Blackjack Facts
Skill Level Needed: High
Aces: 1 and 11
Type of game: Playing cards
House Edge: less than 1% depending on house rules and your
strategy
What to look for: Try to find a casino that offers a player
friendly rules.
Object of Blackjack
To beat the dealer by having a higher hand or making the dealer bust.
Blackjack Terminology
Surrender: The player surrenders half his bet after looking at
his cards and seeing the dealer's up card.
Stand: The player stops receiving cards from the dealer.
Hit: The player is asking the dealer for another card.
Insurance: Is a side bet whether or not the dealer has a
blackjack or not, the bet is only available when the dealer has an Ace showing.
Double: The player will double his bet and will get one more
card and only one more card from the dealer. This bet is only available if you
haven't hit or stand yet.
Split: The player decides to split a pair into two separate hands.
Blackjack: An Ace and a ten card (10, Jack, Queen, King).
Bust: When the player's or dealer's hand is over 21.
Blackjack Variations
The way blackjack works is that
you must be closer to 21 than the dealer, without going over.
Blackjack variations have different rules and sometimes unique game
play. Most blackjack games have 52 cards in a deck and allow
you to see your first two cards and one of the dealer's, but some
have 48 cards in a deck and allow you to see both of the dealer's
cards. Knowing the blackjack rules for the game you are
playing is very important and you should do a little reading to find
out the best possible blackjack strategy.
European Blackjack
This is a regular game of
blackjack that doesn't have any bizarre rules. Some of the
rules you should take note of are that the dealer will stand on a
soft 17 and you are allowed to hit after splitting aces. Some
negative rules are that you can not re-split any pair, no
surrendering is allowed, dealer doesn't check for blackjacks until
all hands are played and you can only double down on a 9, 10 or a
11.
Atlantic City
Atlantic City blackjack is played like most blackjack games. Some of the
rules to remember are that the dealer will check his down card for
blackjacks when a ten or a Ace is showing, the dealer will stand on
a soft 17, late surrender is allowed, you can double down on any two
cards and after splits. You can re-split up to three times and
insurance is available whenever an Ace is up. The only
drawbacks are that you when you are splitting Aces you will only get
one more card and you can not re-split them. Also blackjacks
made by splitting Aces will only be counted as 21 instead of a
blackjack.
Vegas Downtown
Vegas Downtown is very similar to
Atlantic City blackjack. The only major differences is that
the dealer hits on a soft 17. There is one Vegas Downtown
table, but Atlantic City has slightly better rules, so it would be
better to play on those tables instead.
The Vegas Strip
Vegas Strip rules are similar to the Atlantic City blackjack rules except that you can not
surrender your hand.
Blackjack Surrender
BJ Surrender is
vary similar to Vegas Strip except you can surrender your two card
hand after the dealer has checked for a Blackjack and you will not
be able to re-split a pair.
Pontoon
In this
game a 21 will be called a Pontoon. A Pontoon will be paid out
2:1, a five card trick (a hand that has been hit to the point of
having five cards) will beat any hand that has four or less cards in
it, this will also be paid out 2:1. Ties are counted as a loss
to the player, players must hit a hard 14 or less and the most
unique rule is that both of the dealer's cards will be hole cards.
Which means you will not see any of the dealer's cards until after
you have finished playing your hand. Okay this may seem all
that crazy and hard to understand. That is why we have found you a
Pontoon strategy chart.
Double Exposure
Playing this game, you may think there is a glitch in the software, but there
probably isn't. In this game you will see both of the dealer's
cards. As you might expect there are some different rules for
this game when compared to the standard blackjack games. The
dealer will win all ties except the player will win whenever there
is a blackjack. Blackjacks pay 1:1 and of course there isn't
any insurance available. Some more normal rules include,
doubling down after splits is allowed, Aces can be re-split, hands
can be re-split three times, dealer will hit a soft 17 and doubling
down is only allow on a 9, 10 or a 11. This game is truly
unique and does take some getting used to. Some things you
should remember is that you have to beat the dealer. So if you
and the dealer both have 20, then you will need to hit your hand to
have a chance at winning.
Spanish 21
This game is played
with only 48 cards per deck. The four tens have bee removed
from the deck. That would be a huge player disadvantage, but
there are some unique rules to balance it out. Almost every
possible player friendly rule is allowed except that the dealer will
hit a soft 17. Also a player's 21 will beat the dealer's 21
and the player's blackjack will beat the dealer's blackjack.
There are more truly unique rules for Spanish 21. To learn
more about it check out the full Spanish 21 rules. There is also a
Super Fun 21 table.
Lucky
Blackjack
In this game you will not have a hand to play. All you will be
doing is betting on the outcome of the dealer's hand. You can
bet if the dealer will end up with a 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, a blackjack
or a busted hand. If you are correct you will paid out based
on the pay out odds for that hand. In this game the dealer
will continue to hit until he has a hand that is 17 or higher.
The dealer will always stand on a soft 17 and the wagering limits is
$1 to $5 per bet.
Blackjack Switch
Playing this game, you will be playing two hands at the same time and will
actually be able to switch out the second card between the two
hands. After this the rules follow the basic rules of a
regular blackjack game. This may seem like a fool proof way to
make money, but of course there are some rules that will help the
casino out as well. First, blackjacks will be paid out 1:1, no
re-splitting is allowed and the most important rule is that a
dealer's 22 hand will be a push for all active non-blackjack hands.
This is a fun unique variation, that should be practised at the play
for free casino first until you have a better grasp of the Blackjack
Switch rules.
21 Duel Blackjack
First off you will be dealt two cards, one face down and one face
up, the dealer will be dealt two cards and there will also be two
communal cards dealt face up where you and the dealer will share.
Next you will either fold your bet or choose one of the two communal
cards to go with your up card. If you choose a card you will
be placing a wager equal to your original wager and if you fold your
bet, then you will forfeit your original wager. After choosing
your card you will have the option to stay or hit your hand.
If you stand, then you will keep your current hand. If you hit
your hand, then you will have your second card, that was faced down,
flipped over and added to your hand. The dealer will then do
the same. If you have a better hand than the dealer, then you
will be paid out 1:1 on your original wager and the raised bet.
If the dealer has a hand that is 12 or lower than you will be paid
out 1:1 on your original wager only. If you have a lesser hand
than the dealer and the dealer qualifies (13 or better hand) than
you will lose both of your wagers.
Blackjack Strategy
For a casino game, blackjack has a lot of strategy. Players should follow a blackjack strategy table while playing. Some noteworthy points are,
don't buy insurance, find casinos with player friendly rules and if you are
serious about winning in blackjack, learn to count cards to get a small edge
over the casino.