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BLACKJACK
GENERAL RULES
Originating in France, Blackjack has evolved into one of the most popular
Casino games in the world, because a skilful player can challenge
the house very effectively. The main objective is obtain a card total as
close to 21 as possible without exceeding it, while still beating the
dealer's hand. Our Blackjack game is dealt from 6 decks. All cards
numbered 2 through 10 are counted at face value. The Jack, Queen and
King are valued at 10, an ace is worth either 1 or 11, whichever favors
your hand. The Ace can change value from 11 to 1, if necessary, to
prevent exceeding a total of 21. A Blackjack hand consists of an Ace and
a card valued at 10 (10, J, Q, K). A two-card Blackjack always beats
three or more cards totaling 21.
Before receiving any cards, you must place a wager. You are then dealt
two cards face-up. The dealer is also dealt two cards, one face up and
the other face down. The dealer's "hole" card remains face
down until your hand is completed. At this point, the dealer turns over
the "hole" card. If the hand totals 17 through 21 he must
stand. If the hand is 16 or under, the dealer must continue to take
cards until either the hand is over 16 or "bust" (totaling
over 21). If the dealer's hand totals 16 including an Ace valued at one
(a "soft" hand) the dealer must take another card.
You have many different betting and playing options:
HIT:
The taking of an additional card.
STAY:
Take no additional cards
SPLIT:
The Player will match the original wager and split the first two cards into two separate hands. The two cards must be of the same point value (i.e. a pair of 8's, King and Queen, etc.) In splitted hands an Ace and ten equal to "21" and not blackjack.
DOUBLE DOWN:
The player will match the original (or double down for less) on the first two cards dealt and receive only one additional card. Double down wagering is not permitted on a Blackjack.
INSURANCE:
When the dealer's up card is an Ace, a Player may buy insurance, an additional amount equal to half of that Player's original wager. A Player may purchase insurance when he/she believes that the dealer's down card is a ten value card. If the Dealer has Blackjack, the insurance wager pays 2 to 1. If the dealer does not have Blackjack, the insurance wager loses and the game continues as usual. A Blackjack will beat a point total of "21".
MULTIPLE-ACTION BLACKJACK:
You get the opportunity to play three separate hands against the dealer’s face-up card -- each with its own bet. The player must play all his hands first. If he busts any one hand, he loses all three hands. If the player hasn’t busted, the dealer now gives himself a different hole card for each player hand.
OVER-UNDER 13:
This is a side bet that the total of your first two cards will either be over 13 or under 13. If the total is 13, you lose. Thus, a player betting the over 13 option, wins when his first two cards total 14 or more, and loses if his total is 13 or less. The player betting the under 13 option, wins if his hand is 12 or less and loses if it is 13 or more.
RED or BLACK:
This is a side bet that the dealer’s upcard will be either red or black. If you win, you are paid even money. If the upcard is a two, it is a push
BONUS HANDS:
Some casinos will offer bonuses for certain hands. Sometimes these bonuses are only available if you put up a side bet. Five Card 21: If your hand totals 21 with five cards you receive a bonus.
Six Card Winner: If your hand totals 21 or less with six cards, you are an automatic winner.
6-7-8 Bonus: If your hand totals 21 composed of 6-7-8 of the same suit, you are paid a bonus, often two to one.
7-7-7 Bonus: If your hand totals 21 composed of 7-7-7 of the same suit, you are paid a bonus, often three to two.
Suited Blackjack: Some casinos offer a bonus if your blackjack is composed of an ace and jack of the same suit. Usually, a specific suit is designated - say, the ace and jack of spades.
THE NUMBER OF DECKS:
You will find single, double, four, six and eight deck games on the Internet.
