Millions of casino players love the card game Blackjack. How does it come? Probably because this game has the famous reputation that of all the casino table games, blackjack is the one that it is possible to beat. In other words: you can win the battle between you and the dealer and beat him (of her). Nowadays, Blackjack is by far the most popular casino table game worlwide with more players than craps, roulette, and baccarat combined.
The secret is to learn basic strategy in order to play BJ profitable for you. You must make the right decision in a few seconds about hitting, standing, doubling down, and splitting pairs. Back to school! You have to learn the fundamentals of blackjack.
You play Blackjack against a dealer and the aim is to see whose hand can get closest to 21 without going over. All cards have a numerical value being:
• Face cards (Kings, Queens, Jacks) have a worth of 10.
• Aces have a double value: 1 or 11. The game will automatically choose the value for Aces to give you the best hand.
• Numbered cards (2 through 10) are worth their face value.
Blackjack is played with one or more standard 52-card deck. All cards will be shuffled in full after each hand/game.
You start playing by place a bet. After all bets have been placed, each player and the dealer are given two cards. The players’ cards are faced up. One of the dealer's cards is turned face up so the players can see it, the second card is face down. Once the cards have been dealt and all players have their 2 cards, players must decide in turn how to play out their hands.
You can choose to Hit, Stand, Double Down or Spit. Here is more explanation of these terms:
• Hit: you take one more card from the dealer. You may repeat this getting closer to 21 until you choose to ‘Stand’ or until your card total exceeds 21 and you go bust, you are out of the game and have lost your bet.
• Stand: you accept your current hand as final. You do not ask for more cards because you are convinced that the value of your 2 cards can beat the dealer. Now the dealer starts playing against you.
• Double Down: you accept exactly one card from the dealer and double your original bet for this hand. In this case, you can not choose to ‘Hit’ after you have ‘Doubled Down’. The rules for Double Down vary from casino to casino. Some casinos restrict doubling down to hands in which your first 2 cards have a total value of 10 or 11. Others allow you to double on any 2 cards.
• Split: if your first 2 cards are of equal value (a 10 and a face card, for example), you can ‘Split’ your hand, also named ‘split the pair’. This means your 2 cards will be separated into 2 hands that you can play individually. This automatically doubles your original bet and each of the split hands has the same wager. The dealer will separate the 2 cards literally and then puts a second card on your card A. You play that hand out until you either stand or bust; then the dealer goes on with card B and puts a second card, a third card etc. until you stand or bust. It is that simple.
After all players have decided what they will do with their cards (hit, Stand, DD or Split), the dealer plays according to specific rules. This include that the dealer must draw more cards to any total of 16 or less and must stand on any total of 17 or more.
A real blackjack refers to a winning combination where exactly two cards end up to 21, so the ideal combination of 2 cards. This is only possible when you get one face card (=value10) or 10-card and one Ace (value 11). A winning Blackjack pays out at 3 to 2. This means that if you betted $100, you get $150 paid out. However, if the dealer also has a two-card 21, you just get your original bet back.
If your hand includes more than 2 cards, it may still be a winning hand, but it cannot be a ‘real’ Blackjack as bespoken above. If you manage to gather 21 with more than 2 cards, you play a ‘standard winning’. The difference is that such a hand pays out at 1:1, meaning that your original bet of $100 pays out $200.
It is also possible to have a winning hand that does not add all the way to 21 (but for example 19 or 20). At the end of a hand where neither you nor the dealer hits 21, you win if:
• your cards have a higher total value than the dealer's.
• Your cards stayed under 21 while the dealer's cards went over.
The dealer must draw on 16. This means that if the dealer's hand equals 16, the dealer must take another card. The dealer must stand on 17. This means that if the dealer's hand equals 17, he can not take another card from the deck.
As you can read above, BlackJack is not a difficult game to play but you have to know some basic rules. It takes about 15 minutes and a little practice on the kitchen table to learn them! After that, play a few times 'in demo' of 'free games' in a real online casino to practice in a real gaming experience. And finally, play prudent for real money! Playing Blackjack in a mobile casino is just all about LUCK!
