The Rules of Blackjack

Blackjack is a counting card game, wherein the objective is to own a hand whose value is twenty-one (21) or as close as possible to (21), without going over or busting. A gamer will win if his hand is nearer to 21 than the dealer’s or if the dealer’s hand bust before the player’s. Blackjack is played using the standard deck of playing cards, wherein the cards 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 are worth its face value, Ace is worth 11 or 1, depending upon which value is best for the hand, and the Face cards jack, queen, and king, in that order, having a value of 10. In this game, it does not actually make any difference as to which cards make up other player’s hand because here one is playing against the dealer and not other players on the table.

Now, here are the basic blackjack rules in a nutshell. In this game, one could draw as many cards as he likes until his hand stands or busts. Busting results in a player losing his hand, even if the dealer also goes busts subsequently. In fact, this is the biggest house advantage the casino has in blackjack. A player can also lose if his hand is lesser than the dealer’s, with each hand not busting. Further, if the player’s hand is exactly of the same value as the dealer’s – equal to 21 or lesser – then it is called a ‘push’, and in such instances, no money is won or lost.

In a game, if the value of the two initial cards dealt to the player or the dealer equals exactly twenty-one (i.e. an ace and a 10-card), then it is called a blackjack. But, such a possibility does not amount to a blackjack if the player already split the hand. Further, a blackjack hand beats any other combination of hands that makes twenty-one, and it pushes with another blackjack. If a player manages a blackjack, then the dealer has to pay the gamer 1.5 times his original bet. For example, if the player bets $50, then the dealer has to pay him $75.

The dealer begins the game by dealing two cards each to the players, and himself. One of those cards will be dealt face up, and the other face down. The player’s cards will be dealt either all face up or face down. It doesn’t matter if the players could see each others hand since as mentioned above, the game is between players and the dealer, and not between themselves.