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Blackjack Rules & Strategy

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Introduction  The Playing Table  The Dealer  Tipping   Chips  Players  Cards  Blackjack  Busting   Table Selection  Buying Chips  Card Shuffling  Placing a Bet  Dealing the Cards  Hitting or Standing  Dealer Cards  Insurance  Splitting Pairs  Doubling Down   Surrender  Basic Strategy   Basic Hitting and Standing Strategy   Basic Hitting and Standing with Soft Totals strategies  Basic Doubling Down strategies  Basic Splitting Strategy  Basic Blackjack Total Strategy  Card Counting

There are different strategies that one can use to win at blackjack online, or, to be precise, ensure that they do not lose too often. The best strategy to adopt is one that can bring about a reduction in the house edge and bring it down to less than a percent.

For poker you can try Poker.org which is coming soon. Casino Blackjack games can be a lot of fun.

Introduction

Blackjack is a table game played with standard decks of cards.

The Playing Table

The playing table is in a semi-oval shape with usually the dealer standing behind the flat portion and the players sitting around the oval portion. Players are also allowed to stand. The dealer will be having his back to the pit with players usually facing the pit. The pit is the central area between a number of tables where various casino management personnel are located including the "Pit Boss". The number of player seats usually range from 5 to 7 and are indicated by the number of playing rectangles on the table felt. On the table, directly in front of the dealer is usually a built in chip rack containing the casino chips. There is also slot in table in which a plexi-glass stopper is inserted. Right below the slot is a numbered drop box in which the cash proceeds of a particular shift are deposited. When you place cash on the table, the dealer will exchange it for chips and drop the cash down the slot. The dealer is only allowed to take the cash if you release it and drop it on the table. The dealer is only allowed to pay out in chips. Coupons and foreign (other casinos) chips are usually also dropped down the slot. On the table you will usually find a "shoe" in which the cards are deposited and from which the cards are dealt. The shoe is a rectangular device made from wood or plastic. It usually holds from one to six decks of cards. Often, if the game is only played with one or two decks, there will be no shoe on the table. On the table you will also usually find a small sign indication the kind of black jack game being played. It will indicate the table minimum bet, the table maximum bet, blackjack pays 3-2, insurance pays 2 to 1, dealer must draw to 16 and stand on all 17s and other table rules. Different tables within a given pit often have different rules, but usually only the table minimum and maximum change. As the casino becomes busier, especially evenings and weekends, the table minimum is usually increased. All these rules will be explained in later sections.

The Dealer

The dealer usually stands during the game, sometimes on a little platform if the dealer is short (vertically challenged). In most casinos the dealers wear a house uniform and a name tag. Most of the player interaction is with the dealer. The dealer changes cash into chips. Changes color, that is changing chips into larger or smaller denominations of chips. The dealer shuffles the cards, deals the cards, collects loosing bets and pays of winning bets. He will also answer players questions and help teach novice players the game basics, time permitting.

Tipping

Tipping, or "toking" as it is called in casino terms, is optional but is highly recommended as most dealers make not much more than minimum wage and depend heavily on tips. Especially consider tipping if you have received very good service. Sometimes dealers get to keep their own tips but usually they are pooled, often by shifts. A common way of tipping is to place a bet just above your own bet, just across the top of the circle surrounding your bet. It does not have to be the same as your bet. If you have a five dollar bet out, you can for instance place a 1 dollar bet above for the dealer. If you place a dealer bet in this way, the dealer will win if you win and the dealer will lose if you lose. In this way the dealer tends to route for you. Another way of tipping is to toss the dealer some chips after a blackjack or a good win. The dealer usually takes the tokes and taps with the sides of the chips on the table, says thanks and places them on a special place on the table for the casino management to handle and place in a tipping box.

