Blackjack is considered a banking game where players compete against the casino card dealer, or “banker”, and the person closest to 21 points wins the hand.
Learn To Play Blackjack For Free Online
Blackjack is considered a banking game where players compete against the casino card dealer, or “banker”, and the person closest to 21 points wins the hand. The best way to learn how to play blackjack is through a free account in an online casino, allowing for more privacy and include live-dealer and video options via instant play or download.
How To Play Blackjack
Terms and Definitions
- Blackjack: A total of 21 points consisting of an Ace (equal to 11 points) and a 10 or face card (equal to 10 points) on one hand; has a 3-2 payoff
- Bust: A total of 22 points or more on one hand; loses the game
- Double Down: Doubling the original bet and only taking one additional card in the hand
- Face Card: A Jack, Queen, or King, equal to 10 points
- Hard Hand: A hand with no Ace or a hand with an Ace with a 1-point value
- Hit: Drawing an additional card
- Hole Card: Dealer’s face-down card
- Insurance: A side bet on whether or not the dealer has a blackjack
- Natural: A 2-card hand totaling 21 points
- Push: A tie
- Soft Hand: A hand with an Ace that counts as 11 points without busting
- Split: Dividing a hand that’s made up of two cards of the same rank into two hands with an additional bet placed on the new hand
- Stand: Refusing additional cards
- Stiff Hand: A hand total between 12 and 16 points; loses the game
- Upcard: Dealer’s face-up card
Basic Rules for Game Play
Numeric cards 2-10 have point values equal to their rank (e.g. 3 of hearts= 3 points) and face cards are equal to 10 points. Aces equal 1 point or 11 points depending on the point total in the hand. All players start the game with two cards and may ask for a HIT or may choose to STAND to win the hand.
Basic Blackjack Strategies and Tips
The risk involved with ‘hitting’ is that a player may ‘bust’, which is an automatic loss. In games when two or more cards are played in a hand, it is advisable that the player stands on 17 or higher because the dealer is unable to take additional cards on no-Ace hard 17s. However, a dealer may draw on a soft 17, changing the Ace value to either 1 or 11 points at his/her discretion. These conditions apply also to the case of split hands.
The House Edge
Single-hand and multi-hand blackjack games are often played in casinos, and the variations of game play may have an effect on the house edge. The lower the house edge is, the higher the winning advantage is for the player and using more than two decks of cards in a game increases the house’s edge. The average house edge range is between 0.17 and 0.35 percent but doubles to over 0.65 percent in a game of Double Exposure Blackjack, which is played with 8 decks of cards.
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