Thursday, March 29, 2012

Introduction to Blackjack

Casino games are extremely popular all around the world and one of the most popular games is Blackjack. Blackjack is a card game where players are competing with the score of the dealer-all players that beat the dealer win money. In order to win, the goal of playing blackjack is to obtain cards that add up to a score of 21; however, if you go over, it is called "busting" which automatically eliminates you from the game. Many people enjoy blackjack because it is a simple game to learn, and a lot of people have had success by playing it. With that being said, let's take a look at some of the rules and terminology of Blackjack.

Like I stated earlier, the goal of Blackjack is to have a higher card value than the dealer, and to get as close to 21 without going over. If both the player and the dealer score a 21, it is called a push where the player doesn't lose or gain any money. A Blackjack game starts by a player joining a table and putting a bet in for the next hand. When the dealer deals the cards out, each player is initially given two cards that are facing up; the dealer also get's two cards, one of which is facing down. When you get your cards, you need to choose from four actions to proceed in the game. A player's choices are to stand, hit, split, or double down. Let's take a look at what each action means.

Stand/Stay - When a player determines that they do not want to take on the risk of an additional card value and choose to remain with their current cards.

Hit - If a player is unsatisfied with the current value of cards they possess, they can choose to hit, which results in another card being handed to you by the dealer. At this point, you must add this value to your current card value and hope to get closer to 21, without going over.

Split - If you are initially dealt cards that are equal in value, you may choose to split them and play them as two separate hands.

Double Down - When you are initially dealt cards, you can choose to double down which means you will double your bet and take one last card to your hand. If you have a nine or eleven you might choose to double down, hoping that you receive a high card to put you at or near 21.

Ultimately, as a player, you must choose when to hit and when to stand according to your current value of cards. Some players take an approach to "never hitting on a busting hand," which means if they have a hand that totals between 12 and 21 they will stand because if they are dealt a high card they will bust and lose their bet. However, this is an amateur strategy for playing Blackjack and is not very successful. If you wish to be a more successful Blackjack player, you must at least learn basic blackjack strategy.

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