Blackjack is the most popular table card game either in brick and mortar casinos, home games and other gaming establishments including online. The popularity must have come from the simple rules of the game.
However, if you are new in the game, it is necessary that you are armed with the basic rules and understanding of the game play before you seat at a table to play. Thus, you have to read on to find the rules and the game play of Blackjack.
Rules of Blackjack
• The objective of Blackjack is to reach a total of 21 without going over. The natural Blackjack is of course an ace and a face card or a ten.
• In Blackjack, an Ace plays 1 or 11.
• After the cards are dealt, you have several options to make. First, you can stand or Stay, you continue to play but will not accept any additional cards. Second, you can Hit, you get another card to improve your hand. You can continue hitting until you reach 21 or any number near 21 without going over. Third action can be a double down, in which case, you can double your bet and get only one more card. The fourth action is a split. In this case, you may have a pair and you split the pair into two hands and bet the same amount to the second hand. The dealer will then provide you two more cards to complete each hand of the split.
• Going over 21 means you loss and your bets are taken by the banker. This is called bust or break.
• A full table in Blackjack consists of six players with the dealer seated in the middle.
• Players are going against the dealer in Blackjack. It is possible that the dealer losses in some players but wins in other players.
• If the dealer’s hand is of the same value as the player’s hand, this is a tie and the bets are returned or push.
• The rule with regards to the dealer hitting another card depends on the rules of the casino. Some casinos allow the dealer to hit on soft 17 or a total of seven with and Ace. The dealer with hard 17 will need to stand and not take any more cards.
Blackjack Game Play
1. The game starts by the dealer shuffling the cards. In casinos, there is a shoe that holds the cards and the dealer draws from there. It can either be one deck, two decks of cards or more inside the shoe.
2. The dealer will then deal two cards to each player and to himself. The dealer usually draws his card one face down and one face up.
3. Before the players checkout their cards, they will need to place their bets in the betting box.
4. After the players have checked their bets, they will need to make a decision, either to stand, hit, double down, or split.
5. If players are hitting, they can hit any number of cards until they get a 21, near 21 but should not go over. If the player hits more cards and go over 21, then that is a bust and the player losses.
6. The dealer will then pay the players that have higher totals than his hand and take the bet of the players that has a total of less than the dealer.
Now that you know the basic strategy of Blackjack, you may now go to Blackjack casinos and play online. You may also play practice games if you wish to help you get comfortable with the game.
