Play Blackjack

Probably Blackjack is the most popular games in a casino. Probably there are many reasons for this, ease of play, speed of the game, or maybe it's just the excitement of it, but one thing for sure, Blackjack is fun! There can be many different strategies to blackjack, and everyone has developed there own methods. When you make up a "winning" method, make sure you take into consideration what the casinos use.

In Las Vegas they use a four deck play; other casinos might vary the number of decks. So, before you start betting your bus fare back to where ever you came from, make sure you bet carefully and remember, Blackjack is only a game, but the second you start putting money down it becomes an investment, so be careful.

Blackjack is an easy game to learn how to play. We'll assume you've never played before and go over the basics. It is the optimum way to play your hand if you are not counting cards. The strategy is derived by computer simulation where the computer deals out millions of hands, plays them in all possible ways, and then records and analyzes the results.

You bust when your cards total to more than 21 and you lose automatically. The winner is whoever has closest to a total of 21. You reach 21 by adding up the values of the cards. The blackjack table seats about 6 players. Either six or eight decks of cards are used and are shuffled together by the dealer and placed in a card dispensing box called 'Shoe'.

Before receiving any cards players must place a wager. Then the players are dealt two cards face up. The dealer gets one face up, one face down. Each player in turn either stays or takes more cards to try and get closer to 21 without busting. Players who do not bust wait for the dealer's turn.

When all the players are done, the dealer turns up the down card. By rule, on counts of 17 or higher the dealer must stay; on counts of 16 or lower the dealer must draw. If you make a total of 21 with the first two cards (a 10 or a face and an Ace), you win automatically.

This is called 'Blackjack'. If you have Blackjack, you will win one and one-half times your bet unless the dealer also has Blackjack, in which case it is a Push or a Tie (or a Stand-off) and you get your bet back.
The remaining players with a higher count than the dealer win an amount equal to their bet. Players with a lower count than the dealer lose their bet. If the dealer busts, all the remaining players win. There are other betting options namely Insurance, Surrender, Double Down, Even Money and Split.