Blackjack Standard Rules
Blackjack is quite simple game to play. You don’t need to be guru of card games or extremely skilled math scientist to count your odds and probabilities. Therefore this game is suitable for people of all ages and educations. Here you will find blackjack standard rules used by casinos.
When you play blackjack at a casino up to nine people can play at the same time (commonly seven players sit at the table). Semicircular table is used. At the beginning of every round players place their bets. Chips are stored in the so-called betting box.
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Some people think that the goal of the game is to collect as many points as possible but not more than 21. This is a delusion. In fact your goal is to outclass the dealer. You can win even if you have only 10 points. Up to 8 decks is used. The more decks are used the less your chances to use blackjack strategy. In this case it will be almost impossible to count cards and follow basic strategy.
Cards have got the following values:
2-2
3-3
4-4
5-5
6-6
7-7
8-8
9-9
T-10
J-K – 10
A – 1 or 11 regarding of your hand. For example, when your hand is A-3-2 it can be either 11+3+2 (16) or 1+3+2 (6). Thus if you receive K next your ace takes value of 1: A-3-2-K = 1+3+2+10=16.
If a dealer and a player has got equal hands this situation is called “Stay” or “Push”. In this case a dealer and a player keep their bets and nobody wins or looses.
Betting is done before a round starts. As soon as the first card is dealt players cannot make any other bets. Then dealer deals cards. Every player receives 2 cards and a dealer takes one card face-up. Players cards are dealt face up therefore everyone can see them. If a player receives 21 (A+T or A+J-K) it is called blackjack. In this case a winner receives 3 to 2 winning, for example if your bet was 10 euros you will receive 25 euros instead of 20.
If you don’t have a blackjack you can take more cards or stand (hit or stand). A player can take as many cards as he wants. But if the total value of cards exceeds 21 a player loses (this situation is called bust). When you finish taking cards it is time to finish the hand for a dealer. He takes cards until he reaches certain amount of points. Usually casinos use simple strategy – dealers take cards until they receive 17 points or more. Usually this rule is a must for dealer (sometimes casinos even type “Dealer must stand at 17” on their tables).
There are several extra twists in blackjack game rules. For example you can split your cards if you received a pair (KK, TT, 77 etc.). In this case you will have two separated hands. This is useful when you have potentially winning cards like TT and you can expect both of them to win. Thus you take double risk with possibility to double your winning. Usually online blackjack rules have got this twist. Rules of blackjack vary regarding of modification of the game. Therefore you should not be surprised with some special twists.
