A hand that contains an ace is referred to as a soft hand because the value can change. If you draw to a soft hand and the three cards total a number where counting an ace as 11 puts you over 21, then the hand becomes a hard hand. For example, say you are dealt an ace and a three. Your hand is either a 4 or If you then draw a 10, you now have a hard 14 because if you count the ace as 11 you would have 25, which would bust you.
Blackjack is dealt on a special table that is semi-circular in shape. There is a separate circle or square for each player. When you sit down you must buy chips from the dealer or bring them from another table. You then put your bet in the betting circle in front of your space.
Only chips put in the betting circle count as your bet. After all bets are made, the play begins. For this example, we will assume you are playing a multi-deck game and the cards are being dealt from a shoe. Each player is dealt two cards face up.
The dealer receives one card face up and one card face down, known as the hole card. After the cards are dealt, the dealer will ask each player in turn to make their decision.
The player to the left of the dealer acts first. This position is known as first base. The position of the last person to act is called third base. You will make your decision about how to play your hand based on the dealer's up card and the two cards that you were dealt.
A rule of thumb for the beginner is to assume the dealer has a ten in the hole. This is not always the case, but it makes it easier to place your bets by making this assumption. Remember that in a game dealt from a shoe you are not allowed to touch the cards.
And in all cases, you should use hand signals to make your decisions known. This not only keeps the game moving it also helps prevent verbal misunderstandings while letting the eye in the sky keep track of the play.
These signals are as follows:. If you or the dealer is dealt an ace and a value card you have 21 known as a blackjack. This is a natural. If you get the blackjack you will be paid 3-to-2 for your bet, provided the dealer does not get a 21 at the same time. If you and the dealer have blackjack, that's called a push and your bet is returned to you.
If only the dealer has blackjack, all players will lose. If the dealer's up card is an ace, the dealer will offer something called insurance. This is a side bet that you make by wagering half your original bet that the dealer has a 10 in the hole. If you make the bet and the dealer has the 10, you are paid 2-to You would then lose your original bet, but win the insurance bet, which works out to be a push of your original bet.
If you have a blackjack and the dealer has an ace, you will be asked if you would like even money for your blackjack instead of 3-to If you do not take the even money, you will have a push if the dealer has a blackjack.
Both the insurance and the even money bet are sucker bets. The dealers will NOT have 10 more times than they will have one. Some casinos will allow you to surrender your hand and give up half your bet on your first two cards after the dealer checks for a blackjack.
This is known as late surrender. This option is not offered in all casinos , though. It is to the player's advantage when played correctly. Unfortunately, when it is offered many players surrender more hands than they should, thus giving up the advantage gained by this option. As you can see, there are many decisions that you must make when playing blackjack.
If you play your hand properly you can reduce the house edge to less than 1 percent. To do this you must learn basic strategy, which is a mathematically proven method to determine when to hit and stand.
Here is a simple strategy to get you started:. Although this simple strategy will get you by the first several times you play the game, you really should make the effort to learn even more basic strategy.
Most casinos allow them at the table if your use doesn't slow down the game. Blackjack can be the best game in the casino, with the lowest house edge , if you play properly. However, if you play by hunch, it will end up being nothing but a source of frustration—and disappearing funds.
Many casinos today pay blackjacks at less than This is common in single-deck blackjack games. Blackjack games usually offer a side bet called insurance , which may be placed when the dealer's face-up card is an ace. Additional side bets, such as "Dealer Match" which pays when the player's cards match the dealer's up card, are also sometimes available.
After the initial two cards, the player has up to five options: "hit", "stand", "double down", "split", or "surrender".
Each option has a corresponding hand signal. Hand signals help the " eye in the sky " make a video recording of the table, which resolves disputes and identifies dealer mistakes.
It is also used to protect the casino against dealers who steal chips or players who cheat. Recordings can also identify advantage players.
When a player's hand signal disagrees with their words, the hand signal takes precedence. A hand can "hit" as often as desired until the total is 21 or more.
