Blackjack's Basic Rules
Blackjack's Basic Rules
Blackjack, or Twenty-One as it is commonly called, is one of the most popular of the casino games, possibly the most popular. And for good reason.
It is the only casino game in which the house doesn't always have the edge or advantage over the players because, unlike roulette and craps in which the wheel and the dice have no memory, in blackjack, as the game progresses, a deck or several decks of cards are depleted, and, as cards are played, the composition of the deck changes.
The changes brought about by the play of cards then determines whether the deck is neutral, is in favor of the casino, or in favor of the players.
All these facts have been worked out by computers analyzing millions and millions of hands, and have been verified over and over again.
Rules of Play
We'll refer to a table in a casino where only one deck is used. It is the standard 52-card deck without any jokers. In blackjack each picture card has a value of 10. These "face cards," as they are called, include the jack, queen and king. The 10 is also worth 10, and when any of these four cards, in any suit, are received with an ace as the first two cards dealt, a "blackjack" has been made.
Thus, a hand holding 10, A, or J, A, or Q, A, or K, A is a blackjack and is paid off at 3-2 immediately. The other cards have a value equal to the spots on their faces. A 9 has 9 spots and is worth 9, and an 8 is worth 8, a 7 worth 7, and so on down to the deuce which is worth 2. Only the ace has a dual value, and thus is the most valuable of all cards in blackjack. It can be equal to, at the option of the player, a 1 or an 11.
We've seen how an ace together with a face card or 10 becomes a blackjack. At such times it is valued as an 11, which, combined with a 10 value card, gives the player a 21 in two cards, or a blackjack, an automatic winner.
When an ace is valued as an 11, other than in a blackjack, the total is said to be a soft total. For example, an A-6 is a soft 17, an A-7 a soft 18. However, holding 10, 6, A, the ace is now counted as 1, otherwise the hand would count for more than 21, and, thus, this is a hard 17.
Many blackjack players will tell you that the object of the game is to get a hand as close to 21 as possible without going over. It's true that any hand that totals more than 21 is a "bust" hand, and a loser. But the principle which is often forgotten in blackjack, which is of utmost importance with regard to winning, is that the real object of play in blackjack is to beat the dealer. You do so by having a higher total than he has (closer to 21 but not over), or to put the dealer in a position where he busts with his hand while the player stands with his.