Blackjack
by Steve Bourie
Re-printed from American Casino Guide - 1999 Edition

Blackjack is the most popular casino game in America and one of the biggest reasons for that is its relatively simple rules that are familiar to most casino visitors. Blackjack also has a reputation as being "beatable" and although that is true in some cases, the vast majority of players will always be playing the game with the house having a slight edge over them. 

At most blackjack tables there are 7 boxes, or betting areas, on the table. This means that up to 7 people can play at that table and each player has their own box in front of them in which they’ll place their bet. Now, before you take a seat at any blackjack table the first thing you should do is to take a look at the sign that’s sitting on each table because it will tell you the minimum amount that you must bet on each hand. If you’re a $5 player you certainly wouldn’t want to sit at a table that has a $25 minimum so, once again, be sure to look before you sit down. 

Once you’re at the table you’ll need chips to play with and you get them by giving your cash to the dealer who will exchange it for an equal amount of chips. Be careful, however, that you don’t put your cash down into one of the betting boxes because the dealer might think you’re playing it all on the next hand! 

After everyone has placed their bets in their respective boxes the dealer will deal out 2 cards to each player. He will also deal 2 cards to himself; one of those cards will be face up and the other face down. Now, if you’ve ever read any brochures in a casino they’ll tell you that the object of the game of blackjack is to get a total of cards as close to 21 as possible, without going over 21. However, that really isn’t the object of the game. The true object is to beat the dealer and you do that by getting a total closer to 21 than the dealer, or by having the dealer bust by drawing cards that total more than 21. 

The one thing that’s strange about blackjack is that the rules can be slightly different at each casino and this is the only game where this happens. If you play baccarat, roulette or craps you’ll find that the rules are virtually the same at every casino in the U.S. but that isn’t the case with blackjack. For example, in Atlantic City all of the casinos use 6 or 8 decks of cards that are always dealt from a little rectangular box called a shoe and the cards are always dealt face up. In Las Vegas, some casinos will offer that same kind of game while others will offer games that use only 1 or 2 decks that are dealt directly from the dealer’s hand and all of the cards will be dealt face down. To make it even stranger, some casinos in Las Vegas will offer both kinds of games in their casinos and the rules will probably change when you move from one table to another. There can also be other rules variations concerning doubling down and splitting of pairs but we’ll talk about those later. For now, just be aware that different casinos can have different blackjack rules and some of those rules will be good for you while others will be bad for you. Hopefully, after reading this story you’ll know the good rules from the bad ones and which tables are the best ones to play at. 

For our purposes, we’ll assume we’re playing in a casino that uses 6 decks of cards that are dealt out of a shoe and all of the player’s cards are dealt face up. By the way, whenever you play blackjack in a casino where the cards are dealt face up don’t touch the cards. In that kind of game the dealer is the only who is allowed to touch the cards and if you do happen to touch them they’ll give you a warning not to do it again - so, don’t touch the cards! 

After the cards are dealt the players must determine the total of their hand by adding the value of their two cards together. All of the cards are counted at their face value except for the picture cards - jack, queen and king which all have a value of 10 - and the aces which can be counted as either 1 or 11. If you have an ace and any 10-value card you have a blackjack which is also called a natural and your hand is an automatic winner, unless the dealer also has a blackjack in which case the hands are tied. A tie is also called a push and when that happens it’s a standoff and you neither win nor lose. All winning blackjacks are paid at 3-to-2, or one-and-a-half times your bet, so if you bet $5 and got a blackjack you would be paid $7.50 

If the dealer has an ace as his up card the first thing he’ll do is ask if anyone wants to buy insurance. When you buy insurance you’re betting that the dealer has a blackjack by having a 10 as his face down card. To make an insurance bet you would place your bet in the area just above your betting box that says "insurance pays 2-to-1" and you’re only allowed to make an insurance bet of up to one-half the amount of your original bet. So, if you originally bet $10 you could only bet a maximum of $5 as your insurance bet. After all the insurance bets are made the dealer will check his face down card and if it’s a 10 he’ll turn it over and all of the insurance bets will be paid off at 2-to-1. If he doesn’t have a 10 underneath, the dealer will then take away all of the losing insurance bets and the game will continue. By the way, according to basic strategy, insurance is a bad bet and you should never make an insurance bet. 

If the dealer has a 10 as his up card the first thing he’ll do is check to see if he has an ace underneath which would give him a blackjack. If he does have an ace he’ll turn it face up and start collecting the losing bets that are out on the table. If he doesn’t have an ace underneath the game will continue. In some casinos, however, the dealer won’t check his hole card until after all of the hands are played out.

