Blackjack

History of Blackjack

Blackjack originated from France in the 1700's and was originally called “vingt-et-un” which means “twenty and one”. The name Blackjack originated from the rule that a hand that received a Jack and a Ace of Spades as the first two cards resulted in additional remuneration, therefore the name Black (for the spade) and Jack. Since then Blackjack has undergone some changes and different variations are available today.

Benefit from online play!

When playing Blackjack online a player has a great advantage compared to playing blackjack in a land based casino. Some online casinos offer players the expert option. The expert option has a setting for strategy, which actually allows the Blackjack player to set the optimum strategy and then to allow the computer to automatically play for the Blackjack player at the best strategy possible giving you the best possible chance. The following grid shows the strategy for a normal game of Blackjack in a land based casino but the grid will be different for each variation of blackjack.

YOUR HAND SHOWS	DEALER SHOWS
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
9	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	SRD	H
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	SRD	SRD	H
A9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A8	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A7	S	D	D	D	D	S	S	H	H	H
A6	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A5	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A4	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A3	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A2	H	H	H	H	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-A	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
10-10	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
9-9	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	S	SP	SP	S	S
8-8	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
7-7	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
6-6	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
5-5	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
4-4	H	H	H	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
3-3	H	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
2-2	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H

Key to table

H - Hit
SP - Split
S - Stand
D - Double
SRD - Surrender

Playing Blackjack

Before playing the game you need to understand the value of the cards. Each card's value is equal to the face value of the card. The only exceptions are the Ace and picture cards. The Ace can have both the value of 11 or 1 and all picture cards (Jack, Queen and King) has the value of 10.

Six boxes show other types of bets: "1 to 18", "19 to 36", "Odd", "Even", "Red" and "Black". These are used to place wagers on ranges of numbers, colors and odd or even.

Summary of Blackjack

Online Blackjack is a card game played with 1, 2,4 or up to 8 decks of 52 cards that are shuffled before each game. It is a challenge between the Casino's Dealer and the player. The amount of decks used depends on the version of Blackjack you play. The objective is to obtain a Blackjack or to come as close to 21 as possible without exceeding 21.

Bust

In the case where your hand exceeds 21 it will mean that you went bust and you loose your wager. If the dealer goes bust the dealer pays you 3 to 1. If both you and the dealer have the same value it is called a "push" in which case you keep your original wager.

Betting Options

Insurance:

When the hand is dealt and the dealer's hand contains an Ace face-up the player can pay for insurance at half the original bet to protect the player against the dealer having a Blackjack. If the dealer doesn't have a Blackjack and the player wins the hand insurance only pays out 2 to 1

Surrender:

Should you have a very weak hand then you have the option to surrender resulting in loosing only half of your bet. The hand is stopped there and then and you get back half the original wager.

Double:

With certain variations of Blackjack you are allowed to double your original wager. When you double you will receive one card only, thereafter you must stand. Please note that double bets pay even.

Split:

With online Blackjack you are allowed to split up to 3 times. In some variations of blackjack you are not allowed to split a pair of aces more than once. You can split when your 1 st and 2 nd card dealt are of the same value. When you split you place another bet equal to the original bet in order to divide one hand into two hands. Thereafter these hands are played as separate hands.

General Blackjack rules

The player are allowed to draw a maximum 9 additional card to total of eleven cards or go bust or stand on 21.

In most Blackjack games the dealer must stand on either 16 or 17. This is ussually prominently displayed at the table.

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