Blackjack: How to Play

The Table

If you have never played Blackjack and never sat down in front of a Blackjack table in a casino, the following article is designed to help you understand how to play the game and teach you the basic rules and the do’s and don’ts of the Blackjack table.

A casino blackjack table is semicircular in shape. The dealer stands behind the table and there are seven player positions facing him. Some tables may have only five player positions. The dealer acts for the casino and he distributes the cards to the players.

On or near the table will be sign announcing the minimum and maximum bets allowed at this particular table. Players should study this so they know exactly what they are getting into if they choose to play at this table. Now the player has to buy his chips. He does this by putting his money on the side of the table and then waiting for the dealer to change the money into playing chips.

The Shuffle

The player receives his chips and now he is ready to play. In order to bet he has to place a chip in the betting in the circle in front of his seat. The game starts when the dealer shuffles the cards. If he is dealing more than two decks, he will place the shuffled deck of cards in a box which is known as the ‘shoe’. After he shuffles a deck, he will ask a player to ‘cut’ the deck and he will mark the position of the cut with a colored card, known as the ‘cut card’. The player who is asked to cut, simply slides the colored card into the deck at any position he fancies. The dealer splits the deck at the cut point and taking the cut card out, places it about two-thirds the way into the deck. This deck ‘penetration’ will probably vary from casino to casino, and may even

differ from table to table.

The First Deal

If the dealer is playing with two decks or less, he will organize the cards in his hand. For more than two decks, he will place the cards in the shoe. He will start by ‘burning’ or discarding, the first card. Then he will look around the table to check that all the players have placed their bets in the correct location on the table and that all the bets conform to the table limits. Now he begins distributing, or dealing, cards to the players, either from the top of the deck, if it is his hand, or from the front of the shoe.

He begins with the furthest player to his left, who is known as ‘first base’ and continue dealing out one card to each player. When this is done he will deal himself one card face up. He repeats the process until every player has two cards in front of him. His own second card is slid under his face-up card. This is called his ‘hole card’ and it is face down.

Do Not Touch the Cards

In some casinos, the cards are dealt face up but the players are not allowed to touch them. Only the dealer may handle cards and chips.

In other casinos, the players may handle their cards. Where this happens, the cards are dealt face down. The player then has to pick up his cards and turn them over. In this situation do not use both hands to pick the cards up. Lift them with one hand only and hold them over the table. A player should never remove cards from the table or hide them from the sight of the dealer. The dealer alone is responsible for the security of the cards, and his job is to make sure that cards are not exchanged or tampered with by the players.

 

The Object of the Game

The object of blackjack is to beat the dealer by having cards with a total as close as possible to 21. The score is obtained by adding up the values of the cards. The card values are as follows: Tens and picture or face cards are all worth ten points, Aces are worth one or 11, whichever the player chooses in keeping with his hand. All the other cards count at their numerical face values. The suits are of no significance in this game.

For example, a five of spades and a nine of hearts is 14 points. A King of spades and a Queen of diamonds counts as 20 points. An Ace of spades and a seven of hearts can count as 8 or 18 points.

The player who has an Ace determines its the value, and can actually decide to change it in mid-hand. In the last example, for instance, say a player drew a Seven to the Ace and six. If the Ace is counted as 11, he will have 18. If it is counted as 1 he will have 8.

A "soft hand" is defined as one that contains an Ace which is counted as 11. A "hard hand" is defined as a hand where the Ace can only be counted as one point or a hand that does not contain an Ace.

After the each player has been dealt two cards, the dealer returns to first-base and starts the play with each hand individually. He will point to each player’s cards when he is ready to play.

Casino Security

Casinos are fitted with security cameras so that any arguments and claims can be reviewed by all parties. Because of this, verbal instructions may not be given to the dealer. The cameras cannot hear these.

Should a player want another card – a situation called ‘a hit’ – he should signal this by scratching the table with his finger. If he wants to ‘stand – or not take any more cards - he signals this by waving his hand with the palm down. He uses the same motion when he has decided to stop taking additional cards.

In the hand-held game, where the dealer is holding the deck of cards in his hand, he would signal that he wants a hit by scraping the table with the edge of his cards. If he is satisfied with his hand and does not want any more cards, he must slide his cards under his chips in the betting circle to show this.

The Points

If he takes a hit and that card puts his total over 21, he is ‘bust’ and he loses his bet automatically. The dealer will immediately remove his cards and his chips. In the hand-held game, he must turn his cards over immediately if he is bust, so the dealer can finish his hand.

At the end of the hand, if the total of his cards is closer to 21 than the dealer, he wins! If the dealer's hand is closer to 21, he loses. And if he ties with the dealer - called a "push" - no one wins or loses.