SOFT 17:
All casinos have the dealer hit and stand according to a set of rules. The dealer will hit anything that is 16 or less and stand on anything that is 17 or more. The one exception is the hand of soft 17 (A:6). Some casinos have their dealers hit soft 17 and some casinos have their dealers stand on soft 17
ROYAL MATCH 21:
This blackjack option can be found at some internet casinos and usually has a house edge of between 3.8 percent and 6.67 percent depending on the payoff scale and the number of decks in use. The objective of Royal Match 21 is to guess whether the first two cards that you are dealt will be of the same suit. If you receive any two suited cards you are paid off at 3 to 1 (or 5 to 2 in some casinos) and if you receive a King-Queen of the same suit, you are paid off at 10 to 1 (or 25 to 1 in casinos offering the 5 to 2 variation). Before the dealer deals out the cards, the player must place a regular blackjack bet and a Royal Match side bet. The dealer will then deal to the players. The Royal Match side bet is paid off or collected before the players play their individual hands. Once this is done, the players then play out their blackjack hands.
PLAYOFFS:
If your hand
exceeds 21 or "busts", then the dealer wins the hand without
turning over the "hole" card. All hands that total less than
the dealer's hand lose. Hands that are equal in value are considered a
tie, or a "push", and your original wager is returned. If you
obtain Blackjack the payout will be at a 3:2 ratio rather than at 1:1.
BLACKJACK:
As
with standard blackjack, the first thing to take into
consideration when playing online blackjack is: "How many
decks of cards are being used?" This number can vary from 1
to as many as 15, depending on the casino you are visiting.
Single deck blackjack is hard to find, but it is the simplest to
keep track of. You simply chart the cards as you see them.
Since
it is online blackjack, there is no dealer to watch you taking
notes. With a visible chart of the cards played, a betting
strategy can easily be put into place.
Take note of the chart above. Cards with a designation of
"10" (that is the 10's, Jacks, Queens and Kings)
number 16 out of 52 cards. About halfway through the deck you
will be able to accurately extrapolate the dealer's down card
and bet appropriately. This is a good time to make off the wall
"double downs", or taking just one hit in exchange for
doubling your bet. If you are looking at a hand of 12 for
instance and it does not seem likely that the next card will be
a ten, take the chance for a double down.
The last couple of hands is where you need to be, so bet
conservatively so as to keep yourself in the game to the end of
the deck. By this time you should have a clear idea of how the
cards will be dealt, based on what is left unchecked on your
chart. Bet big when you know you will win, and the minimum if
the house has it.
When dealing with multiple deck blackjack, you simply apply the
strategy for single-deck, only to a larger scale. The above
chart is extended out for however many decks are being used, and
the cards are charted as they fall. Most people play online
blackjack the same way as if they were in a live casino, it is
this phenomena that allows the online casino to win at
blackjack. Do not play swiftly, rather take your time and chart
the cards. In multiple deck betting, the payoffs can be
enormous, but you will need deep pockets to maintain yourself
until a 15 deck chart starts to show trends.
ADVANCED
BLACKJACK:
Like the doubling
situation above, these are the hands that will make or break
you. There is one rule here hard and fast: don't split 5s, and
don't split 10s for opposite reasons.
With the 5s you
are turning a hand that should be counted as a 10 and either
doubled or hit into two hands of five each, that turn into
potential problems when decorated with 7,8,9,or 10. With the two
10-value cards, you are asking for trouble taking a nice pat 20,
doubling your original bet size, and getting stuck with a 2-7
twice. If you don't think this happens, ask any practitioner.
What you want to
do is maximize your opportunities. Aces are the cards that you
do want to split, and this is a special situation. With the Ace,
in most casinos, you are allowed only one card after you split
them. Obviously, you are hoping for a 10 on each.
The thought here
is that if you don't split your Aces, you have a cumulative
value of 2. The danger here is that if you draw 2 10-value cards
in a row, not at all unusual, you will bust. You are also trying
to maximize your opportunities by turning a single bet into
twice that amount.
INSURANCE:
The
dealer will turn to you and ask if you would like insurance if
he or she is showing an Ace. Time-worn advice suggests that
because the odds of the dealer having a blackjack are about 1 in
3, you answer no.
