BLACKJACK - Get expert blackjack tips before you play again. Learn to play better and win more at the game of blackjack.

The blackjack dealer:

The object of the game is to draw cards that add up to 21, or as close to 21 as possible without going over. Ten's, Jack's, Queen's, and King's count as 10; Aces count as either 1 or 11, as you choose. Other cards play at their face value. You are given a chance to draw additional cards, one at a time, to get closer to 21. If you "bust", (go over 21) the gambler loses. If the gambler's count is closer to 21 than the dealer's, the player wins. If it is under the dealer's, the gambler loses. A tie is a standoff and results in a "push" (nobody wins). The casino has no choice on hitting or staying; it must hit when holding 16 or under and stay on 17 or over. After the gambler is done with his play, the dealer turns up his hidden card. If he has 16 or less, he must "hit," that is draw an additional card or cards, until he reaches 17 or over. If he "busts," the player wins. The dealer must play his hand in a specific way, with no choices allowed. HOWEVER, the dealer will hit a "soft" 17. This rule is identical except for what happens when the dealer has a soft total of 17. Hands such as (Ace, 6), (Ace, 5, Ace), and (Ace, 2, 4) are all examples of soft 17. The dealer hits these hands, and stands on soft 18 or higher, or hard 17 or higher. The basic premise of the game is that the gambler wants to have a hand value that is closer to 21 than that of the dealer, without going over 21. The gambler's hand is strictly played out against the hand of the dealer.

In blackjack, the cards are valued as follows:

An Ace can count as either 1 or 11, as demonstrated below. The cards from 2 through 9 are valued as indicated. The 10, Jack, Queen, and King are all valued at 10. The suits of the cards do not have any meaning in the game. The value of a hand is simply the sum of the point counts of each card in the hand. For example, a hand containing (5,7,9) has the value of 21. The Ace can be counted as either 1 or 11. You need not specify which value the Ace has. It's assumed to always have the value that makes the best hand. An example will illustrate, suppose that you have the beginning hand (Ace, 6). This hand can be either 7 or 17. If you stop there, it will be 17. Let's assume that you draw another card to the hand and now have (Ace, 6, 3). Your total hand is now 20, counting the Ace as 11. Let's backtrack and assume that you had instead drawn a third card which was an 8. The hand is now (Ace, 6, 8) which totals 15. Notice that now the Ace must be counted as only 1 to avoid going over 21.

A hand that contains an Ace is called a "soft" total if the Ace can be counted as either 1 or 11 without the total going over 21. For example (Ace, 6) is a soft 17. The description stems from the fact that the player can always draw another card to a soft total with no danger of "busting" by going over 21. The hand (Ace,6,10) on the other hand is a "hard" 17, since now the Ace must be counted as only 1, again because counting it as 11 would make the hand go over 21.

A blackjack, or natural, is a total of 21 in your first two cards. A blackjack is therefore an Ace and any ten-valued card, with the additional requirement that these be your first two cards. If you split a pair of Aces for example, and then draw a ten-valued card on one of the Aces, this is not a blackjack, but rather a total of 21. The distinction is important, because a winning blackjack pays the player odds of 3 to 2. A bet of $10 wins $15 if the player makes a blackjack. A player blackjack beats any dealer total other than a dealer's blackjack, including a dealer's regular 21. If both a player and the dealer make blackjack, the hand is a tie or push.

The most common decision a player must make during the game is whether to draw another card to the hand ("hit"), or stop at the current total ("stand"). The method you use to indicate your decisions to the dealer depend on which kind of game you are playing.

Double Down:

Among the more profitable player options available is the choice to "double down". This can only be done when the player's first two cards total ten or eleven, before another card has been drawn. Doubling down allows for doubling your bet and receiving one, and only one, additional card to the hand. A good example of a doubling opportunity is when you hold a total of 11, say a (6, 5) against a dealer's up card of 5. In this case, you have a good chance of winning the hand by drawing one additional card, so you might as well increase your bet in this advantageous situation. Add an additional bet to the betting circle by clicking the Double Down icon. The dealer will deal one additional card to the hand. Players are allowed to double down for the amount of the original bet only.

Splitting

When you are dealt a matching pair of cards (remember, ignore the suits), you have the ability to split the hand into two separate hands, and play them independently. Let's say you are dealt a pair of eights for a total of sixteen. Sixteen is the worst possible player hand, since it is unlikely to win as is, but is very likely to bust if you draw to it. The dealer will separate the two cards, and treat them as two independent hands. Let's say you draw a 3 on the first 8, for a total of 11. You may not double down on this hand however, doubling is not permitted after a split. You now play the first hand to completion, at which point the dealer will deal a second card to the 2nd hand, and you can begin making play decisions on it. Moreover, a dealer Blackjack will win over a Blackjack that has been achieved only after the splitting of aces. The result, however, will only be a loss of your original bet amount.

