Blackjack basics

The aim of blackjack is to play against the house to accumulate cards with point total closer to 21 than the house (represented by the dealer) without going over 21. Picture or face cards (Kings, Queens and Jacks) are worth ten points. Aces are worth either 1 point or 11 points, whichever is preferable. Other cards points values are directly represented by the number of the card dealt.

If player and the dealer both tie, the hand is deemed “a push” and neither party wins. If Ace and 10 (Blackjack) is dealt to the player in the first two cards they are dealt, they automatically win, getting paid at 1.5 to 1 on their bet, unless the house ties. A player may stand (not take any more cards) at any time they choose.

Playing Live / Online blackjack

To win you need to beat the dealer without going over 21 yourself – where you lose to the dealer. This is know as “busting”. The winner is whoever has closest to a total of 21. Your current score is ascertained by adding up the values of the cards (remember an Ace can represent one or eleven)

In a live setting, the blackjack table seats about 6 players. To reduce the chances of players card-counting to gain an edge over the casino, six or eight decks of cards are used and are shuffled by the dealer and then placed in a card dispensing box called the “Shoe”.

Before players are dealt any cards they must place a bet / wager. The players are dealt two cards face up. The dealer gets one face up and one face down. One by one, each player either stays (doesn’t take another card) or takes more cards to try and get closer to 21 than the dealer, without busting.

Players who do have not bust and who have stayed will wait for the dealer’s turn. When all the players have acted, the dealer finally turns up the down card. Where the dealer’s count is 17 or higher the dealer must stay, otherwise on counts of 16 or lower the dealer must draw another card.

If you make a total of 21 with the first two cards you win! This is called ‘Blackjack’. You will win 1.5 your original bet, unless the dealer also hits Blackjack.

The other remaining players in the hand with a higher count than the dealer win an amount equal to their bet. The other players (those with a lower count than the house) lose their bet stake for that hand.

If the dealer busts, all of the remaining players win.

Blackjack House Advantage

House advantage is approximately seven percent (depending on the different rules) if players are deviating from “basic strategy”. If players are playing a basic blackjack strategy, they will minimise the house edge to half a percent, or less.

Card counting can reverse the advantage up to 1% to the player (but may also get you kicked out of a bricks-and-mortar casino!)

Where to Play Online Blackjack

Most large online casinos will offer online blackjack (or Live Blackjack), roulette and other casino games as standard. Check out our casino bonuses to make sure you get a good blackjack deposit bonus when you join up.

Resources

Roulette Basics

Players play against the House (represented in the game by the croupier) who keeps spinning the roulette wheel, taking bets on the outcome and paying out the appropriate amount to winners.A standard European roulette wheel has thirty six slots representing the numbers 1-36 numbers and one slot fo the zero. Amerian roulette tables will usually have two zeroes, thus 1 extra slot.

Each player buys-in, getting their chips in a differently coloured chip colour from other players, in order to ensure that their bets don’t get mixed up on the table.

To play roulette, you place your bet or bets on numbers (any number including the zero) in the table layout, on red or black, 1st, 2nd or 3rd segments of the table or on the outside, depending on where you think the ball will land (or what colour you hope it lands on). Once players have had a minute or two to place their bets, the croupier will start the wheel spin and throws the ball into the rotating wheel. The croupier will announce “no more bets” moments before the ball is due to stop, and from that point on, no one is allowed to place – or change their bets until the ball has dropped into a slot and the croupier deals with payouts.

The winners are those bets that are on or around the number that the ball finally settles into on the roulette wheel. Also the bets on the outside of the layout win if the winning number is represented (by being red, if the player bet on red, or being in a particular zone on the table, if such a bet was placed).

Roulette House advantage

On a single zero roulette table the dealer or house has an advantage of 2.7%. On a double zero roulette (American-style) table, the house edge is 5.26%. The House advantage is attained by paying the winners a chip or two (or a proportion of it) less than what it should have been if there was no advantage. There is one online casino currently offering players the opportunity to play with zero house edge (please see below).

The Zero rule

Some casinos will reimburse even money bets or will allow the player to take back half their bet or to leave the bet for another spin. e.g if you bet on black, and zero comes in, you may only lose half your bet, whereas players who have bet on a number to come in will lose their entire bet on that number.

Roulette payouts

1. A straight-up bet (on 1 number only) pays 35 to 1. (You collect 36 – your winnings, and 1 for your stake back). With zero house edge you should collect 37 (or 38 on a double zero roulette wheel).
2. A two-number bet, (or split bet) pays 17 to 1.
3. A three-number bet pays 11 to 1.
4. A four-number bet (corner bet), pays 8 to 1.
5. A six-number bet, pays 5 to 1.
6. A bet on the outside dozen or column, pays 2 to 1.
7. A bet on the outside even money bets (e.g red only, even number, odd number), pays 1 to 1.

Object of Roulette

To win at roulette the player needs to predict where the ball will land after each spin. This is an unlikely task, but can prove rewarding for lucky players. Some players prefer to bet on their “lucky number”, whereas other players will bet on groups of numbers which are consecutively oriented on the roulette wheel.
Other methodical players use a variety of roulette systems or methods and bankroll management strategies.

Zero House Edge Roulette

Betfair Casino is the only casino in the world to have have removed all house edge from their casino games (online Roulette, online Blackjack, Online Baccarat and online Video-Poker). The Betfair “Zero Lounge” casino is probably the best value online-casino on the web.

*The return to player on all zero games is 100.0 per cent. This is correct to at least 1 decimal place based on optimal player strategy.

Resources

• Casinos – More Casino Games information.
• Betfair Zero Lounge Casino – Zero House Edge Roulette + £5 Free, no Deposit
• Play Live Roulette – The best Live roulette sites reviewed : interact with the dealers and enjoy gambling in a real-time environment.
• How to Play BlackJack – Guide to the popluar casino game Blackjack