blackjack” or “natural”.
In online Blackjack, the value of face cards (King, Queen and Jack) is 10. Ace can have the value of 1 or 10- it’s up to the player and his hand. The value of other cards, cards between 2 and 10, is their face value. When there’s an ace among your cards, you have a Soft Hand: your hand value is open to change as an ace can be counted as 1 or 10. If you don’t have any ace, your hand is a Hard Hand: its value is not subject to change.
After players place their bets, the game begins the players and the dealer himself getting 2 cards. Players receive their cards facing up, whereas the dealer’s first card is facing down and the second is facing up.
Online Blackjack
After getting the first two cards, players can request one more card from the dealer (the “hit”) if necessary during the game, or they “stand” with their given cards and take a look at the cards of other players and the dealer.
When your first two cards are fine, the casino gives you the chance to “double down”, which means you can double your bet. After doubling down, the dealer gives you one card facing down and only after the round the player is allowed to open the card.
A player can also make a “split” when there are two cards of the same value in a hand. When a player makes a split, he now has two hands with the same bets placed on them and a new card is received from the dealer for both hands.
There’s also a not much used betting option called “insurance”. A player can place a side bet which equals to the half of the original bet when the face-up card of the dealer is an ace.
The insurance bet is placed only when the player thinks the face-down card of the dealer is a 10. So, when the dealer happens to have blackjack, the player wins double the insurance bet he placed.
But unless you can count the cards correctly, it’s considered as risky to make such a guess.
