The Basics of BlackJack
There is an incredibly depth to Black Jack where even seasoned masters of the game are still capable of learning new and superior card counting techniques. But don’t let the complexity and depth of Black Jack scare you away, you don’t need to know anything about card counting or complex math equations to win money on Black Jack. Black Jack takes a few minutes to learn and probably a lifetime to master, it isn’t poker – but there’s still an element of skill involved with the luck.
The rules of Black Jack
The goal of Black Jack is very simple, defeat the dealer by getting a better hand without going over 21.There are a few rules that Black Jack players must follow and usually they are quite simple, if you’re out on a casino you need to take care of your drinks cause spilling can be quite expensive. Also, never touch the cards, never reach for any chips but your own and any other casino etiquette. At an online casino however you don’t need to think about most that and any rules or information on your current game are available to you instantly.
The dealer will always draw until a certain value on their hand, when the value of their hand reaches either at least 16 or 17 they must stand regardless of what hand they have. This is sometimes different and in some games the dealer can continue to draw until he busts or has a better hand than you. If you win by a Black Jack you will win 1.5x your bet and if you win by the dealer busting out or your hand being better you get 1x your bet.
1) You can win a hand of Black Jack three ways, by beating the dealer, by the dealer going bust or by getting Black Jack. A Black Jack is a hand with the value of 21 from two cards, you can only get Black Jack if you’re on your first two cards.
2) All cards are valued at their number 2-10, the face cards (jack, queen and king) are valued 10 while ace is valued both 1 and 11.
3) If you have a soft hand you cannot bust out, a soft hand is always a hand with an ace worth 11. A Soft hand changes the value of its ace from 11 to 1 when the hand goes above 21 and makes it into a hard hand, any other hand is also hard hand and can bust out by going over 21.
A Round of Black Jack
You start by placing a bet and you receive your first two cards with their faces up so you can everyone else in the game can see them. The dealer also receives two card but only one is face up, if the card with face up is an ace you can buy Insurance and protect yourself in case the dealer gets a black jack from the face down card. An insurance costs 50% of your active bet on your selected hand and if the dealer does get Black Jack, you will win 2x your bet. Usually the dealer doesn’t get Black Jack and you’ll lose any Insurance you may have wagered before the hand continues as normal.
You are given many choices on how to play your hand, you can draw new cards, stand, double your bet or split your hand.
Hit
A hit gives you a new card but doesn’t cost a new bet, you can take as many new cards as you like for your hand as long as your hand doesn’t bust. The dealer will do the same and keep hitting until the rules tell them to stand.
Split
In Black Jack you can split your hand if you have two of the same cards, an example would be two 8s or two 2s that would be divided into two hands. To split you place the same bet that you wagered with your current hand, on your new hand. All hands are played individually like normal after a Split .
Double Down
If you think your hand is amazing and the next card will give you an unbeatable hand you can wager by doubling your bet, drawing another card and then taking the hand immediately to showdown. The hand will be taken to showdown whether or not you are happy with the new card you got, so it doesn’t matter if your 12 became a 21 or a 14.
Stand
Once you are happy with your hand you can choose to stand, you can do this at any point during the game and your hand will then await showdown with the dealer.
The dealer only has one hand unless otherwise specified in a special variation of Black Jack and the only thing you need to do to win in black jack is survive the drawing of the cards and beat the dealer.
