|
 Blackjack is one of the easiest casino card games to play and even though there are quite a few variations of Blackjack around the world, nothing would seem so much different and new to you if you are familiar with its basic rules.
The goal of Blackjack is to collect a hand whose value is as closest to 21 points as possible without exceeding them and thus beat the dealer’s hand – remember that each player plays solely against the dealer and not against any other player on the table.
The cards from 2 to 9 are worth their face value (what they indicate), the Jack, Queen and King are worth 10, the Ace is worth either 1 or 11, depending on which of those two values would make a better hand. For example, if you already have 11 points (a 9 and 2 for instance), counting an Ace as 11 would make your hand exceed 21, so you count the Ace as 1.
There are two ways in which the cards are dealt – their face up or down. In the first case, the so-called shoe games, the players are not allowed to touch the cards. This type of game would be better suited for a beginner because he would at least not have to worry about handling the cards. In the second case, the hand-held games, the players pick up the cards (the cards must be held with one hand only, they must be kept over the table, and the additional cards dealt must be left on the table and not added to the hand of two cards that the player already has).
So, each player receives two cards. The dealer reveals the face of his first card only. There is a rule especially popular in European casinos that the dealer does not deal his second card until all the players have finished playing their hands – it is called the European No Hole Card rule.
The dealer must play his hand in a strictly defined manner; the most common rule is “dealer stands on all 17s” – the dealer must continue to take cards (“hit”) until he reaches at least 17, an Ace is always counted 11 unless it would cause his hand to “bust” (exceed 21). There is another rule known as “dealer hits soft 17” (a soft hand is one in which an Ace can be counted as either 1 or 11 without causing the hand to bust).
To score a blackjack you must collect exactly 21 points in your first two cards. Reaching 21 points through a subsequent card is no blackjack. A blackjack wins against 21 points and pays the player who has it 3 to 2 on his bet; it is equal only to a dealer’s Blackjack (this situation is called a ‘tie” or a “push”).
The player has the following choices to play his hand in the game:
To hit (take another card) or to stand (take no more cards).
To double down (double the bet after receiving the first two cards and take exactly one more card). To split pairs (split a pair into two hands, double the original bet and then play the two hands independently).
Different casinos may allow or disallow splitting a second pair, doubling down after splitting a pair, it is entirely up to them. It is an interesting situation when the dealer has an Ace as his first card, he might then offer you insurance or even money (the latter in the case when you have a blackjack), you should better deny this option unless you are using some card-counting technique. There also used to be a rule allowing the player to surrender, now no longer offered.
|
|
