How To Play Blackjack

PLAY BLACKJACK

Blackjack is the most commonly played casino game where the player plays against the dealer. It is popular worldwide, and unlike poker, has very few variations to its rules regardless of where you play. Blackjack can be played with any number of players (plus a dealer), but in most casinos tables will seat five, making up to six players in total. The number of players doesn’t affect the individual player because each person plays one on one against the dealer. This means that unless the dealer goes bust, in any given game some players can win and some can lose.

For each game of blackjack, each player is dealt two cards. The dealer shows only one of their cards. If those first two cards a player is dealt consist of an ace and a card that is worth ten, which is either a ten or any face card, that is called ‘blackjack’ and the player instantly wins at the odds set for blackjack by the casino. If they have any other amount, they have to decide whether to ‘stand’, which means to stick with the value of the cards they have and hope that the dealer either ends up with a lower value than them or goes over 21, or hit, which means to take another card. They can keep on hitting as many times as they like until they either go over 21, which is called going ‘bust’, or they decide to stand.

As well as these basic rules, you are also able to ‘split’ your hand into two separate hands if you get two cards of the same value (you have to double your bet), and you can also choose to ‘double down’ which means you double your bet and hit.

Blackjack is a game of chance, with no real skill involved, which makes it easy for anybody to play. However, you can improve your chances of making the best decision each time in terms of probability by learning what is called ‘basic strategy’. In fact, in many casinos, it is expected that you will know this and if you do anything wildly different from what basic strategy would predict this may not be well received by other players (even though technically what you do doesn’t affect their individual game against the dealer, they may feel you took what should have been their card if you hit when you would usually stand).