An overview of Blackjack

Blackjack is one of the world’s most famous card games and it is often referred to as Twenty-One. This game is so popular due to the fact of how easy it is to play and that casino odds are generally in your favour if you play the game well enough. The objective of this game is to beat the dealer with the cards you have been dealt. In order to successfully beat the dealer, you’ll need to get 21 points on your first two cards and hope that the dealer does not have 21 points as well. This is what is known as a “blackjack”. You can also beat the dealer by having a final score higher than the dealer without going over 21 points. There are some very important things you need to know when playing this game, read on here to find out more.

The Cards

The first thing you need to know is that Blackjack is played with a 52-card deck without any jokers. So if you spot a joker card then leave the table immediately! Casinos normally mix a few decks together in order to speed up the game but more importantly to make card counting more difficult for clued up players who use this notorious strategy. Some casinos use up to 4 decks and the shuffling of these decks varies from casino to casino. Again, dealers will tend to shuffle that bit more if they feel someone is counting the cards of the deck. The cards 2 through 10 will display their face value, J, Q, and K are worth 10 points each and the Ace is worth either 1 or 11 points. The Ace is significant as the player must decide if it is worth 1 point or 11 points before the game starts.

The Table

Blackjack is played on a specially designed table. You will find a dealer on the opposite side of the table and up to 8 players can play against the dealer in this game. Each player is given a section of the playing area in front of them where the dealer will place your cards and this area is also where you place your bets. When playing Blackjack, make sure to take note of the betting limits which will be clearly posted around the Blackjack table. These limits can vary from casino to casino and if you are not much of a high-roller then stay away from the bigger limit tables.

Placing Bets

When placing a bet in Blackjack, you can place a minimum or maximum bet. It is up to each player to decided how much to bet on a hand before the dealer deals out the cards. When playing this game, it is always important to remember that it is a two-player game, it is just you and the dealer. Once you place your bet, the dealer will give you some cards and you can then decide to stand with what cards you have or if you are unfortunate to have over 21 points then you will go bust and it is game over. If the dealer has blackjack then he or she will not take any more cards and you will lose unless you also have blackjack, in which case – the bet is then returned to you.

It is worth noting that the dealer’s actions are always dictated by the rules of the game. So the dealer must take more cards if the value of their hand is lower than 17, otherwise, the dealer will stand. A dealer’s actions also depend on the blackjack table you are playing at as some tables can have different rules even though they are inside the same casino. Blackjack also features a bunch of side rules and these vary from casino to casino. Most contain the Insurance, Surrender, and Splitting options. When playing this game, you should definitely check these rules out before placing a bet so you know exactly what is going on at the table.

For some great Blackjack strategies, please check out this article.