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Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with the basic workings of the
casino, it’s time to look at the game itself.
- The Goal.
In Blackjack, you want to get
as close to 21 points as you can – and closer than
the dealer gets to it – without going over. This
is a game in which the other players really don’t
matter, because it is all about what goes on between
you and the dealer. You are playing against him
alone. You can feel free to show the dealer, and
the other players, your cards, and even ask them
advice as to what your next move should be. In
shoe games, the player’s cards are even dealt up
so that everyone can see them.
-
The Cards.
The cards are valued as follows:
2-9 are exactly as indicated (i.e., 2 is worth
2 points, etc). The 10 and each of the face cards
(Jack, Queen, King) are all worth 10 points. And
the Ace is worth either 1 or 11 points. The suit
of the cards is irrelevant in this game. The value
of your hand is the sum of the points within it.
For instance, a hand containing a 2, 5 and 7 would
be 14. The Ace is what makes the counting of a
hand’s value tricky, though you should know that
the value assigned to it will always be the value
that is most beneficial to you. In other words,
if you have an Ace and a six, you either have 17
points or 7 points. If you ask for another card
and you get a five, it is automatically assumed
that the Ace will count as 1 so that you will not
“bust” (i.e., go over 21 points). If you decided
to “stand” at just the Ace and the six, it would
be assumed that you had 17 points, which is a lot
closer to 21 than 7 points is. In other words,
the value of the Ace can change, depending on the
other cards in your hand. Some terminology that’s
important to know: A hand containing an Ace and
a six would be called a “soft 17” because you can
draw another card to it and not bust. A hand containing
an Ace, six and ten would be called a “hard 17”
because the Ace has to be counted as 1; if it were
counted as 11, you would bust. A soft “total” is
when the Ace in the hand can be valued as either
1 or 11 and still not bust.
- Let The Game Begin!
Now it’s time to play. The dealer deals out the
cards by going around the table twice, beginning
at his left, until all players plus the dealer
have two cards each (except in certain casinos
in Europe, and elsewhere, where the European No
Hole Card rule applies, in which the dealer gets
only one card face up and only after the players
have finished their hands does he get his second
card). The dealer will expose the value of one
of his cards by flipping it over. In shoe games,
the two player cards will be exposed (or “face
up”). The shoe game is good for beginners not least
because in shoe games you’re not allowed to touch
the cards – one less thing to worry about if you’re
someone who’s not used to handling cards and don’t
want to have to deal with that. Hand-held games,
in which (obviously) you DO handle the cards, require
a bit more thought. The cards are dealt face down,
then picked up and held by you, but you can only
touch them with ONE HAND, and you must always keep
the cards above the table. Subsequent cards dealt
to you are not to be put into your hand with your
first two cards – these are to be left on the table.
Okay, so now the cards have been dealt. Play begins
at the first seat to the dealer’s left (otherwise
known as “first base”). Each player will say how
he wishes to play his hand (I will discuss the
various playing options further on). Once the players
have finished playing their hands, the dealer finishes
his. Then it is time to pay out and collect bets.
The
dealer.
Unlike the player, the dealer
does not have playing options. He has to play in
a certain way, with no flexibility, each and every
time. Specifically, he cannot split pairs and he
must hit (i.e., take a card) until either he reaches
17 or goes bust. There IS one rule variation, however,
which will always be clearly marked at your casino
table, and it is important to take note of this
at the start. If the sign says “Dealer Stands on
All 17’s” (the more common of the two rules) it
means that the dealer is required to take hits
until he has reached a total of 17 or more. The
Ace in the dealer’s hand counts as 11 unless it
means busting, so if he had an Ace and an eight,
he’d have 19 points and he would not draw any more
cards. In “Dealer Hits Soft 17” (the less common
rule, and slightly more advantageous to the casino),
the dealer does NOT stand on a soft total of 17,
but rather on soft 18 or higher or hard 17 or higher.
In other words if he had a hand consisting of Ace
and six, or Ace and five and Ace, or Ace and two
and four – these are all cases of soft 17’s but
instead of standing on them, he would hit.
- A Blackjack (or natural), and how it differs
from a 21.
To be a Blackjack (or natural)
you don’t just need 21 points in your hand. You
need to get that total of 21 in a certain very
specific way – from YOUR FIRST TWO CARDS – meaning
that the 21 will come from having an Ace and
a 10-point-card in your initial two-card hand.
That is the only possible combination, and it
must happen with your very first two cards. Now,
sure, you can get a 21 in other ways (for instance,
you could split a pair of Aces and then draw
a 10-valued-card to one of them for a total of
21 points) but it will only be a 21, not a Blackjack,
because it did not meet the requirement of coming
“naturally” as your first two cards. I stress
this because a winning Blackjack pays 3 to 2
(or $15 on a $10 bet) – and a 21 does not. A
player Blackjack beats a Dealer 21. If (unlikely
as it is) both player and dealer get Blackjacks,
it’s a tie (also known as a “push” or stand-off).
Now, WHEN you get the money for your Blackjack
varies a bit from casino to casino. Some dealers
will pay off your bet right away – on your turn,
when you flip over your cards and show your Blackjack.
Other dealers, with a face-up card of 10, say,
might postpone until the hand is finished and
they’ve had a chance to check their hole card.
Statistically speaking, a Blackjack or natural
only occurs about once out of every 21 hands.
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