Blackjack is a game of numbers. Each card is assigned a numeric value, and the target of the game is to accumulate as many points as possible without exceeding 21 (there fore the game is also called 21 in some countries). If a player gets more then 21 points, he Busts and loses, unless all his opponents also bust.

When played against the house (in a casino, for example). The house dealer has a privilege. He wins all busts, so if a player busts he loses even if the dealer busts too.

Rules:

Numeric values for cards from two to ten correspond to the face value of these cards. Face cards from Jack to King are all worth 10 points. Ace is a special card that can be counted as 11 or 1 depending on whether it busts the hand or not.

How to Play

Each player receives two cards. If these two cards have 21 points in total, this hand is called Blackjack, and is the highest possible hand in the game. If a player receives such hand, he does not perform any further actions, but waits for the dealer to play. If the dealer does not have Blackjack, the player wins.

If the starting hand is not Blackjack, the player can choose to stand (not to take any new cards and to play his current hand) or to hit (to take another card). If a player chooses to stand or busts, his turn ends the next player gets the same options.

Playing Options

Blackjack players can also have other options, such as doubling (to double the bet, take one more card and to stand), to surrender (to quit the game sacrificing only half of the bet), to split (to divide the hand into two separate hands and to place a bet for each one of them) or to place an insurance bet (a bet that is paid back if the dealer has Blackjack). However, these moves are optional and different casinos may or may not include some of them and may involve special rules and conditions for these options.

Casino blackjack is not played against other players, but against the house represented by the dealer, so the target of casino blackjack is to get a hand that is higher than the dealer's one, regardless of what other layers have.

Before the first player plays his hand, the dealer deals two cards to himself. One of these cards is placed face-up and the other one face-down, after which all players make their turns and the dealer is the last one to reveal his face-down card he dealt to himself in the beginning and to play his hand.

Rules for the Dealer

House rules of all casinos determine the moves the dealer has to make depending on the hand he has, so the dealer does not take any decisions, but follows the rules blindly. There actually are two types of casino rules for Blackjack dealer Hit Soft 17 and Stand at Soft 17. Both these sets say the dealer to hit if he has less than 17 points and to stand if he has 17 or more. The difference between Hit Soft 17 and Stand at Soft 17 is the behavior of the dealer when he has exactly 17 points combined of an ace and a 6 (Soft 17).

Payouts

Most bets in Blackjack are paid even money (1:1). The exception is Blackjack. If the player gets blackjack and wins he is paid 3:2. The insurance bet is paid 2:1 at those casinos where it is allowed.

As was said before, the dealer wins busts, but if neither the player nor the player busts and both have equal number of points or Blackjack, this is called a tie. There are various ways to treat ties, but the most common of them is to keep the bet for the next game without winning or losing any money.