Insurance means
that you are allowed to wager up to one-half your bet that there
is a blackjack or a 10-value card in the hole. You lose the bet
if the dealer does not have blackjack, but get paid what you bet
for insurance if there is one.
However, there is
some flexibility here. Suppose you have played about a quarter
of a shoe and you have noticed that there have been very few
10-value cards seen (Note: it is always a good habit to keep
track of the cards that have been played, if you can.).
In this
situation, you might elect to take insurance based on your
observation and the fact that the deck is rich in 10s.
But generally
speaking, it is wise to decline insurance. Just wave it off.
BE LUCKY!:
The old
casino saying goes something like: "I'd rather be lucky
than good." I can personally attest to one incident after
another of players who made horrendous decisions winning hand
after hand, while sitting at the same table with a player who
has been around a while, but can't seem to win on 20.
It happens all
the time. Naturally, the problem here is a momentary turn of
events that one wouldn't want to count on repeatedly. Anyone can
get lucky, but it takes some knowledge to be able to play and
win on a regular basis.
Some people seem
to be naturally lucky, while others appear the opposite. Most of
us fall somewhere in the middle. We have our lucky streaks and
times when we can't locate our own toes.
If you are losing
steadily at a table, don't stay. Take a break to clear your
head, go for a walk, change tables, alter the situation. One
response to this situation that heard time-after-time is:
"I'm due." That due factor has as much to do with
reality as George Foreman winning the Boston Marathon.
If you're on a
losing steak, don't try to force it. Live again to play another
day.
MONEY
MANAGEMENT:
Much is
said concerning this topic, but little understood, and less
practiced. There are a cookbook full of recipes for disaster
known as betting systems, almost all of which will lead to a
precarious chance of risking more and more money in the
misguided hope of recovering some money already lost.
One of the more
popular betting systems says to double your bet until you win.
Only two problems here: you might not win until you hit the
table maximum, or you might just run out of money first.
Here's the
scenario: you buy in for $100 at a $10 table and lose the first
hand. This system calls for you to put $20 down, and you lose
again. The third hand now calls for you to be $40, and you again
lose. In order to follow this betting pattern, you need to buy
in for more money because you've exhausted almost _ of your
original buy-in.
So you purchase
another $100 worth of chips and bet $80, only to lose for the
fourth hand in a row, not all that uncommon. You are down $150,
in just four bets. You buy $150 worth of chips, bet $160 to
double your previous bet of $80, and lo-and-behold, you lose the
fifth. (actually you feel like drinking one at this point.).
Buying in once
more and betting $320, you lose that as well. You are now out
$630, and the thought of betting $640 to make your original
profit of $10 seems a little far-fetched and illogical, but you
so desperately want to leave the table on a winning note, that
you do it. And lose for eight losses in a row! If you think it
can't happen to you, think again. (see the section on streaks.).
From your
original $10 bet, you are now out $1270! Ouch! And the table
limit is $1000. Now what? You could slink away with your tail
between your legs, or go to a table with higher limits and hope
for the better there. With the way your luck is running, you
don't want to try crossing the street in traffic. You may not
make it to the other side.
The best money
management system is time-honoured and very simple: Bet less
when you are losing and more when you are winning. Easy to say,
hard to do. The casinos know that if they get you in a place
where you are losing steadily, the chances are that you might
start to "chase" your losses with even larger amounts
of money in an attempt to get out of the hole you've dug.
Advice: go slowly and don't try to hit home runs.
If you find that
you are winning on a steady basis, whatever the reason, try
betting a little bit more. There is a saying around the casino:
"I've won and I'm playing with their money." It isn't
their money. If you won the money, then it is yours to keep, and
any you lose will be coming from the same pocket. Do you think
the casino managers talk in those same terms, saying to each
other, "Ah hah! We won this much today. Now we're playing
with their money?!"
Follow this
advice: Leave when you have won. If you bought in for $100 and
you have doubled your money, take it and run! The odds are with
the casino that the longer you stay and play, the better chance
you have of losing it.
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