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The game of Blackjack/21.
The game of blackjack today is considered as being one of the most popular games played by gamblers in both land base casinos and online casinos alike around the world. Blackjack is a game that originated around 1700 in the french casinos, and even though the popularity of the game today is very wide spread, when it was first introduced to the United States it was not all that popular with Amercan players.
The term blackjack and the name of the game we know it as today "Blackjack" was actually created around this time. Because of the games low popularity with players in gambling establishments, the establishments started offering their players bonus variations on play to draw them to the tables. One bonus being the "Blackjack" and if any player could get a hand consisting of an ace of spades and a black Jack (the Jack of clubs or the Jack of spades) the return on their bet was 10 to 1 payout. Thus the term "Blackjack" being born and the name blackjack becoming the name of the game as we know it today.
Soon after the 10 to 1 payout for a blackjack was abolished and the hand blackjack did not even have to contain a jack or any black cards at all.
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Variations of Blackjack/21.
Vegas Strip Blackjack
* Dealer stands on soft 17
* Four decks
* Doubling is allowed on any first cards
* You are allowed to double after splitting
* Re-split allowed
* Dealer checks for blackjack
* The house advantage of Vegas Strip blackjack
is 0.34% which is very good.
Vegas Downtown blackjack
* Dealer hits on soft 17
* Two decks
* Doubling is allowed on any first cards
* You are allowed to double after splitting
* Re-split allowed
* Dealer checks for blackjack
* House advantage of Vegas Downtown blackjack
is 0.38%, very good.
European blackjack
* Dealer stands on soft 17
* Two decks
* Doubling is allowed only on 9-11
* You are not allowed to double after splitting
* You are allowed to hit on split aces
* Insurance is settled at the end of the hand
* Player looses all his bet against a dealers blackjack.
* The house advantage of European blackjack
is 0.39%.
Multi Hand blackjack
* Found at Microgaming casinos
* Dealer stands on soft 17
* Five decks
* Doubling is allowed only on 9-11
* You are not allowed to double after splitting
* Surrender is not allowed
* Five betting positions
* You are allowed to hit on split aces
* Insurance is settled at the end of the hand
* Player looses all his bet against a dealers blackjack.
* The house advantage of Multi Hand blackjack
is 0.63%.
Double Exposure blackjack
* Found at Microgaming casinos
* Dealer stands on soft 17
* Eight decks
* Both the dealers cards are showing
* Dealer wins ties, excluding blackjacks.
* Doubling is allowed only on 9-11
* All your winnings including blackjack are paid 1:1
* You are allowed to double after splitting
* Re-splitting up to four hands is allowed.
* Five betting positions
* You are not allowed to hit on split aces
* Insurance is settled at the end of the hand
* Player looses all his bet against a dealers blackjack.
* The house advantage of Multi Hand blackjack
is 0.69%.
Atlantic City blackjack
* Dealer stands on soft 17
* Eight decks
* Doubling is allowed on any first cards
* You are allowed to double after splitting
* You are allowed to re-split to up to three hands.
* Late surrender allowed
* One betting positions
* Dealer checks for Blackjack
* The house advantage of Multi Hand blackjack
is 0.35%.
Single Deck blackjack
* Dealer hits on soft 17
* One deck
* Doubling is allowed on any first cards
* You are allowed to double after splitting
* You are allowed split once!
* One betting positions
* Dealer checks for Blackjack
* The house advantage of Multi Hand blackjack
is 0.058%.
Spanish 21
* 6-8 decks
* All 10's are removed
* Some 21 combo's receive bonuses such as : 6:7:8 , 7:7:7
* Doubling is allowed on any first cards
* You are allowed to double after splitting
* Resplitting allowed
* Spanish 21 can pay off very big, rules of the game
allow very high payouts.
SuperFun 21
* Single deck
* Player hand with 6 cards and a total value of under 21 wins
* Player hand with 5 cards and a total value of 21 wins 2:1.
* Dealer hits on soft 17
* Players blackjacks always win
* Doubling is allowed on any first cards
* You are allowed to double after splitting
* You are allowed to re-split to up to four hands.
* Late surrender allowed
* You may surrender after doubling for half the total bet
* The house advantage of Super Fun 21 is 0.94%.
Basic Blackjack
Blackjack shoes 1-8 deck of cards
Card Rank 2 - 10 their face value
Jack-Queen-King value of 10 points
Ace Value 1 or 11 points.
The player Player wins when their cards have a higher point value than the dealers without "Busting" going over 21.
Best hand Blackjack, combination with an ace and another card worth 10 points. "10 or Face card"
Payouts
Blackjack pays 3:2 bet $10 you win $25
Normal win pays 1:1 bet $10 you win $20
Tie win pays 0: This is a push, bet is returned.