If the dealer doesn’t have an ace or a 10 as his up card the game continues and the dealer will start with the player to his immediate left to see if they want another card. If a player wants another card they indicate that with a hand signal by tapping or scratching the table with their finger to show they want another card. Taking a card is also known as hitting or taking a hit. If a player doesn’t want another card they would just wave their hand palm down over their cards. Not taking another card is known as standing. The reason hand signals are used is because it eliminates any confusion on the part of the dealer as to exactly what the player wants and it also allows the security people to follow the game on the closed-circuit cameras that are hung from the ceiling throughout the casino.

Keep in mind that the hand signals will be slightly different if you’re playing in a casino where the cards are dealt face down and you’re allowed to pick them up. In that situation a player would signal that they wanted another card by scratching the table with the edges of the two cards they’re holding. If they didn’t want another card, they would simply place their two cards under the bet in their box. 

In either case, if a player draws another card the value of that card is added to the total of the other cards and the player can continue to draw cards unless he gets a total of more than 21 in which case he busts and loses his bet. 

When a player doesn’t want any more cards, or stands, the dealer then moves on to the next player and after all of the players are finished then it’s the dealer’s turn to play. While each player can decide whether or not they want another card the dealer doesn’t have that option and he must play by a fixed set of rules that require him to draw a card whenever his total is 16 or less and to stop when his total is 17 or more. If the dealer goes over 21 then he has busted and all of the players remaining in the game will be paid 1-to-1, or even money, on their bet. 

If the dealer doesn’t bust then each player’s hand is compared to the dealer’s. If the player’s total is higher than the dealer’s then they win and are paid even money. If the player’s hand has a total that is lower than the dealer’s hand then the player loses his bet. If the player and the dealer have the same total then it’s a tie, or a push and neither hand wins. After all of the bets have been paid off, or taken by the dealer, a new round begins and new hands are dealt to all of the players.

When deciding how to play your hand there are also three other options available to you besides standing or hitting. The first is called doubling down and most casinos will allow a player to double their bet on their first two cards and draw only one more card. To do this you would place an amount equal to your original bet right next to it and then the dealer would give you one more card, sideways, to indicate that your bet was a double down. To double down in a game where the cards are dealt face down you would turn up your original two cards and tell the dealer you wanted to double down. Then, after you double your bet, the dealer would give you one more card face down. Some casinos may have restrictions on this bet and may only allow you to double down if the total of your 2 cards is 10 or 11, but it’s always to your advantage if they allow you to double down on any two cards. 

Another thing you can do is split your cards if you have a pair and then play each card as a separate hand. For example, if you had a pair of 8’s you would place a bet equal to your original bet right next to it and tell the dealer you wanted to split your pair. The dealer would then separate your two 8’s and give you one card on your first 8. Unlike doubling down, however, you are not limited to only getting one card and you can play your hand out normally. When you were finished with your first hand the dealer would then give you a card on your other 8 and you would play that hand out. Although I said that you weren’t limited to just one card on your splits there is one instance where that will happen and that’s when you split aces. Virtually all casinos will only give you one card on each ace when you split them. Also, if you get a 10-value card with your ace it will only count as 21 and not as a blackjack so you’ll only get even money on that bet if you win. Besides splitting pairs you can also split all 10-value cards such as jack-king or 10-queen but it would be a very bad idea to do that because you would be breaking up a 20 which is a very strong hand and you should never split 10’s. By the way, if you wanted to split a pair in a casino where the cards are dealt face down you would simply turn your original 2 cards face-up and then tell the dealer that you wanted to split them. 

The last option you have is not available in most casinos but you may come across it in a few Las Vegas Strip casinos and it’s called surrender. With the surrender option you’re allowed to lose half of your bet if you decide you don’t want to play out your hand after looking at your first 2 cards. Let’s say you’re dealt a 10-6 for a total of 16 and the dealer has a 10 as his face-up card. A 16 is not a very strong hand, especially against a dealer’s 10, so in this case it would be a good idea to surrender your hand and when the dealer came to your cards you would say "surrender." The dealer would then take half of your bet and remove your cards. Surrender is good for the player because in the long run you will lose less on the bad hands you’re dealt and you should always try to play in a casino that offers the surrender option. 

All right, we’ve covered the basics of how to play the game of blackjack and all of the possible options a player has, so the next question is how do you win? Well, the best way to win is to become a card counter, but for the average person that isn’t always possible so let’s start off by taking a look at basic blackjack strategy. 

Computer studies have been done on the game of blackjack and millions of hands have been analyzed to come up with a basic formula for how to play your hand in any given situation. The main principle that these decisions are based on is the dealer’s up card because, remember that the dealer has no say in whether or not he takes a card - he must play by the rules that require him to draw a card until he has a total of 17 or more. Now, according to these computer calculations the dealer will bust more often when his up card is a 

2,3,4,5 or 6 and he will complete more hands when his up card is a 7,8,9,10-value card or an ace. Take a look at the following chart that shows how each up-card affects the dealer’s chance of busting: 


Chance The Dealer's Up Card Will Bust