Players must stand on a total of After a bust or a stand, play proceeds to the next hand clockwise around the table. After the last hand is played, the dealer reveals the hole card and stands or draws according to the game's rules.
When the outcome of the dealer's hand is established, any hands with bets remaining on the table are resolved usually in counterclockwise order ; bets on losing hands are forfeited, the bet on a push is left on the table, and winners are paid out.
If the dealer shows an ace, an "insurance" bet is allowed. Insurance is a side bet that the dealer has a blackjack. The dealer asks for insurance bets before the first player plays. Insurance bets of up to half the player's current bet are placed on the "insurance bar" above the player's cards.
If the dealer has a blackjack, insurance pays 2 to 1. In most casinos, the dealer looks at the down card and pays off or takes the insurance bet immediately. In other casinos, the payoff waits until the end of the play. In face-down games, if a player has more than one hand, they can look at all their hands before deciding.
This is the only condition where a player can look at multiple hands. Players with blackjack can also take insurance. When this happens, it is called 'even money,' as the player is giving up their payout for a payout when taking insurance with a blackjack, under the condition that they still get paid if the dealer also has a blackjack.
Insurance bets lose money in the long run. The dealer has a blackjack less than one-third of the time. In some games, players can also take insurance when a valued card shows, but the dealer has an ace in the hole less than one-tenth of the time.
The insurance bet is susceptible to advantage play. It is advantageous to make an insurance bet whenever the hole card has more than a one in three chance of being a ten.
Card counting techniques can identify such situations. Note: Where changes in the house edge due to changes in the rules are stated in percentage terms, the difference is usually stated here in percentage points , not a percentage. Blackjack rules are generally set by regulations that establish permissible rule variations at the casino's discretion.
Most of the house's edge comes from the fact that the player loses when both the player and dealer bust. The house edge for games where blackjack pays 6 to 5 instead of 3 to 2 increases by about 1.
Player deviations from basic strategy also increase the house edge. Each game has a rule about whether the dealer must hit or stand on soft 17, which is generally printed on the table surface.
The variation where the dealer must hit soft 17 is abbreviated "H17" in blackjack literature, with "S17" used for the stand-on-soft variation. Substituting an "H17" rule with an "S17" rule in a game benefits the player, decreasing the house edge by about 0.
All things being equal, using fewer decks decreases the house edge. This mainly reflects an increased likelihood of player blackjack, since if the player draws a ten on their first card, the subsequent probability of drawing an ace is higher with fewer decks.
It also reflects the decreased likelihood of a blackjack—blackjack push in a game with fewer decks. Casinos generally compensate by tightening other rules in games with fewer decks, to preserve the house edge or discourage play altogether. When offering single-deck blackjack games, casinos are more likely to disallow doubling on soft hands or after splitting, restrict resplitting, require higher minimum bets, and pay the player less than for a winning blackjack.
The following table illustrates the mathematical effect on the house edge of the number of decks, by considering games with various deck counts under the following ruleset: double after split allowed, resplit to four hands allowed, no hitting split aces, no surrendering, double on any two cards, original bets only lost on dealer blackjack, dealer hits soft 17, and cut-card used.
The increase in house edge per unit increase in the number of decks is most dramatic when comparing the single-deck game to the two-deck game, and becomes progressively smaller as more decks are added. Surrender, for those games that allow it, is usually not permitted against a dealer blackjack; if the dealer's first card is an ace or ten, the hole card is checked to make sure there is no blackjack before surrender is offered.
This rule protocol is consequently known as "late" surrender. The alternative, "early" surrender, gives the player the option to surrender before the dealer checks for blackjack, or in a no hole card game.
Early surrender is much more favorable to the player than late surrender. For late surrender, however, while it is tempting to opt for surrender on any hand which will probably lose, the correct strategy is to only surrender on the very worst hands, because having even a one-in-four chance of winning the full bet is better than losing half the bet and pushing the other half, as entailed by surrendering.
