Classic Blackjack

Classic BlackjackClassic Blackjack is the basic blackjack game which can be learnt by a player of any skills and experience. All modifications of blackjack are based on the rules of Classic Blackjack. Six standard 52-cards decks are used in this game.

The goal of the game is to outclass the dealer. The player wins if he has got more points than the dealer without going over 21 points. 21 is the maximum. If the player exceeds 21 he loses.

The name of this game originates from the best possible hand – a blackjack. Blackjack hand consists of Ace and Ten. This hand automatically wins regardless of the hand of the dealer. The payout rate for a blackjack is 3 to 2.

The player has to make his bet before starting the next round. As soon as he placed bet he receives two cards. Cards are dealt face up. The dealer is also dealt two cards (1 face up and 1 face down). Then the player has to make his decision. He can either hit or stand. Hit means that the player asks for an extra card. Stand means that the player doesn’t take any other cards. The player can take as many cards as he wants. But if he goes over 21 he loses.

You should always keep in mind value of cards. Remember that Ace can be either 1 or 11. It is called “hard” and “soft” hands. Hard hand is for instance T7 – 17. And the soft hand is A5 – soft 16. According to the rules used by casinos the dealer must stand on 17. Thus the player can build his own strategy based on this rule. Dealer always plays using basic blackjack strategy.

Other decisions of the player:

The player has got extra decisions to make. For example he can double his bet after receiving two initial cards. If you double you will be given just one more card. Thus your hand will consist of 3 cards regardless of their total value.

Another possible decision is to split the player’s hand. It can be done if the player has got two cards of the same value (33, 22, TT). In this case the player will have two separated hands. This means that the player will also have to make second bet equal to the first one. It is also possible to double the player’s bet after splitting. By the way the player can split his hand again. But the player is not allowed to split more than 3 times per 1 round. Thus the maximum quantity of separated hands played at once is 4. The player is allowed to split Aces. In this case the player can take only one extra card for each hand. Another important thing you should remember is that you cannot have a blackjack after splitting. Thus even if you have AT at one of your separated hands you just have 21, not a blackjack.

The insurance rule is used in Classic Blackjack. According to this rule the player can pay insurance if he thinks that the dealer has got a blackjack. If the player decides to pay insurance he places extra bet (1/2 of the size of initial bet). As a result if the dealer has got a blackjack the player will be given 2x insurance bet. The player loses his insurance bet vice-versa.

Another type of insurance in Classic Blackjack is surrender. The player can surrender if he doesn’t like his two initial cards. In this case the player loses just ? of his bet. At the same time the player cannot surrender if he split his hand. Some casinos have got different rules. They allow their player to surrender at any time.