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The Rules of Blackjack
Blackjack (also known as Twenty-one) is one of the most popular card game. It’s a game of chance, skill and tactic.
Basics
The main aim of the game is to have a hand value that is closer to 21 than that of the dealer, without going over 21. The hand values of other players at the table are unimportant for you. Your hand is strictly played out against the hand of the dealer. The rules of play for the dealer are firmly dictated, he can’t make any decisions. For that reason, there is not a problem with the dealer or any of the other players at the table seeing the cards in your hand.
Values of the cards
An Ace can count as either 1 or 11. The cards from 2 through 9 are valued as indicated. The 10, Jack, Queen and King are all valued at 10. The suits of the cards do not play any role in the game. The value of a hand is the sum of the point counts of each card in the hand. For example, you have tree cards in your hand 5+Queen+6 theirs value is 21. The Ace can have value 1 or 11. You don’t need to specify which value the Ace has. It’s assumed to always have the value that makes the best hand. For example: the beginning hand has Ace+7. It can be either 8 or 18. You can stop there and in this case the value of your hand will be 18. But you can continue and draw another card to the hand and now have Ace+7+2. Your total hand is 20, and in this case the Ace is counting as 11. But if that you had instead drawn a third card which was an 9. The hand is now Ace+7+9 which totals 17. Now the Ace must be counted as only 1 to avoid going over 21. When your hand contains an Ace is called a “soft” total. It means that the Ace can be counted as either 1 or 11 without the total going over 21. For example Ace+8 is a soft 19. The title “soft” comes from the fact that the player can always draw another card to a soft total with no danger of “busting” by going over 21. The hand Ace+8+10 is a “hard” 17, because in this case the Ace must be counted as only 1, otherwise the total will go over 21.
The deal of the cards
At first all the players make the bets. After that the dealer will deal two cards to the players. He’ll make two passes around the table starting at his left. One of dealer’s cards is always over, exposing its value. After dealing the cards, play proceeds around the table from the first seat to the dealer’s left, or “first base”. Each player in turn says to the dealer how he will play the hand. The dealer completes his hand the last, and then pay or collect the player bets.
The dealer’s play
The dealer plays his hand in a special way. He has no choices. There are 2 popular rule variations:
- “Dealer stands on all 17s”: This is the most popular rule. It means the dealer must continue to take cards (“hit”) until his total is 17 or greater. An Ace is always counted as 11 if possible without the dealer going over 21. For example, Ace+7 would be 18 and the dealer would stop drawing cards (“stand”); Ace+6 is 17 and the dealer will stand; Ace+5 is 16, so the dealer would hit. He will draw cards until his hand’s value is 17 or more: Ace+5+7 is only 13 so he hits again; Ace+5+7+5 makes 18 so he would “stand”.
- “Dealer hits soft 17”: This rule is the same except for a soft total of 17 (Ace+8, Ace+6+Ace, Ace+ 5+ 3) The dealer “hits” these hands, and “stands” on soft 18 or higher, or hard 17 or higher.
Blackjack
A blackjack (or natural) is a total of 21 in your first two cards(!). A blackjack is your first two cards which are an Ace and any ten-valued card (10, Jack, Queen, King). If your hand’s value is 21 but consists of three or more card (Ace+8+2 or 10+6+3+Ace+Ace) this is not a blackjack, but simply a total of 21. The distinction is important, because blackjack beats any dealer total other than a dealer’s blackjack, including a dealer’s regular 21. If both a player and the dealer make blackjack, the hand is a tie or push.
The Player’s Choices
Surrender If you can surrender, you’ll be paid half of your original bet. You must decide before taking any other action on the hand. For example, once you draw a third card, or split, or double down, surrender is no longer available. Hitting/Standing The basic actions in this game is drawing another card to the hand (“hit”), or stopping at the current total (“stand”). Doubling Down Doubling Down can only be done with a two card hand, before another card has been drawn. This action allows you to double your bet and receive one, and only one, additional card to the hand. Splitting Pairs When you are dealt a matching pair of cards (Ace+Ace), you have the ability to split the hand into two separate hands, and play them independently. For example: your hand is 8+8 for a total of 16. (16 is the worst possible player hand, since it is unlikely to win as is, but is very likely to bust if you draw to it). If you get additional pairs (in the first two cards of a hand), you can resplit, making yet another hand. The most common rule allows a player to split up to 3 times, making 4 separate hands, with 4 separate bets. Fine point is that you are allowed to split any 10-valued cards, it means you could split a (King+10) hand. However, as a rule this is a unsuccessful play. Keep the 20.
Insurance and Even Money
If the dealer’s up-card is an Ace, the dealer will offer “Insurance” to the players. Insurance bets is made by betting up to half your original bet amount in the insurance betting stripe in front of your bet. After that the dealer will check to see if he has a 10-value card underneath his Ace, and if he does have Blackjack, your winning Insurance bet will be paid at odds of 2:1. You’ll lose your original bet (if not you also have a Blackjack). The “insurance” seems to protect your original bet against a dealer’s blackjack. If the dealer does not have blackjack, you’ll lose the insurance bet, and still have to play the original bet out. If you have a Blackjack, the dealer offers you “even money” instead of the insurance bet. This is just the same insurance bet with a simplification thrown in. For example the bet is $10 and you have a Blackjack. You would generally collect $15 for this, unless the dealer also has a blackjack, in which case you push or tie. Let’s suppose that the dealer has an Ace up, and you decide to take insurance for the full amount, or $5. Two things can happen: 1) The dealer has a Blackjack. You tie with the $10, but collect 2:1 on the $5 insurance bet for a total profit of $10. 2) The dealer does not have Blackjack. I lose the $5, but collect $15 for my Blacjack. Total profit, again $10.