How to Play Blackjack

Introduction

Blackjack is one of the most widely played casino games and you can find blackjack tables in virtually any casino, online as well as offline. Blackjack is played with one or more ordinary decks (also known as French decks) with 52 cards. No jokers or other special cards are used in blackjack.

The object of the game is to bring the value of your hand as close to 21 as possible without exceeding 21. In order to win, you must also get a hand that’s better (i.e. closer to 21) than the hand of the dealer.

Some casinos let you keep your money if you tie with the dealer, while others will take your money on tie. There are also those that will take your money on tie if the hand is low enough, e.g. below 20. This is just one of many situations where different casinos employ different blackjack rules. Sometimes the rules will even vary from table to table within the same casino. Before you sit down to play blackjack it is therefore a very good idea to familiarize yourself with at least the basic rules. That way, you know what to expect and can adapt your strategy accordingly.

Most traditional casinos use somewhere between one and eight decks at the blackjack table. When you play blackjack online, your cards are typically determined by a random number generator instead. However, there are a few online casinos that offer live blackjack where real dealers use real decks in front of a web camera.

The beginning

• Each player makes a bet. A typical blackjack table have room for up to seven players. The players always compete against the dealer, never against each other. It is therefore possible to play blackjack even if you are the only player at the table. It is also possible for some players to win while others lose.
• Each player gets two cards, face up.
• The dealer gets either one card face up, or one card face up + one card face down. (The rules vary from one casino to another.)
• If any of the players got blackjack, the player is paid immediately and his or her cards are removed, unless it is possible for the dealer to get blackjack as well.
• The game commences, where players can do things such as hit, stay, split, double down and purchase insurance. You can find out more about these terms further down in this articles.