If the cards of a post-split hand have the same value, most games allow the player to split again, or "resplit". The player places a further wager, and the dealer separates the new pair dealing a further card to each as before.
Some games allow unlimited resplitting, while others may limit it to a certain number of hands, such as four hands for example, "resplit to 4". After splitting aces, the common rule is that only one card will be dealt to each ace; the player cannot split, double, or take another hit on either hand.
Rule variants include allowing resplitting aces or allowing the player to hit split aces. Games allowing aces to be resplit are not uncommon, but those allowing the player to hit split aces are extremely rare.
Allowing the player to hit hands resulting from split aces reduces the house edge by about 0. Note that a ten-value card dealt on a split ace or vice versa will not be counted as a blackjack but as a soft After a split, most games allow doubling down on the new two-card hands.
Disallowing doubling after a split increases the house edge by about 0. Under the " Reno rule", doubling down is only permitted on hard totals of 9, 10, or 11 under a similar European rule, only 10 or The basic strategy would otherwise call for some doubling down with hard 9 and soft 13—18, and advanced players can identify situations where doubling on soft 19—20 and hard 8, 7, and even 6 is advantageous.
The Reno rule prevents the player from taking advantage of double-down in these situations and thereby increases the player's expected loss.
The Reno rule increases the house edge by around 0. In most non-U. casinos, a "no hole card" game is played, meaning that the dealer does not draw nor consult their second card until after all players have finished making decisions.
With no hole card, it is rarely the correct basic strategy to double or split against a dealer ten or ace, since a dealer blackjack will result in the loss of the split and double bets; the only exception is with a pair of aces against a dealer 10, where it is still correct to split.
In all other cases, a stand, hit, or surrender is called for. For instance, when holding 11 against a dealer 10, the correct strategy is to double in a hole card game where the player knows the dealer's second card is not an ace , but to hit in a no-hole card game.
The no-hole-card rule adds approximately 0. The "original bets only" rule variation appearing in certain no hole card games states that if the player's hand loses to a dealer blackjack, only the mandatory initial bet "original" is forfeited, and all optional bets, meaning doubles and splits, are pushed.
In many casinos, a blackjack pays only or even instead of the usual This is most common at tables with lower table minimums. Although this payoff was originally limited to single-deck games, it has spread to double-deck and shoe games. Among common rule variations in the U.
Since blackjack occurs in approximately 4. Video blackjack machines generally pay a payout for a blackjack. The rule that bets on tied hands are lost rather than pushed is catastrophic to the player.
Though rarely used in standard blackjack, it is sometimes seen in "blackjack-like" games, such as in some charity casinos. Each blackjack game has a basic strategy, the optimal method of playing any hand. When using basic strategy, the long-term house advantage the expected loss of the player is minimized.
An example of a basic strategy is shown in the table below, which applies to a game with the following specifications: [15]. Most basic strategy decisions are the same for all blackjack games. Rule variations call for changes in only a few situations. For example, to use the table above on a game with the stand-on-soft rule which favors the player, and is typically found only at higher-limit tables today only 6 cells would need to be changed: hit on 11 vs.
A, hit on 15 vs. A, stand on 17 vs. A, stand on A,7 vs. Regardless of the specific rule variations, taking insurance or "even money" is never the correct play under a basic strategy.
Estimates of the house edge for blackjack games quoted by casinos and gaming regulators are based on the assumption that the players follow basic strategy. Most blackjack games have a house edge of between 0.
Casino promotions such as complimentary matchplay vouchers or blackjack payouts allow players to acquire an advantage without deviating from basic strategy. The basic strategy is based on a player's point total and the dealer's visible card. Players can sometimes improve on this decision by considering the composition of their hand, not just the point total.
For example, players should ordinarily stand when holding 12 against a dealer 4. But in a single deck game, players should hit if their 12 consists of a 10 and a 2. The presence of a 10 in the player's hand has two consequences: [17]. Even when basic and composition-dependent strategies lead to different actions, the difference in expected reward is small, and it becomes smaller with more decks.
