Blackjack is the most popular casino game in America and one of the biggest reasons for that is its relatively simple rules that are familiar to most casino visitors. Blackjack also has a reputation as being “beatable” and although that is true in some cases, the vast majority of players will always be playing the game with the house having a slight edge over them.
At most blackjack tables there are 7 boxes, or betting areas, on the table. This means that up to 7 people can play at that table and each player has their own box in front of them in which they’ll place their bet. Now, before you take a seat at any blackjack table the first thing you should do is to take a look at the sign that’s sitting on each table because it will tell you the minimum amount that you must bet on each hand. If you’re a $5 player you certainly wouldn’t want to sit at a table that has a $25 minimum so, once again, be sure to look before you sit down.
Once you’re at the table you’ll need chips to play with and you get them by giving your cash to the dealer who will exchange it for an equal amount of chips. Be careful, however, that you don’t put your cash down into one of the betting boxes because the dealer might think you’re playing it all on the next hand!
After everyone has placed their bets in their respective boxes the dealer will deal out 2 cards to each player. He will also deal 2 cards to himself; one of those cards will be face up and the other face down. Now, if you’ve ever read any brochures in a casino they’ll tell you that the object of the game of blackjack is to get a total of cards as close to 21 as possible, without going over 21. However, that really isn’t the object of the game. The true object is to beat the dealer and you do that by getting a total closer to 21 than the dealer, or by having the dealer bust by drawing cards that total more than 21.
The one thing that’s strange about blackjack is that the rules can be slightly different at each casino and this is the only game where this happens. If you play baccarat, roulette or craps you’ll find that the rules are virtually the same at every casino in the U.S. but that isn’t the case with blackjack. For example, in Atlantic City all of the casinos use 6 or 8 decks of cards that are always dealt from a little rectangular box called a shoe and the cards are always dealt face up. In Las Vegas, some casinos will offer that same kind of game while others will offer games that use only 1 or 2 decks that are dealt directly from the dealer’s hand and all of the cards will be dealt face down. To make it even stranger, some casinos in Las Vegas will offer both kinds of games in their casinos and the rules will probably change when you move from one table to another. There can also be other rules variations concerning doubling down and splitting of pairs but we’ll talk about those later. For now, just be aware that different casinos can have different blackjack rules and some of those rules will be good for you while others will be bad for you. Hopefully, after reading this story you’ll know the good rules from the bad ones and which tables are the best ones to play at.
For our purposes, we’ll assume we’re playing in a casino that uses 6 decks of cards that are dealt out of a shoe and all of the player’s cards are dealt face up. By the way, whenever you play blackjack in a casino where the cards are dealt face up don’t touch the cards. In that kind of game the dealer is the only who is allowed to touch the cards and if you do happen to touch them they’ll give you a warning not to do it again – so, don’t touch the cards!
After the cards are dealt the players must determine the total of their hand by adding the value of their two cards together. All of the cards are counted at their face value except for the picture cards – jack, queen and king which all have a value of 10-and the aces which can be counted as either 1 or 11. If you have an ace and any 10-value card ป๊อกเด้ง ไฮโล you have a blackjack which is also called a natural and your hand is an automatic winner, unless the dealer also has a blackjack in which case the hands are tied. A tie is also called a push and when that happens it’s a standoff and you neither win nor lose. All winning blackjacks are paid at 3-to-2, or one-and-a-half times your bet, so if you bet $5 and got a blackjack you would be paid $7.50.
If the dealer has an ace as his up card the first thing he’ll do is ask if anyone wants to buy insurance. When you buy insurance you’re betting that the dealer has a blackjack by having a 10 as his face down card. To make an insurance bet you would place your bet in the area just above your betting box that says “insurance pays 2-to-l” and you’re only allowed to make an insurance bet of up to one-half the amount of your original bet. So, if you originally bet $10 you could only bet a maximum of $5 as your insurance bet. After all the insurance bets are made the dealer will check his face down card and if it’s a 10 he’ll mm it over and all of the insurance bets will be paid off at 2-to-1. If he doesn’t have a 10 underneath, the dealer will then take away all of the losing insurance bets and the game will continue. By the way, according to basic strategy, insurance is a bad bet and you should never make an insurance bet.
If the dealer has a 10 as his up card the first thing he’ll do is check to see if he has an ace underneath which would give him a blackjack. If he does have an ace he’ll turn it face up and start collecting the losing bets that are out on the table. If he doesn’t have an ace underneath the game will continue. In some casinos, however, the dealer won’t check his hole card until after all of the hands are played out.
If the dealer doesn’t have an ace or a 10 as his up card the game continues and the dealer will start with the player to his immediate left to see if they want another card. If a player wants another card they indicate that with a hand signal by tapping or scratching the table with their finger to show they want another card. Taking a card is also known as hitting or taking a hit. If a player doesn’t want another card they would just wave their hand palm down over their cards. Not taking another card is known as stand/rig. The reason hand signals are used is because it eliminates any confusion on the part of the dealer as to exactly what the player wants and it also allows the security people to follow the game on the closed-circuit cameras that are hung from the ceiling throughout the casino.