Chips

The game is played with casino chips instead of cash. In casino terms these are referred to as checks. Chips come in various denominations but the most common ones are $1.- usually in house colors, $5.- usually red and referred to as a nickel, $25.- usually green and referred to as a quarter, $100.- usually black. Sometimes they will have larger and smaller denominations down to $0.50 or even $0.25. A $2.50 chip can also be found. Although often the casino will honour chips from other local casinos, it is at their discretion. Most casinos will pay of true e.g. a five dollar bet with a blackjack will receive $7.50, however some casinos will not have any chips below $1.- and pay of the same bet with only $7.-. When playing blackjack it is usually better to bet even amounts e.g. $6.- or $10.-. Often you will also see the casino have coins for $1.-, $0.50 and $0.25, especially the half dollar sees a lot of use in U.S. casinos. Sometimes players can get away with betting with cash but any winnings would promptly be paid in chips. Dealers are not allowed to pay of in cash and have no cash (bills) on the table. When the you leave the table, the dealers often ask you to exchange your smaller chips for larger denominations. This process is called " color up". Besides being able to keep change, the dealers do this to get often get a few additional tokes or tokes from someone that has not tipped at all. To get cash for your chips you have to go to the cashiers cage of the casino. The same chips can be used for the other table games at the casino.

Players

There are usually 5 to 7 player spots at a blackjack table. The game will begin as soon as there is at least one player. Additional players can join anytime and sit in any vacant spot. They will not start to participate until the current hand is finished and the player has a bet out. The cards are dealt clockwise from the dealers left to the dealers right. The first player to receive a card at the dealers left is referred to as the first baseman. The last player to receive a card on the dealers right is referred to as the third baseman, anchorman or simply anchor. The anchor often gets blamed by the rest of the players at the table by taking a card to many or a card not enough, causing the dealer to win. Expert players or card counters often prefer the anchor or last to anchor position because they can see what other cards are being played. The first position is rushed a little more because they have to make the first decision whether to take another card or stay while the other players have a little more time on their hands to look at the dealers card and their own hand. Remember that you are trying to beat the dealer and not the other players, unless you are participating in a tournament. The outcome of any other hands being played is irrelevant unless you are counting cards. Some players prefer $25.- minimum tables so that they have less of a chance of playing with inexperienced players who may take the wrong card. Fact is that either inexperienced or anchors do not effect the play. Every card they take or do not take changes the card the dealer gets but this has the same chance of being a change for the positive or as for the negative. Much more of a problem for players and the dealers are the players that are drunk or abusive players. Sometimes smokers annoy non smokers.

Cards

Blackjack is usually played with standard 52 card decks. You can find games utilizing anywhere from a single deck to 6 decks of cards. Card counters tend to prefer fewer decks. The standard deck of cards contains four suits: hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs. The suits have no relevance in blackjack unless the casino has a special pay out for certain hands. Each suit contains 13 cards: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace. The 2 to 10 cards count as their own value e.g. a 4 is worth 4 points. Each of these 2 -10 cards have the number on the corner e.g. 4 and contain the equal number of the particular symbols e.g. 4 harts. The Jack, Queen and King count as 10 points. The Ace can be counted as 1 or 11 points at the players discretion and the value can be changed during the playing of the hand. If you are dealt an Ace and a 5 you can count that as 16 (hoping for another 5) 5 + 11 = 16. If however you are then dealt a 6, you can count the ace as a 1 giving 5 + 1 + 6 = 12 and thus staying alive instead of going over and being able to take another card if desired. The most common card in the deck is a card with a value of 10 (Ten, Jack, Queen and King). There are 16 such cards in a standard deck. Of all other values there are only 4 such cards in a deck, e.g. there are four cards with the value 3 in a standard deck. The ace is the most power full card in the deck, not only because it can be used as two distinct values, 1 and 11, but also because it has the power to create a blackjack.

Blackjack

Blackjack is the name of the game. Blackjack is any ace and any 10 point value card. The point total of these two cards is 21. Blackjacks are usually paid out as 3 to 2. This means that if you have placed a 10 dollar bet, you will get paid $15.- and retain your original ten dollar bet. If the dealer also gets a blackjack it is called a push and you will just get your own bet back. If it takes you three or more cards to get 21 or if you split cards and get 21, it is not referred to as blackjack or paid out as a blackjack. Only if you are dealt 21 points in 2 cards in the original hand do you have a blackjack. Blackjack or 21 is the strongest hand and the highest point total.

