Blackjack is a game where players do not compete against each other, it is a comparing game where each player competes against the dealer. It is the most common casino banking game in the world.
In Blackjack players attempt to reach a score of 21 – without exceeding it – before the dealer hits 17. The chances of winning are 100% when you don’t bust and your total is higher than the dealer cards.
Hitting exactly 21 means hitting the jackpot. Before going into the game, we need to remember that, one ace and one 10 card or jack card automatically mean 21.
BlackJack Objective
In Blackjack, the player’s objective in a given round is to get a hand that’s higher than the dealer’s (without being higher than 21 or busting). Only by winning from the dealer a player can win their bet. Players can find the value of their hand by tallying up the point values of their cards.
For e.g.
Card 2 through card 10 – The number listed on the card (2 is worth 2 points)
Jack, Queen, King – 10 points
Ace – 1 or 11 points (the player gets to choose)
An Ace and a 10, Jack, Queen, or King equals 21 points and is known as Blackjack.
Rules of Blackjack
With the help of their chips, players can make a bet.
Each player wagers certain amount of currency, using whatever betting materials they have on hand (before they even get their cards). Before the official game start, players have to submit their bets.
It is also known as “minimum bet” or “buy in”. If the motive of playing is not cash, then the players are free to use anything that is lying around their home.
The dealer distributes the card to each player as well as themselves
The dealer gives a card face up to each player and then places a card face down in front of themselves. It is completely fine the players can see each other’s hands; the important thing is that they can’t see the dealer’s first card. A 52-card deck is used to play blackjack. The dealer has to remove the Jokers and shuffle the cards before distributing them.
The dealer distributes the second card to everyone and the game starts from his left
As earlier, the dealer gives another face up card to each player. Now the dealer places their second card face up in their hand. Now the player left of the dealer go first each round, and from there the game continues in a clockwise direction.
Choice of Stay or Hit
This is the point you need to look at your 2 cards and evaluate the points i.e. how close it is to 21, and how does it compare to the dealer’s hand? If the total is pretty good for e.g. 17, 18 which means it is close to 21, then your beat option is “staying” i.e. leaving your hand as it is. But if the total is low for e.g. it is in the single digits, them you should go for “hitting” or getting another card added to your hand.
NOTE – Staying means that we don’t want the dealer to give us another card, that will get added to our total. It is shown by holding your hand flat and waving it.
Hitting means that we would like to add another card to our hand, and it is shown by tapping the game table with your pointer and middle finger. We can hit as many times as we would like until we reach or go over 21.
The dealer shows their second card and winners are determined
At this moment, the dealer shows their original card and reveal their hand total. If it is 16 or lower, then they are required to hit, but if the card is 17 or higher, the dealer is required to stay. We need to remember that the dealer has to play by different rules than the players.
If the dealer gets the Blackjack, then all the players automatically lose the round, unless they have a Blackjack. In this situation, the player who got Blackjack gets their original bet.
Also read: How to Win at Slots?