You bust: Dealer takes all bets.
If dealer has an ace showing, you have an opportunity to buy insurance. Statistically: Insurance is not a good buy.
Playing Blackjack
First bets are placed, dealer then deals the cards one at a time in clockwise order with the dealer receiving the last card. After players are dealt two cards face up and the dealer is dealt one card face up and one card face down, "The hole card" play begins. Note: Depending on the variation of blackjack being played, when the dealer is dealt an ace or a 10/face card face up the dealer will check for blackjack. If dealer has possible blackjack you will be offered a chance to take insurance on your bet "Though insurance is not a good buy it is for each player to decide" if the dealer has shown a nine or under game play proceeds as normal. Players then play out their hands trying to get as lose to 21 with out busting "See options below" with dealer playing their hand last.
Options of play
Stand You stay stay with the cards you have and do not take a hit.
Take a Hit You take a hit to try and improve the cards you have in your hand.
Double down You are allowed the option to double down on your bet at any time and will be given one more card then you must hold the cards you have. Doubling down is only recomended if you feel the next card will not put you over 21 and you have a good chance of beating the dealers hand.
Example: A single hit can give you the winning hand and beat the dealer. Dealer has 7 or under showing and you have a 6 in the hole and 4 or 5 on the table totaling 10 OR 11, this would be a good time to double down, the odds are in your favor. If you succeed and beat the dealer you win double your bet. If the dealers card is higher your odds of winning are greatly reduced.
Splitting When you are dealt two cards that are the same, 9-9 10-10 k-k etc, you then have an option to place a second bet the size of your original bet and splitting those two cards into two different hands. The dealer will deal you one more card on each card you split. Then you will play both hands out individually. Blackjack rules vary, but some rules do allow for multiple splitting if it is to come up during a game.
Surrender Every hand played you are allowed the option to surrender your cards receiving half your bet back. This is not an option to use often and only if you feel you have 0 chance of winning up against the dealers hand. If the dealer is showing a card that is a possible blackjack and you want to surrender, you must wait until other players are offered insurrance and dealer has proceeded with the game play. Then you can surrender if needed.
Completion of the game When all players and the dealer have played their hands and final cards are on the table, winners are determaned. Then the dealer collects from any player who has not beat the dealers hand and pays out to all players who did beat the dealers hand and won.
Common rule The dealer hits when cards total under 17 and stands when cards total over 17. Ties are a push.
There are many different variations of blackjack and rules do vary.
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Blackjack Odds.
Blackjack is a game you can improve your odds of winning by understanding the game. The house only has a small % advantage compared to other casino games, and with an understanding of when to double down and split pairs or hit or stand you can increase your odds of winning.
In blackjack, the dealer has to take a hit up to 17, where the player does not this is an odd in your favor. On the other hand the house edge is the dealer turns over their hole card after all of the players have taken their turn.
Statistically, more players will have busted by the time that the dealer plays their hand, this gives the house a small advantage over the player.
Blackjack odds are interesting, unlike other casino games blackjack is a game of skill. The better you understand the game the more chances you have of winning.
The house odds are based on how good you play the game, so the odds will vary from play to play depending on the player. Every good decision you make when playing blackjack increases your odds of winning.
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Counting cards in blackjack.
When it comes to online casinos it is not possible to count cards in blackjack. Online casinos shuffle cards between each hand, because of this, it is not possible.
Counting cards in blackjack at a land base casino is a whole different story.
The basic idea is that a deck with a high amount of Aces and 10's / face cards is good for 'YOU' the player and not good for the dealer. This you should always keep an eye on when playing blackjack at your local casino, it will increase your odds of winning.
Knowing the deck that has Aces 10's / face cards is an advantage to the player. What you need to do is watch the cards coming out of a deck.
Example Your playing blackjack at your local casino and it is a multiple deck shoe, after a several hands you see that very few aces or 10's / face cards were played, the odds have now increased that the next hand will possibly be more high cards than low cards which is good for the player. This would be a good time to raise your bet.
There's never no guarantees when playing blackjack! However, the key to improving your odds of winning is to look for the absence of high cards, or the high cards being exposed, this can be done through casual observation of the cards being dealt and can increase your odds of winning quite a bit. All good blackjack players count cards and just don't tell it is something you should always do, It will not guarantee a winner on every hand you play, but it will give you a slight advantage against the house when playing blackjack.
The important thing to remember, It is not about trying to memorize every card dealt from the deck, it is about remembering the important ones. This always increase your odds of knowing what cards might be dealt next, which will increase your odds when you play blackjack and possibly more wins.
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