How to Play BlackJack(A to Z Guide) GAMBLERS August 15, 2015 Home You might hear the line “Is it possible to beat the system?” Well, it is true and the formula is blackjack. It might look easy as all you have to do is get the value as close as possible to 21 but it is a little hard as if you exceed this value, you are in trouble. This system was proclaimed in the early 1960’s. That was a different time and since then the rules and era has been changed. Most of the tables now a day use more than a single deck or does not use the total deck so that the player cannot take the dealer. Since its inception only a few players have really learnt and able to consistently beat the system. It is undoubtedly the most famous than any other table game. It is not rocket science but what people do not have is the endurance to concentrate, diligence and determination to stick on card counting. You have to be determined to learn its simple strategies and I would discuss each of them from scratch. Rules There could be 1 or more than a single deck of 52 cards (Each deck consists of 52 cards). Each card has a different value. 1. Card numbered from 2 to 10 has a face value. 2. Aces could have two values. It could be either 1 or 11 and the use them to get a score close to 21. 3. Queens, Kings and Jacks each have a value of 10. The motto is simple. Get close to 21 and do not go over it. If you are over 21 than you are going to lose. This game is played around a table on which a maximum of seven players can play. The table is an arc-shaped with dealer on one side and the players on the other side. Placard is placed at one end of the table to show the maximum and minimum amount of bet. It might say “$20-$1000″, double on any 2 cards and split any pair 2 times. It is understood that the minimum bet would be of $20 and $2000 maximum. If they encounter a pair it can be split up according to the rules described and the player has the opportunity to double the bet. Most of the tables use more than a single deck and love to use a set of 2, 4,6 or 8 decks. They are shuffled and are kept by the dealer in their special place called a shoe from where dealer draw the cards. The game starts when you place chips in the gambling house and bet. There may or may not be other players and when all the bets are placed each player is provided with two cards. You are not allowed even to touch the card. When they play with the dealer in a single or double deck game, they will see the dealer’s card as one of the dealer card is faceup even if the other is facedown. Now the show begins and the dealer plays according to the set of rules. He will try to fetch “soft 17”. Dealer always fetch the cards as a total of 16 or less and will “STAND” in case he reaches a 17 or more than it. BLACKJACK TERMINOLOGIES 1. HIT: This means you will draw a card in hope of getting 21 and if the value exceeds, you will lose the bet and going to be “BUSTED”. When you hit you can do that by pointing to the cards or by waving towards himself. If the game is a facedown one the player can hit by scratching cards on the table. You cannot call out a hit verbally because of security issues as there are recording each and everything and will not encounter any dispute. 2. Split: You can split your first 2 cards if they are same. By doing this you can make a second bet equals to the principal of first bet. Let’s take an example that you have got first two cards numbered “7” than you can split the cards. The dealer will split the first two “7s” and will put the 2nd card on the first seven. Then you can play handout as you either going to “Stand” or “Bust” and then the dealer will deal for the split one means the second “7”. 3. Double down: You can double the principal of your original bet by receiving only 1 card regardless of what it is. Every casino has different rules. Some would let you double down only when if you have a total of “10 or 11” on your first two cards, other will allow you to do on any two cards. 4. Insurance: You can secure insurance if the dealer card is an ace. It is so because the dealer has the value 10 and is competing for blackjack. If insurance is taken than it goes for half the amount of the original bet. It is an advantage to the player as if you lose the hand and comes out a winner in insurance bet the score would be zero but in this case there are higher chances you would either end up in a draw or a loss, not a win. Suppose you have bet a sum of $20 with 19 and the ace card shows up by the dealer. The player can now take insurance of half the price of the bet i.e. of $10. If the dealer hits the blackjack you lost the $20 bet but would win the same amount of twenty dollars in the playoff as a score of 2-1. 5. Stand: This means that you think you can beat the dealer and would not draw any card from the shoe of the betting house as the current score can beat the dealer. In a faceup game it is shown by displaying a crumpled fist over the card while in a facedown game the player displays it by placing the card below the bet. In most of the casinos dealers would advise the players to take insurance if they know player has a blackjack. In this way it would be neither win nor loss for both of them. Suppose if the player places the bet of $50 and draws a blackjack. The next card draws up for the dealer is the ace up and now you can take the insurance on your $50 bet. Now the dealer draws blackjack. There is a tie of blackjack between the player’s and dealer’s blackjack. The insurance of 25 dollars would win you 50 dollars in the 2-1 playoff. So, it turned out not to be a good advice by the dealer. It is an no win no loose bet if the ace is shown and player took insurance. If the player is a card counter who knows exactly the concentration of 1o value cards. Variations All the rules of blackjack are not equal. There is some variation that could be either an advantage or disadvantage to the player. The little variations at the rules would make large differences in the game as the house edge shifts largely. Some of the common variations in the blackjack rules are as follows: Double downs: It is known through probability that the advantage of the dealer would be decreased by thirteen percent after splitting from the double down. Aces Resplitting allowed: In most of the casinos if the player splits its aces would be able to receive only 1 more card on each ace. Even at some casinos they permit resulting pair to resplit. By doing this the cut of the house has been decreased to point zero three percent. It is very unlikely to seek a game that lets player draws more than 1 card after splitting of the ace, this would cut down the players edge by .14 percent. Early surrender: If the faceup value of the dealer’s card is an ace, the dealer would check the down-card value would be a 10. If it is so, than the dealer would complete for blackjack before playing. The early surrender would be called by the dealer if the house permits the player the 50% of the original bet instead of playing the hand as the dealer would stand for blackjack. The cut of the house edge by doing this is dropped up to .624 percent. If the basic strategy has not been mastered it could easily result in a loss by the beginners.
