How to Play Blackjack
Blackjack is a popular casino game played by players against the house. The rules of blackjack are simple: get your cards to add up to 21 (or as close below 21 as you can without busting), and beat the dealer! Below we go explain the basics of how to play blackjack.
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.
