Blackjack is a casino game that is very easy to play but mastering winning strategies takes a lot of hard work as well as practice. In this guide, I will outline the rules of blackjack as well as the betting options used during game play. A blackjack table can sit up to 5 players or more and your main objective is to defeat the dealer’s hand value. In blackjack, players will be playing against the house/dealer. Each card is given a value, face cards carry their face value while Jacks, Queens, and Kings have a value of 10 and the Ace can either represent a value of either 11 or 1.Before the game proceeds, players get to place their bet units on the table and each player receives two cards (face-up), the dealer also receives two cards from the shoe deck (one face up and one facedown) and the game proceeds. Receiving a hand totaling 21(first two card’s value 21) is known as a blackjack and the dividend is 1:2. Each hand won besides the blackjack has a dividend of 1:1. You main objective is to get a hand value that is higher than the dealer’s hand value and it should not exceed 21. Each player is able to improve his/her hand value by making use the following betting options;
Hit – Call for an additional card
Double down – Call for an additional card, double your wager, and stand. Depending on the variation, players are able to double down on anything or double down only on a hand value of 9, 10, and 11.
Split – split the hand into two hands, this option is available when you have received 2 identical cards i.e. 2-2, 3-3, 8-8, etc. However, depending on the blackjack variation, players can or will not be allowed to re-split, or split on Aces, etc.
Other betting options available during game play are;
Insurance – this option allows a player to take insurance if you think that the dealer is holding a blackjack. This option is available only when the dealer’s face up card shows an Ace.
Surrender – this option allows a player to withdraw his or her hand from the game and lose half of his or her bet units.
Blackjack betting options vary from one variation to another and if you are new to blackjack, it is advisable for you to play various blackjack variants so as to select a variant of preference. One thin you should note is that when playing blackjack, with most variants, the dealer will always stand on soft 17. This means that the dealer’s main objective is to reach 17 rather than getting a hand value close to 21. Therefore, an effective way to beat the dealer is for you to reach 19 rather than having a hand value close to 20 or 21.
A hand value that is above 21 is known as a ‘bust’. Both the dealer and player can ‘bust’. If the player’s hand value is equal to the dealer’s hand value, this is known as a ‘push’.