If the dealer does not go ‘bust’, he will pay the winners and take the loser's chips. If a player has pushed or tied, the dealer will rap the table with his knuckles and leave the chips where they stand. He can then increase, decrease or remove his bet for the next hand.

The House Rules

The casinos have rules for Blackjack. They may differ from one casino to another and it is important for a player to know these rules. These rules are pretty basic. If the dealer's hand total 16 or less, he must take a card. If the dealer's hand is 17 or more, he must stand. There are casinos that will allow the dealer to hit on soft 17 which gives the house a very small additional advantage. So the dealer's playing strategy is fixed and he cannot depart from it. The cards that the players hold are immaterial to him as far as hitting and standing is concerned. He cannot change the rules.

Then only way to win automatically is to be dealt a Blackjack hand, that is, to receive a total of 21 in the first two cards. This means a ten-value card and an Ace. This is called a "natural" or a "blackjack."

When a player is dealt a Blackjack, he receives a bonus. As a rule in blackjack, all bets are paid out at even money. But when a player is dealt a Blackjack, he receives a payoff of three-to-two. So for example, if the bet was $10, the payout would be $15.

In a hand-held game, the player must turn his cards over immediately in order to be paid.

When the Dealer has Blackjack

If the dealer has a Blackjack hand and a player is also dealt one, the player will not be paid immediately. This is a tie, or a ‘push’ and no one is paid. A player can protect himself by taking out ‘insurance’. When the dealer has an Ace showing, he asks all the players if they would like insurance. This insurance bet is actually a side bet in which a player can bet half of his original bet. To take up the offer of insurance the player places chips to the amount of half his original bet on the table in front of his original bet. If the dealer does get a Blackjack the insurance bet will be paid out at 2-1 and the player will lose his original bet. If the dealer doesn't get a Blackjack, the player loses his insurance bet but continues play with his original bet. In general, the insurance bet is NOT a good bet unless the player is counting cards and is sure that there is a good chance of the dealer having Blackjack. If the player is not counting cards, he should not take the insurance bet.

Increasing the Bets

The game of Blackjack allows a player to increase his bets in the middle of a hand if he feels that he has a good hand and is likely to win. When such an opportunity arises, a player should exploit it.

A player can increase his bet by ‘doubling down’. What this means is that the casino will allow the player to make a second bet equal in size to his first bet. In return for this, the player agrees to take only one more card for his hand. A player can double down only after looking at his first two cards. He cannot do this once he starts playing against the dealer, by taking a hit and then doubling down.

Some casinos will allow a player to double down for less than the amount of his original bet. Players should avoid doing this because if the situation is worth doubling down for, one should bet as much as is allowable, which is the amount of the original bet.

Doubling Down

If a player wants to inform the dealer that he wants to double down, he simply places a second wager next to his original wager in the betting circle. He should make sure the dealer sees him and also be sure not to place the additional bet on top of the original wager, giving the impression that he is illegally trying to increase his original bet.

Hand signals are not necessary. The dealer will see the double-down bet and give the player the one card that is part of the double down. He will place the extra card across the first two cards. In the hand-held game, the dealer will place the card under the player’s chips in the betting circle. The player may then pick up the card to see what he has been given, but he will gain more respect if he waits to expose his hand until the dealer has settled all bets.

If the player wins his bet, he will be paid even money for the two bets, and receive double his original wager. If he loses, both bets are taken away. In the event of a push, he will keep both bets, but there is no payout.

Splitting the Hand

Another way of increasing a bet in mid-hand is splitting. This requires being dealt a pair, such as a six of clubs and a six of hearts. The player can then split his hand if he wishes, giving him 2 separate hands to play. The extra wager must equal the original bet and must be placed next to the initial wager.

If a player has a pair that he wants to split and his cards are dealt face down, he must turn them over and place them a few inches apart. If his cards are dealt face up, he must point to his cards and say "split" when the dealer prompts him. The original bet will go with one card and he must place an equal amount of chips in the betting box near the other card. He is now playing two hands, each as though they were a regular hand, except if he has split two aces. In that case, he will only get one card which hopefully will be a 10. If it is a 10, that hand's total is now 21 but the hand isn't considered a Blackjack. He will be paid 1:1 and not 1:1.5 as for a natural Blackjack.

After splitting his cards, the dealer will deal cards to his first hand until the players decide to stand or go bust. He will then deal cards to the second hand. The player should remember that the stand, hit, split, and double-down rules apply equally to each new hand being dealt. The rules on how many times as a player may split vary from casino to casino. Let’s say a player is dealt a pair of eights, he splits them, and is dealt another eight. Most casinos will allow him to split again and start a third hand. Players should ask the dealer about the split rules.