How to Play Blackjack - Doubling Down & Splitting
There are some misconceptions about the objective of the game of blackjack but at the simplest level all you are trying to do is beat the dealer.
How do you beat the dealer?
How do you lose to the dealer?
Blackjack is usually played on a semicircular table that can accommodate varying numbers of players.
The dealer stands behind the table and chip rack and the players sit on the other side.
Blackjack games come with many rule variations and different numbers of decks.
Our example will be the procedure for the most common blackjack game played with 6 decks.
Before you can play at the table you need chips.
You do this by simply walking up to the table a placing your money on the felt of the table.
Once you lay your money on the felt the dealer will lay it out on the table for the cameras to clearly see how much it is and a pit boss will come over and verify the amount.
You are now free to handle the chips and place your wager.
The dealer will arrange your buy-in on the felt so the cameras can clearly see the amount.
The table will have a small sign on the far right or left side of the table telling you what the betting limits are.
After you place your bet the dealer will deal clockwise, one card, face up, to each player at the table and then one card face down for herself.
Then she will deal one more card face up to each player and one more card for herself, face up.
Each player has 2 cards, face up, in front of them, but the dealer has one card face up and one face down.
It should look something like the picture below.
You have two cards face up in front of your bet.
To play your hand, first you add the card values together and get a hand total anywhere from 4 to 21.
Those get paid 3 to 2 or 1.
Dealers will not respond to your verbal instructions because the cameras need to see your decisions as well.
There are 5 ways you can play your hand: Stand � If your first two cards are acceptable, you can stand and the dealer will move on to the next player.
There is no limit on the number of cards you can take other than going over a total of 21.
This also applies to face cards.
You are allowed to split a hand consisting of a King and a Jack because they both have the same value, even though they are not actually a pair.
The dealer will make two hands out of your first hand and you will be dealt a second card on each.
It double blackjack created by a computer that played millions of rounds of blackjack and determined the best way to play each hand combination based on what worked out best for the player most often.
If you it takes the guesswork out of the decision!
When you follow basic strategy and play your hand by using one of the 5 options listed above, one of 3 things will happen.
If your hand busts you immediately lose your wager.
This is why the casino has an edge on the game.
The player must act first, so that even if the dealer eventually busts like you did, they still keep your money because you busted first.
If the dealer has a hand total of 17 or higher, they will automatically stand.
If the dealer has a hand total of 16 or lower, they will take double blackjack hit-cards.
Doubling, splitting and surrender are not available to the dealer and the dealer does not have any choice with how they play their hand like the player does.
The Dealer must play their hand the same way every time.
The only exception is when the dealer has a 17 that consists of an Ace and a six.
This gives the casino a bigger advantage than if the dealer stands on ALL 17s.
Whether or not the dealer will hit link soft 17 will usually be prominently displayed, in text double blackjack the the felt, so you know how to expect the dealer to play their hand.
Again, dealers do not have the option to deviate from the rules set by the casino.
One of 2 things will happen.
If the dealer has the higher hand, they sweep your bet.
If you have the higher hand, the dealer pays you one times your wager.
Now the round is over!
The cards get swept up and you start another round.
Special Situations There are a couple situations where a double blackjack of Blackjack will deviate from the procedures outlined above.
Before anyone plays their hands the dealer will offer insurance or even money if you have a Blackjack.
You can put up a wager equal to half your original wager or less, which will get paid 2 to 1 if the dealer has a ten as their hole card.
If you win, you get paid 2 to 1.
As a basic strategy player you should always say no to insurance and even money.
Only a card counter is skilled enough to play this side bet.
Once all the players who want to buy insurance place their bets, the dealer will check her hole card using a special viewing window in the table.
Anyone who bought insurance will get paid 2 to 1 on their insurance wager.
If the dealer does not have a ten underneath, she will take any insurance wagers that were made and the game will continue like it normally would.
This is just another name for what is mathematically the same as insurance.
If you take even money, your blackjack will not get paid 3 to 2 like it normally would.
It will link get one times the original wager even money regardless of whether or not the dealer has a blackjack.
If you do not take even money and the dealer has a blackjack your wager will push and your blackjack will not get paid.
Again, you should never take even money if you are not a.
To better understand the difference or lack thereof between insurance and even money watch this video from our just click for source video course:.
Non-Insurable Dealer Blackjack: It is possible for the dealer to have a blackjack without offering insurance or even money.
If the dealer is showing a ten up, they will check their hole card automatically, before anyone is allowed to play their hands.
If there is an ace underneath, the dealer has a blackjack and all bets on the table will be taken except for any player blackjacks, which would just push.
Insurance is only offered when the dealer is showing an ace.
Side bets: In the last learn more here decades or so, Blackjack side bets have become popular.
Insurance is the only side bet that is universally offered on all Blackjack tables and is a big part of beating the game for a card counter.
But there are hundreds of other kinds of side bets on the felts these days.
Most of them will require you to place a bet at the same time you place your main wager.
These side bets are everywhere and have various different procedures and pay tables so we will not explain them here.
Just know that they are not part of the game of Blackjack itself but may affect the normal dealing procedure of the game.
We bet blackjack double recommend playing these side bets.
Casinos only offer them because they have a huge advantage over you.
Blackjack Rule Variations There are many different rule variations and conditions that can affect how the game of Blackjack is played.
In other words, not all blackjack games are created equal, in terms of the odds and favorability to the player.
Here is an overview of some of the rules that will affect the odds of the game.
