BlackJack Strategy and Blackjack Rules Casino Guide
History of Blackjack
Blackjack Strategy and Blackjack Rules have been in existence for many, many years. Blackjack is a historically popular game in most casinos
and online blackjack casinos, and is considered the world's premier banking card game. Its origin dates back to 18th century France, and unquestionably,
it is considered one of the most highly regarded, one of the most highly played, and one of the most popular card games today.
Specific Blackjack Rules and Blackjack Strategy
Blackjack Rules are pretty simple, although there are some subtleties that players need to be aware of. In Blackjack, players compete against
a dealer, and never against one another. To win Blackjack games, a hand's purpose is to defeat the dealer by obtaining a hand numerical value as close
to 21 points as possbile, that bests the dealer's hand. However, if a hand has more than 21 points, this is known as a "bust", and the player
automatically loses the game and his bet. The dealer has no real choices in Blackjack and simply follows a discrete set of Blackjack rules.
The scoring mechanism for Black jack is described as follows:
- An Ace can have value of 1 or 11, whichever you decide to use it as. A hand with an Ace can either be considered "soft" or "hard". A Soft hand
can be described when the player has zero risk of drawing another card without risk of busting, since he can choose between either of the Ace values
(that is, 1 or 11) at his own discretion.
- Cards in the range of 2 to 9 are equal to their respective face point values.
- 10, Jack, Queen and King are always valued at 10 points.
a "blackjack" or a "natural" occurs when your first 2 cards accumulate to exactly 21 points, which is only possible with an Ace and one of the cards
that are valued at 10 points. A "blackjack" always beats 21 points, that is accrued via other means (i.e., by totaling 21 points with more than 2
cards). A blackjack compared head-on to another blackjack is considered a tie (and is also known as a "push").
To start, the dealer will always deal 2 cards to all players including himself, and reveal one of his cards (unless the game is played "faces up").
The opponents of the dealer then take turns in making choices.
The players (other than the dealer) can make the following decisions:
- Surrender - this rule doesn't exist in every Blackjack game and can only be played before any of the other choices. Surrendering consists
of withdrawing from the game (i.e., "folding your hand") at the cost of half of your existing bet. The "early" surrender manifests when the player
folds his hand before the dealer verifies his blackjack. If the dealer has verified his blackjack, then the "late surrender" is said to occur. This
variant of the game is not typical in many versions of blackjack.
- Hit - a player can decide to hit, which means that he requests the dealer to draw him an additional card. Subsequent to receiving the
"hit" card, the player can continue "hitting", until he either goes "bust" or decides to "stand".
- Stand - a player can decide to stand pat, which means that he will not be drawing any additional cards.
- Splitting pairs - when a player is dealt 2 matching cards score-wise, he can "split" them and play the 2 hands independently. When splitting
pairs, you must place a bet on this freshly split hand that is identical to the bet on the 1st hand. Some casinos permit you to double down after you
split, or split multiple times. When you split 2 Aces you are only entitled to one additional draw for each Ace. In this case, drawing a 10 to an Ace
is not considered natural and will be beaten by a blackjack. Remember this rule; it is one of the most complex in Blackjack !
- Double down - when a player has 2 hands he can use double down to double his bet and require an additional and only card. Here, you can
place a bet that is equal to that of your original bet.
- Insurance - when the dealer turns up an Ace he will offer insurance to the other participating players. The choice of insurance allows a
competing player to bet up to half of his original bet against the dealer receiving a blackjack. The dealer checks for a blackjack. If he does this,
the player will lose the original stipulated bet, but the designated "insurance" bet will result in a payout at double the odds, which effectively
covers the original bet. If the dealer does not have a blackjack, the competing player loses both of his bets.
Typically, the dealer will use the "stands on all 17's" rule, which means that he is obliged to continue to draw cards until his hand totals 17 ore
more points, unless he busts first. Otherwise, the dealer is deemed to "stand". Note that an Ace in a dealer's hand under is always considered to be
11 points here, unless it makes the dealer go over 21 points. The Dealer does not have the capability to split, to double down, to insure himself or
to surrender, as a player does.
Blackjack Odds
Blackjack typically pays the following odds:
- A Winning hand usually pays 1-to-1
- Insurance usually pays 2-to-1
- A Blackjack usually pays 3-to-2
Addionally, the following table depicts the Odds of busting in Blackjack, if you decide to "hit", given your current hand value:
| Current Hand Value |
Bust % Odds on Hit |
| 11 or lower |
0 % |
| 12 |
31 % |
| 13 |
39 % |
| 14 |
56 % |
| 15 |
58 % |
| 16 |
62 % |
| 17 |
69 % |
| 18 |
77 % |
| 19 |
85 % |
| 20 |
92 % |
| 21 |
100 % |
Blackjack Strategy Chart
The following is an extremely useful
Blackjack Strategy chart, which can be used to help maximize your chances of winning at Blackjack.
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