Busting

If you go over 21 points you "Bust" and lose your bet even if the dealer busts. This is one way that the casino gets an advantage or edge. If you bust, just turn your cards over immediately. The dealer will take away both your cards and your bet immediately. You are out of the game till the next round. Sometimes busting is referred to as "breaking".

Table Selection

The first step is to select a blackjack table to play at. The number one criteria should be the table minimum, maximum and rules. If you come to the table with a 100 to 200 dollar bankroll for that session, you should probably stick to tables with a minimum of no more then 5 dollars. This way you can ride out at least some of the fluctuations a little longer and get reasonable playing time out of your money. Remember that one of the reason that casinos take more money then they statically should based on the house edge is that they have virtually an unlimited bankroll. Don’t play under capitalized. Other things to look for is the number of players already seated. If you are the only one at a table, it will be easier to count cards and you do not have to worry about how you play and if you are taking the "wrong card" The dealer is usually also more willing to spend sometime with you in explaining the game. The down site of playing alone is that your money will go a lot faster since you are playing more hands per hour. You also miss the social aspect of the game. If you join a table with players already seated then base your selection on whether they are the kind you wish to play with and is the kind of seat (first to last) you wish, available. Avoid the last (leftmost) seat if you wish to avoid being (falsely) hassled by other players. Also check out the dealer, he can make the game enjoyable or detract from it. Of course if you are there for the pure gambling, ignore the social rules, stick with a winning table, no matter how obnoxious the dealer or company is, and walk away from a loosing streak.

Buying Chips

The next step is buy chips to play with. Some of the reasons that the casinos utilize chips are that the play goes faster and their is less reality of playing with actual money. You can place a bet with actual money but the resultant win would only be paid out in chips. The normal way is when you join the table is to put your money down for a reasonable amount of play (often $100) and say "change please". Avoid placing the money to be changed in the bet circle, just in case in might just deemed to be an (expensive) bet. The dealer is not allowed to take the money from your hands and you have to drop it on the table and release it. The dealer will usually pay you in a mixture of different denominations. In the case of $100.-, you might get 10 Five Dollar Chips (reds, nickels) and two Twenty Five Dollar chips (Greens, Quarters). You can also request specific denomination chips when asking for change. The dealer will layout the bills you give him on the table, turn them around and announce the value, before handing over the chips. The announcing of the amount is for the benefit of the Casino Executive in the pit, so that hey can verify the transaction if so required. The Casino Executive will acknowledge the transaction and the dealer will give you the chips and drop the bills down a slot in the table to a drop box.

Card Shuffling

You got your chips and are ready to go. The dealer now shuffles the cards. He might be shuffling anywhere from a single up to eight decks together. Sometimes, prior to shuffling, the dealer will fan out the cards on the table so that you and the dealer can verify that all are present. Some dealers are quite proficient at this and it is a neat sight to see. After the cards are shuffled, the complete deck is put in front of a player to be "Cut" (no scissors required). The player is given a red plastic card to be placed anywhere he chooses in the deck. The deck is split there, put on the table and the section that was on the bottom is now placed on top. The player sitting on first base is normally the one to cut first and the cutting rotates clockwise amongst the players on subsequent cuts. You can pass on doing the cutting and it will go to the next player. Some players refuse to cut based on superstition. After the dealer places all the cards together he will remove the first card. This is referred to as burning a card. This card is normally placed in a plastic holder and all subsequent discarded playing cards are placed on top. The dealer will also place the red card somewhere in the deck and only deal cards until that card has been reached. He will continue dealing that particular round, but reshuffle the deck as soon as that round is completed. In other words he will not deal up the whole deck. The placement of this card is very important to card counters and the deeper it is placed, the better it is for card counters. This is referred to as "penetration".

Placing a Bet

Determine how much you want to bet and place it in the betting circle in front of you. It is best to first stack the amount of chips you want to bet in front of you and then place the total amount at once in the betting circle. The reason for making this a habit is that if you are ever involved in a blackjack tournament (and they are fun) you are not allowed to add or subtract chips from the original amount deposited in the betting circle. As previously mentioned, stick with even amounts to ensure proper 3-2 payout on a blackjack. Although most casinos will pay out right in half dollars, some will round down to the nearest dollar. We also recommend that you start with the table minimum and only increase the size of your bet when you are winning and never when you are loosing. More on this in our money management section. No cards are dealt to the player unless he has a bet down. You can sit out rounds if you wish.