Doubling After Splitting DAS : This simply means you can double down on a hand you just split.
Most casinos do allow this rule and it IS advantageous to the player.
Re-Splitting Aces RSA : Some casinos allow the player to re-split their aces after they have already split a pair of aces, meaning if you just split a pair of aces and received another ace as the next card, you are allowed to split to a 3rd hand up to a total of 4 hands.
The ace is the most powerful card for the player so it is a very advantageous rule for the player if the casino allows RSA.
Typically speaking, even if the casino offers RSA, you are still only allowed to take one card on each ace.
This is because the casinos know the Ace is the most powerful card and they are trying to limit situations where the player has an advantage.
When it was still around it was highly favorable to the player, to the point where a perfect basic strategy player could have a small edge, without counting cards.
It went extinct for that reason.
It also makes card counting basically useless.
Even casinos that have this rule may not have it at every table.
Be sure to read the rules on the felt before you sit down.
CSM Blackjack: Some casinos use on their blackjack tables.
This is a machine that continually shuffles the cards as they are being played.
Instead of putting the cards in the discard tray until the end of the shoe, the dealer will continually feed the machine all the used cards and there is never an end to the shoe.
This also makes card counting impossible and worsens the odds for a basic strategy player.
Single Deck versus Multi-deck: All else being equal, the house edge on Blackjack gets higher for every deck you add to the game.
As a rule of thumb, a 6 deck game will have a higher house edge than a 2 deck game if all other conditions are equal.
The problem is, all the other conditions are rarely equal.
Often times a single deck game will not allow doubling after splitting or re-splitting aces and will have 6 to 5 blackjacks, whereas an 8 deck game in the same casino might allow DAS, RSA, and have 3:2 Blackjacks and end up with a lower house edge.
There are many trade-offs when it comes to the rules and number of decks.
When the cut card is dealt out in the course of the game, it signals blackjack ballroom reviews the dealer that the shoe is running out of cards and the dealer will shuffle the cards and start a new shoe.
While a quarter deck of cards is plenty sufficient to finish a round of Blackjack, most casinos will cut off much more than that several decks to limit the profitability of the game for a card counter.
For a card counter, the depth of penetration can make or break a blackjack game.
Games Masquerading As Blackjack Blackjack is a very popular game in the United States because many people try to beat it by counting cards.
Here are some of the Blackjack doppelgangers you should avoid: Super Fun double blackjack This is usually pretending to be a single-deck blackjack game where you can surrender on any number of cards, review solo 6 blackjack atx can double on any number of cards, and you can get paid automatically if you have a 6 card 20 or a 5 card 21 and a player blackjack always wins money!
It sounds like a dream.
The only problem is that blackjacks only pay even money except for diamond suited blackjacks.
This game is not Blackjack.
Spanish 21: This game is very popular in many parts of the country.
Many of the same rules as above are also present in this game but blackjacks still pay 3 to 2 and you can re-double double down twice on the same hand.
That sounds awesome right!?
They remove all the 10s from the shoe the face cards are still in there but no ten cards.
If you know anything about counting cards, you know the ten-value cards and aces are the most valuable cards for the player.
Removing all the tens from the deck erases all the awesome you get from the better rules.
It also has a more complicated basic strategy than conventional blackjack so most people do not https://chicago-lawyer.info/blackjack/atlantic-city-blackjack-rules.html correctly and thus most people are playing at a much bigger disadvantage than what the game insert would print about the game.
The casinos love Spanish 21 players.
This game is not Blackjack.
Free Bet Blackjack: In this game you play just like Blackjack but instead of supplying your own money to double down and split, the casino will let you do it for free but still pay you as if you had wagered the money.
Sounds too good to be true right?
In exchange for the free this web page, if the dealer goes over 21 with a hand total of 22, then all bets push learn more here though the dealer busted.
This doubles the house edge of normal Blackjack.
This is not Blackjack.
Blackjack Switch: This game is a little different.
You start with 2 hands of blackjack and you can choose to switch the top cards of each hand if you think it will make you a better set of two hands.
Any of us who have played blackjack a long time wish we could do that sometimes so this sounds like it could really save your hands right?
Just like Free Bet Blackjack, the dealer pushes all bets if they get a 22 and player Blackjacks only pay even money.
This is not Blackjack!
Meet Colin Jones Colin is the founder of Blackjack Apprenticeship.
Colin has been counting cards for over 15 years, and ran a multi-million dollar blackjack team.
You may have seen his team featured in the documentaryand has been covered by, and.
For more training from Colin, check out the.
A complete blackjack card counting system designed to teach you how to beat the game of blackjack for big profits.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website.
If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
{WOW} Double Deck Blackjack Strategy + 1-3-2-4 and Rising Sun + 4 Sessions And $600 Won/Loss?
Guide to the chances in Blackjack/Pontoon/Twenty One.. When playing, you have several options: HIT - STAND - DOUBLE DOWN or SPLIT. You might even�...
Very valuable information
Do not give to me minute?
I am sorry, that has interfered... But this theme is very close to me. Is ready to help.
I am final, I am sorry, but, in my opinion, it is obvious.
Completely I share your opinion. In it something is also I think, what is it good idea.
For the life of me, I do not know.
You commit an error. I can defend the position. Write to me in PM, we will communicate.
Willingly I accept. In my opinion, it is actual, I will take part in discussion. Together we can come to a right answer. I am assured.
I confirm. It was and with me.
I can not participate now in discussion - it is very occupied. I will return - I will necessarily express the opinion.