If you get additional pairs (in the first two cards of a hand), you may re-split, making yet another hand. A player can split up to 3 times, making 4 separate hands, with 4 separate bets. Double after split is not allowed, but you could have up to 4times your initial bet on the table if you chose! The other complication for pair splits concerns splitting Aces. You may not draw any 'additional' cards on each Ace - you may only receive the second card on each hand. Also, if you draw a ten-valued card on one of your split Aces, the hand is not considered a Blackjack, but is instead treated as a normal 21, and therefore does not collect 3:2 odds.

Insurance

If the dealer turns an up-card of an Ace, Insurance will be an option for the gambler. Insurance bets can be made by betting up to half your original bet amount in the insurance betting stripe in front of your bet. If the dealer does have Blackjack, your winning Insurance bet will be paid at odds of 2:1. You'll lose your original bet of course (unless you also have a Blackjack), so the net effect is that you break even (assuming you bet the full half bet for insurance.) This is why the bet is described as "insurance", since it seems to protect your original bet against a dealer blackjack. Of course, if the dealer does not have blackjack, you'll lose the insurance bet, and still have to play the original bet out.

Blackjack Terms - Online Blackjack Definitions

Below is a list of blackjack terms created by our team of online casino gambling experts. If you feel that we forgot anything or you have a new cool and unique blackjack term please send us an email and we will add it to the list.

• Action: This is a general gambling term which refers to the total amount of money bet in a specific period of time. Ten bets of ten dollars each is $100 of action.



• Burn Card: A single card taken from the top of the deck or the first card in a shoe which the dealer slides across the table from his/her left o the right, and is placed into the discard tray. The card may or may not be shown face up (which can affect the count if you are counting cards). A card is burned after each shuffle.



• Cut Card: A solid colored card typically a piece of plastic which is given to a player by the dealer for the purpose of cutting the deck after a shuffle.



• Hole Card: Any face down card. The definition most often refers to the dealer's single face down card.



• Shoe: A device that can hold up to eight decks of cards which allows the dealer to slide out the cards one at a time.



• Hard Hand: A hand in which any Ace is counted as a 1 and not as an 11.



• Soft Hand: A hand in which any Ace is counted as an 11 and not as a 1.



• Pat Hand: A hand with a total of 17 to 21.



• Stand: To decline another card.



• Hit: To request another card.



• Bust: When a hand's value exceeds 21... a losing hand.



• Push: A player-dealer tie.



• Pair: When a player's first two cards are numerically identical (ie, 7,7).



• Point Count: The net value of the card count at the end of a hand.



• Running Count: the count from the beginning of the deck or shoe. The running count is updated by the value of the point count after each hand.



• True Count: The running count adjusted to account for the number of cards left in the deck or shoe to be played.



• Bankroll: The stake (available money) a player plans to bet with.



• Flat Bet: A bet which you do not vary i.e. if you are flat betting ten dollars, you are betting $10 each and every hand without changing the betting amount from one hand to the next.



• Foreign Chip: A chip that is issued by one casino and is honored by another as cash. A casino is not necessarily obligated to accept them.



• Settlement: The resolving of the bet. Either the dealer takes your chips, pays you, or in the case of a push, no exchange of chips occurs.



• Toke: To "toke" the dealer is just another word for tipping the dealer.



• Marker: An IOU. A line of credit provided by the casino to a player.



• Junket: An organized group of gamblers that travel to a casino together. Junkets are usually subsidized by a casino to attract players.



• Comp: Short for complimentary. If you wave lots of money around, the casino may give you things like a free room or free food, hoping you'll keep losing money at the tables in their casino.



• Heat: The pressure a casino puts on a winning player, typically someone who is suspected of being a card counter.



• Shuffle Up: Prematurely shuffling the cards to harass a player who is usually suspected of being a counter.



• Nut: The overhead costs of running the casino.



• Pit: The area inside a group of gaming tables. The tables are arranged in an elliptical manner, the space inside the perimeter is the pit.



• House: The Casino of course.



• Cage: Short for cashier's cage. This is where chips are redeemed for cash, checks cashed, credit arranged, etc.



• House Percentage: The casino's advantage in a particular game of chance.



• Drop Percentage: That portion of the player's money that the casino will win because of the house percentage. It is a measure of the amount of a player's initial stake that he or she will eventually lose. On average this number is around 20 percent. That is, on average, Joe Gambler will lose $20 of every $100 he begins with.



• Head-On: To play alone at a blackjack table with the dealer.



• WAG Player: Wild Assed Guessing player.



• SWAG Player: Scientific Wild Assed Guessing player.



• Tough Player: a player who can hurt the casino monetarily with his or her intelligent play.



• Counter: Someone who counts cards.



• High Roller: A big bettor.

BLACKJACK - Get expert blackjack tips before you play again. Learn to play better and win more at the game of blackjack