Dealing the Cards

Normally the cards to players are dealt face down (the card, not the dealer). There are some exceptions to this. For instance in some Canadian casinos all cards are dealt face up and are not allowed to be touched by the player. The dealer gives a card to the first baseman face down, then the second player and so on till all players have one card. Then dealers deals his own card and places it face down in front of him on the table. Then a second card is dealt to all players in the same order also face down. Then the dealer takes a second card and places it face up in front of him. It is important for the player to look at this card as will be explained in our Strategy section.

Hitting or Standing

After you have received your two cards a have a number of basic decisions to make. Hitting, Standing, Splitting, Doubling Down, Surrender or Taking Insurance. We will start with the basic Hitting or Standing. The dealer will start with the first baseman and give him as many cards as the player requests, one at the time, until the players goes bust or passes. The dealer will then face the second player and continue the same process. The dealer always starts with the first baseman except in the case of tournaments where the first base position is normally rotated. Hitting is referred to as taking an additional card and can be repeated as often as desired until you have busted. You have a number of ways to indicate to the dealer that you wish to be hit. The standard way is to scrape the bottom edges of the two cards that you are holding towards you and the dealer will toss you a card from the top of the deck, face up, in front of you. If you want another card you just scrape again. Another way to be hit is to point your index finger at your cards. You can also say hit me but this is frowned upon in some casinos since it can not be recorded by the security cameras. In cases where you are not allowed to touch the cards, you can just tap your finger or scrape your finger or fingers towards you. If we wish to take no more cards or Stand, we have again some options. The normal way is to just slide the two cards that you are holding partially under your bet face down or just below your bet face down. You can also just wave your hand across your cards, palm down, from left to right or right to left. The voice command would normally be stay. If you were dealt a blackjack then place your cards face up in front of you immediately and when the dealer comes to your turn he will pay you off immediately at 3 to 2, unless the dealer also has a blackjack in which case it will be a push and you just retain your original bet. Normally the dealer will also immediately remove your cards after paying you out.

Dealer Cards

If the dealer has a ten value card as an up card, he will immediately peek at his face down card (hole card). If he has an ace there, he has a blackjack and immediately turn over both cards. He will then collect the bets and cards from all players except for those players that have blackjack where the dealer will just leave the players bet and indicate push by tapping the top of the dealers hand (palm up) on the table in front of that particular players cards.

If the dealer, after peeking, finds that he or she does not have a blackjack then the dealer will continue the game normally and start playing with the first player on the table. If the dealer has a Ace as an up card he will ask the players if they want insurance.

Insurance

When the dealer has an ace as an up card he will ask the players if they want insurance, prior to peeking at his hole card. The dealer will say "Insurance?". If the player wants insurance, he can bet up to half of his original bet by placing the insurance bet chips below the players normal bet. If the dealer has a ten value card as the down card and thus blackjack, the dealer will pay of the insurance bets at two to one but the player loses his original bet. So it is basically a push if the insurance was half of the original bet and the dealer has a blackjack. If the dealer does not have a blackjack then the player loses the insurance bet and the dealer removes the insurance bets immediately. To give you an example. The player bets $10.-. The dealer has an ace showing and asks for insurance. The player puts $5.- below his bet as insurance. If the dealer does not have blackjack the dealer will remove the players $5.- insurance bet and the play will continue with the players original $10.- bet. If the dealer had a blackjack, the dealer would remove the players original $10.- bet and pay of the players insurance at 2 to 1, in fact adding $10.- to the players insurance bet, so overall the player neither gains nor loses. We do not recommend to virtually ever taking insurance.

