Blackjack is
one of the world’s most popular and most exciting games, played
both in casinos and on-line. Its popularity grows daily as
new Blackjack sites mushrooms on the Internet.
A beginner at this game cannot imagine how much fun he can
have or how much money he can win in Blackjack.
The first thing that must be learnt is the basic objective
of the game. This is very simple. It is to assemble a hand
that equals 21 in value or as close to 21 as possible without
going ‘bust’, exceeding it. The player also wants to be closer
to 21 than the dealer. If the player’s first 2 cards total
21, that is called Blackjack. In order to get Blackjack the
player must be dealt an Ace and a Picture card. In Blackjack
the player is not playing against other players but only against
the Dealer and this means that you don’t have to bluff the
other players as to the hand you are holding. Likewise, the
other players are not trying to bluff you.
Most important, you have to learn the betting rules. The betting
is done before the cards are dealt and you have to place your
bet in the square marked for this on the table. As soon as
all the bets have been placed, the cards are dealt by the
dealer.
Now you have to know the value of the cards so there is no
confusion once the play starts.
An Ace is either 1 or 11, and you will decide, according to
the cards you are dealt, which of these two you would like
it to be according to how it suits your hand. The 10, Jack,
Queen and King are all counted as 10. The cards from 2 to
9 are all counted at face value. The different suits do not
count at all in Blackjack, so these can be ignored.
There are two kinds of hands in this game, a soft hand or
a hard hand. A soft hand is one in which there is an Ace and
a hard hand is one where there is no Ace.
What happens when the dealer deals out the cards? He starts
by making two rounds around the table. He starts at his left
and deals until everyone, including himself, has 2 cards.
He starts the play by turning over one of his cards so that
everyone can see it. This will help the other players decide
how to play their hands when the time comes.
The player in the first position, the one to the immediate
left of the dealer, looks at his own hand thinks about how
he is going to play, now that he knows one of the dealer’s
cards. At the same time all the other players are thinking
of the strategies they are going to use.
Each player, now that he knows how many points he has in his
hand, can decide to take another card, i.e. ‘Hit’, can ‘Stand’,
can ‘Double Down’, can ‘Split’ or can ‘Fold’.
To ‘Hit’ means that he thinks he should add another card or
cards to bring him closer to the score of 21.
To Stand means that he is happy with the score he has and
will take his chances without adding another card.
To Double Down. A profitable move that a player can make is
to Double Down.
A player can only do this when he is holding the two cards
that were originally dealt to him. Doubling Down will allow
him to double his bet and receive one more card. A player
will do this when he thinks that one more card will bring
him close to 21.
To Split. This can only be done when a player receives two
of the same cards, i.e. 2 fives or 2 kings. What happens is
that you can split this hand into 2 separate hands and play
each hand separately. A pair of Aces should always be split,
because this gives the player 2 chances of being dealt a Blackjack
hand.
To Fold is to throw in your hand because you think you don’t
stand any chance of winning.
When play starts it soon becomes clear that Dealer plays with
a different strategy to the players. The dealer has to conform
to the rules set down by the casino.
For instance, if he has a score of less than 17, he has to
take a ‘Hit’. This can be very good for the Player because
if he receives a high card he will ‘bust’, i.e. go over 21
in which case all the players win automatically. A score of
17 or higher means that that the dealer must stand. These
rules may differ from one casino to another.
The players must always look at the dealer’s open card so
they can get an idea of the total he may reach.
This is the basic information which will allow a beginner
to play and enjoy this game confidently.
More about Blackjack:
Learn Blackjack Strategies
Read about counting cards in Blackjack