Using a composition-dependent strategy rather than a basic strategy in a single-deck game reduces the house edge by 4 in 10,, which falls to 3 in , for a six-deck game. Blackjack has been a high-profile target for advantage players since the s.
Advantage play attempts to win more using skills such as memory, computation, and observation. While these techniques are legal, they can give players a mathematical edge in the game, making advantage players unwanted customers for casinos.
Advantage play can lead to ejection or blacklisting. Some advantageous play techniques in blackjack include:. During the course of a blackjack shoe, the dealer exposes the dealt cards. Players can infer from their accounting of the exposed cards which cards remain. These inferences can be used in the following ways:.
A card counting system assigns a point score to each card rank e. When a card is exposed, a counter adds the score of that card to a running total, the 'count'. A card counter uses this count to make betting and playing decisions. The count starts at 0 for a freshly shuffled deck for "balanced" counting systems.
Unbalanced counts are often started at a value that depends on the number of decks used in the game. Blackjack's house edge is usually around 0. Card counting works best when a few cards remain.
This makes single-deck games better for counters. As a result, casinos are more likely to insist that players do not reveal their cards to one another in single-deck games. In games with more decks, casinos limit penetration by ending the shoe and reshuffling when one or more decks remain undealt.
Casinos also sometimes use a shuffling machine to reintroduce the cards whenever a deck has been played. Sometimes a casino might ban a card counter from the property. The use of external devices to help count cards is illegal throughout the United States.
Another advantage play technique, mainly applicable in multi-deck games, involves tracking groups of cards also known as slugs, clumps, or packs through the shuffle and then playing and betting according to when those cards come into play from a new shoe.
Shuffle tracking requires excellent eyesight and powers of visual estimation but is harder to detect; shuffle trackers' actions are largely unrelated to the composition of the cards in the shoe. Arnold Snyder's articles in Blackjack Forum magazine brought shuffle tracking to the general public.
His book, The Shuffle Tracker's Cookbook , mathematically analyzed the player edge available from shuffle tracking based on the actual size of the tracked slug. Jerry L. Patterson also developed and published a shuffle-tracking method for tracking favorable clumps of cards and cutting them into play and tracking unfavorable clumps of cards and cutting them out of play.
The player can also gain an advantage by identifying cards from distinctive wear markings on their backs, or by hole carding observing during the dealing process the front of a card dealt face-down.
These methods are generally legal although their status in particular jurisdictions may vary. Many blackjack tables offer side bets on various outcomes including: [28].
The side wager is typically placed in a designated area next to the box for the main wager. A player wishing to wager on a side bet usually must place a wager on blackjack. Some games require that the blackjack wager should equal or exceed any side bet wager.
A non-controlling player of a blackjack hand is usually permitted to place a side bet regardless of whether the controlling player does so. The house edge for side bets is generally higher than for the blackjack game itself.
Nonetheless, side bets can be susceptible to card counting. A side count designed specifically for a particular side bet can improve the player's edge. Only a few side bets, like "Insurance" and "Lucky Ladies", correlate well with the high-low counting system and offer a sufficient win rate to justify the effort of advantage play.
In team play, it is common for team members to be dedicated to only counting a side bet using a specialized count. Some casinos, as well as general betting outlets, provide blackjack among a selection of casino-style games at electronic consoles.
Video blackjack game rules are generally more favorable to the house; e. Video and online blackjack games generally deal each round from a fresh shoe i. Blackjack is a member of the family of traditional card games played recreationally worldwide.
Most of these games have not been adapted for casino play. Furthermore, the casino game development industry actively produces blackjack variants, most of which are ultimately not adopted by casinos.
Master the art of blackjack with our comprehensive betting guide. Learn the rules and strategies to maximise your earnings at WynnBET Learn how to play blackjack, one of the most popular games in casinos today, by learning some basic strategy For side bets, you will have to place the chips on the corresponding positions next to the main betting area. If the other seats aren't taken
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