How to Play Blackjack
The game of blackjack is a rather simple game. The blackjack dealer deals two cards to up to 7 blackjack players. The dealer will also deal himself 2 cards as well. The first of the dealers cards is dealt dealt face down (called the hole card) and the other card is dealt face up (called the up card).
After the cards are dealt the dealer will check, before the game continues, if he or she has a “Blackjack” or a “Natural”. A Blackjack (or “21″)is the combination of two cards, one being an “Ace” and the other being a ten valued card, which could be a ten, jack, queen or king. If the dealer has blackjack, the hand will end at that point and the dealer will take all of the losing hands’ money, only players with a blackjack of their own will survive this hand with a tie (aka as a push). If the blackjack dealer’s up card is an ace, you would have the option offered to you to take “insurance” which is a second bet that is betting that the dealer does have a blackjack. This second bet, known as insurance, can be up to half of the amount of your original wager and will get paid two to one. So if the dealer actually has a blackjack you would break even in that hand.
If the dealer does not have a blackjack, he will then offer each player (starting from dealer’s left) an additional card called a “hit”. The goal of the player is to get closer to twenty one than the dealer, without going over 21. Each card is worth face value and face cards are valued at ten. Aces are counted as either one or eleven, which ever is a better count for the player. Once the player is satisfied with their point total, they will choose to “stand” (or stay) with what they have and no further cards will be added to their hand. The dealer will draw cards on a point total of 16 or less and stay on either all seventeens. At some casinos the dealer will hit on a soft seventeen (which is a hand of cards that includes an ace) giving the dealer a count of either seven or seventeen.
If a blackjack player is dealt a pair of cards with the same value (like a pair of eights), the blackjack player may choose to “split” their hand. Splitting means that the blackjack player chooses to split a pair by placing a second wager on to the betting surface that is equal to the original wager and requests the dealer to split their hand. The player would then have two hands, one could lose or both could lose. Each casino has different policies on how many times you can split a pair and if you can “double down” after splitting.
Double Down means you are placing an additional wager which is the amount of your original wager and you get only one additional card. A lot of blackjack players decide to double down on a point total of 10 or eleven and can only do so after being dealt two cards, you can not double down after taking a hit. If you chose to split aces, you may be at a casino that only allows you to take one card per ace and not have the option of hitting.