How to play Blackjack

Learn how to play Blackjack like a pro. We guide you through the history of Blackjack and provide you with Card Rules and expert strategies.

It is a card game between a dealer and a number of players. Each player competes against the dealer itself, and not against each other. It is one of the most famous casino games in the world. The main purpose of the game is to beat the dealer; this is done by getting a total of 21 on the first 2 cards drawn by the player. Another way to beat the dealer is to reach a score that is greater than the score of the dealer but not more than 21.

Learn how to play Blackjack

Online blackjack was introduced in the mid 1990s with the arrival of online casinos. In 2008, out of a total of $21 billion dollars, most of it was bet on online blackjack.

Online blackjack has a lot of advantages; some of which are:

• Highly accessible (even on mobile phones and tablets)
• Access to a wide range of tutorials which help in learning the game
• Live dealers
• Wide range of incentives and promotions available for the users
• Privacy
• More organized

Although it has a lot of advantages, it certainly has a few disadvantages as well. Some of the disadvantages of online blackjack are as follows:

• Counting is not possible
• You cannot take note of the body language of the dealer; it is all virtual

History of blackjack

There have been disagreements regarding the origination of blackjack, however most researchers believe and agree that it commenced in the early 1700 in French casinos. It was called Vingt-et-un which means twenty one in English. Another version which circulated in Spain was called ‘One and Thirty’. The rule here was to reach the number 31 with at least three cards. However the concept of vingt-et-un (twenty one) began to grow popularity and reached North America by French colonists. In 1931, the state of Nevada legalized gambling and Las Vegas was eventually created. This is when blackjack also became legal. In 1940s and 1950s, books on card counting and blackjack started publishing.

Card Rules

Here are the rules of the game:

• the standard pack of 52 cards is used to play blackjack
• it can be played with one to eight decks
• The participant deals to beat the dealer by getting a score as close as 21 but not over 21.
• The dealers shuffles the cards until they are all combined.
• If a players first two cards are an ace and a 10, his total would be 21; this is a blackjack.
• If the total of the dealer is less than 21, he will have to give the player 1.5 times the amount of the bet.
• If the dealer’s has a blackjack, he will collect 1.5 times the amount of the bet from the players.
• The player at the left first and decide whether he wants to ‘stand’ or ‘hit’. Stand means not asking for more cards whereas hit means ask for another card to get closer to 21.
• After the players, the dealer will draw the hole card. If the dealer has a number less than 16, he will draw another card.
• If the dealers total is more than 17 but less than 21, he stands.
• If the dealer scores more than 21, then any player who has a total closest to but less than 21 will win.
• Two of the most achievable ways to beat the dealer are to play with ideal strategy while bonuses, premiums or comps are in place that makes up for the unavoidable losses or failures, or to count cards. Counting cards is impossible at online blackjack games, but it is practically possible at live tables which use the video of a real dealer.

Strategy

To become a skilful player, it is really important to learn the basic strategy of the game. In order to make the most of this strategy, it is important we follow the following rules:

• Start with one chart at a time and memorize it
• The chart you start with is different than the chart you end with
• Knowing when to surrender
• Learn how to extract insights from Blackjack cheat sheet
• Knowing when to split
• Knowing when to double
• Deciding if you should hit or stan

This would be a lot of information to memorize, hence the blackjack strategy cards simplify the play and are often referred to as ‘cheat sheets’. One advantage of playing blackjack online is that you can always have the chance of using the cheat cards. In casinos, sometimes these cards are forbidden to use.

The following factors can change the strategy:

• Total number of decks being used
• Whether there are any limitations or restrictions on when the player may split or double
• If a player is allowed to surrender
• Whether the dealer hits or stands if a 17 is thrown
• After the basic strategy are the composition dependent strategy and the card counting strategy. These strategies are more complex than the basic strategy.