Splitting Pairs

Players can normally split any two cards of the same value. For example if the player has received two 8s, these can be split by placing them face up, side by side in front of you with some room in between. The player then places a bet of exactly the same amount as the original bet behind the newly split card. In effect you are now playing two hands. When it comes to playing these hands, the players right most hand is played first until the player stands on that hand, busts or passes. This will then be repeated for the rightmost hand. Any two ten value cards can be split for instance a 10 and queen, however we virtually never recommend splitting ten value cards. Two aces can, and should be, split. However with a split ace you will only receive one more card for that hand. Normally the casino will also allow you to re-split after the original split. For example, you split two eight's and now are dealt again an eight as the second card of one of those two hands. You can split this hand again and now play three hands. Some casinos have limits on re-splitting aces and if the player is unsure of the casino house rules he should ask the dealer.

We recommend to always split Aces and 8s. For more information as to when to split other cards, see our section on strategy. In case where the player is not allowed to touch the cards, just place a bet of equal amount beside the original bet to indicate splitting.

Doubling Down

A player may usually double down on his original hand. Doubling down means doubling the size of the players bet. The player does this by placing his cards face up in front of him and placing a bet equal to his original bet, behind his original bet. When the player does this he is dealt only one more card for that hand. So the player can not stand on his original hand or take more then 1 additional card. For example the player is dealt a 5 and a 6 for a total of 11. He now doubles down hoping to get a 10 value card (the most frequent value card in an unplayed deck). The casino house rules vary for doubling down. For example some allow only doubling down on 10 and 11 totals while others allow on any two card total. Some casinos allow it only on original hands and not split hands, while others allow doubling down after splitting. Consult your dealer about the casino house rules. See our strategy section on when to double down.

Surrender

In some casinos, the player is allowed to forfeit half of the original players bet if the player does not want to play against the dealers hand. For example, the player has a bet out of $10.- and is dealt a 7 and a 9 card for a total of 16 and the dealers card is showing a 10. If the player now says "surrender" the dealer will remove the players cards and $5.- of the players original bet, leaving the player with $5.- We do not recommend using surrender. Check with the dealer on the casino house rules.

Basic Strategy

The basic strategy as to when to Hit, Stand, Split, Double Down, Surrender or Take Insurance. Will be summarized in a table but we will describe it first in sections. First of all don’t Surrender or Take Insurance. All other hands depend on the dealers up card, so look at that first. Any hand with 11 or less points can be hit safely without going bust. So always hit any hand of 11 or less points. However sometimes these hand should be split or doubled down on, as explained in our free table. Also remember that when you are dealt an Ace, you can use it as an 1 or 11 value card and can change that during the play. The next rule is to never hit a hand with a value of 17 points or greater. The only exception to this is a soft 17. Soft 17 is a hand where the value of the cards include an ace card counted as 11. Again, the tables will show you how to play this. Our first table is the simplest strategy and we recommend to memorize it first. Our final table combines all our strategies except for money management which will be explained at the end. For all of our tables you will see the dealers up card across the top and the players card point value along the left hand side. Remember that after you receive a card from the dealer, that your point total changes and you need to mentally or physically look at a different place in the table.

Basic Hitting and Standing Strategy

Some basic ways to memorize this table is:

• Hit anything below 12.

• Stand on anything above 16.

• If you have 12 to 16

  • Hit any dealer card between 7 and Ace (11).

  • Stand on any dealer card below 7 except hit a 12 point player card if the dealer has a two or a three points.

Basic Hitting and Standing with Soft Totals strategies

Soft totals are made up out of an Ace and another value card(s). Keep in mind that the Ace can be used as counting 1 or 11. Remember at least these rules:

• Always hit soft totals of 17 or less.

• Soft totals of 17 or less and the dealer showing a 4, 5 or 6 should be doubled.

• Always stand with soft totals of 19 or 20.

Basic Doubling Down strategies

The following table covers the hard doubling down strategies. The soft doubling down strategies have been covered in the previous table. Remember at least these rules:

• Never double down below 8 points.

• Always double down on 11 points.

• With 10 points double down with the dealer showing 2-9.

 Basic Splitting Strategy

Remember at least these rules for splitting:

• Always split 8’s and Aces.

• Never split 4’s, 5’s and 10 value cards.

Basic Blackjack Total Strategy

The following table shows all the previous strategies in a combined table. Try to memorize it and your on your way to become a good blackjack player.

Card Counting

For Blackjack Card Counting see Blackjack Card Counting

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