Guide to Win at Blackjack: Tips and Strategies

The North American game of Blackjack, also known as 21, has been one of the most popular casino games of the last centuries. It has widely spread throughout the world. In the 21st century it has been overtaken in popularity by slot. But it remains one of the most popular casino card games and is available in almost all casinos both online such as at Bet365 Casinos and offline too. In our article we’ll share with you some tips and a complete guide to win at blackjack.

How to play Blackjack:

Blackjack is a casino banked game, meaning that players compete against the house rather than each other. The objective is to get a hand total of closer to 21 than the dealer without going over 21. At the start of a Blackjack game, the players and the dealer receive two cards each. The players’ cards are dealt face up, while the dealer has one face down (called the hole card) and one face up. The best possible Blackjack hand is an opening deal of an ace with any ten-point card.

The house advantage of this game is derived from several rules that favor the dealer. The most significant of these is that the player must act before the dealer, allowing the player to bust and lose their bet before the dealer plays.

Today, Blackjack is the one card game that can be found in every American gambling casino and on online gambling sites in the U.S.

Guide to Win at Blackjack:

Equipment:

Blackjack is played with a standard international deck of cards with the Jokers removed, leaving 52 cards. Originally the game was played with a single deck. However, as a counter measure to card counting, casinos introduced multi-deck games. It was based on the false assumption that if there were more cards in play it would be harder for the card counter to keep track of them all. As a result, Blackjack is now usually offered in either single deck, double deck, 4 deck, 6 deck or 8 deck variants. It must be noted that there are exceptions in online casinos. Where far larger numbers of decks can be used than would be practical to manage offline. Aside from the cards, the game requires a table, chips, a discard tray, cut card and a shoe as well.

Playing Options:

Each player sitting at the table places their desired bet in the betting circle directly in front of them. In most casinos if there are untaken betting circles, the players sitting at the table can choose to play more than one hand at a time. Starting with the player sitting furthest to dealer’s left they have the following options:

Stand:

If the player is happy with the total they’ve been dealt they can stand. They take no further action and pass to the next player. The player can take this action after any of the other player actions. But as long as their hand total is not more than 21. The hand signal to Stand is waving a flat hand over the cards.

Hit:

If the player wishes to take another card they signal to the dealer to by scratching the felt beside their hand or pointing to their hand. A single card is then played face up onto their hand. If the hand total is less than 21 the player can choose to Hit again or Stand. If the total is 21 the hand automatically stands.  And if the total is over 21 the hand is bust, the player’s bet is taken by the house and the turn to act passes to the next player.

Double Down:

If the player considers they have a favorable hand, generally a total of 9, 10 or 11, they can choose to ‘Double Down’. To do this they place a second wager equal to their first beside their first wager. A player who doubles down receives exactly one more card face up. He is then forced to stand regardless of the total.

Split:

If the player’s first two cards are of matching rank they can choose to place an additional bet equal to their original bet and split the cards into two hands. Where the player chooses to do this the cards are separated. An additional card is dealt to complete each hand. If either hand receives a second card of matching rank the player may be offered the option to split again. Though this depends on the rules in the casino.

Generally the player is allowed a maximum of 4 hands after which no further splits are allowed. The split hands are played one at a time in the order in which they were dealt, from the dealer’s left to the dealer’s right. The player has all the usual options: stand, hit or double down. Some casinos restrict the card ranks that can be split. They may also restrict the option to double after splitting a pair.

Basic Strategies:

Winning tactics in Blackjack require that the player play each hand in the optimum way. Such strategy always takes into account what the dealer’s up-card is. When the dealer’s up-card is a good one, a 7, 8, 9, 10-card, or ace for example, the player should not stop drawing until a total of 17 or more is reached. When the dealer’s up-card is a poor one, 4, 5, or 6, the player should stop drawing as soon as he gets a total of 12 or higher. The strategy here is never to take a card if there is any chance of going bust. The desire with this poor holding is to let the dealer hit and hopefully go over 21. Finally, when the dealer’s up card is a fair one, 2 or 3, the player should stop with a total of 13 or higher.

We hope that our guide to win at Blackjack helped and motivated you to try your luck. And if yes then try playing some games at online gambling sites in the U.S.

You can discover more about Bet365 Casino here.