A Guide To Playing Blackjack

History of Blackjack Blackjack seems to be a French invention, possibly developing from Chemin de Fer (Baccarat) in the early 18th century. Originally called Vingt-et-Un, in a reference to the fact that the best score you can achieve with a hand is 21, the modern name of Blackjack probably originates from the 1930s. Many Nevada casinos tried to increase its popularity by offering a special 10 to 1 payout where a hand included a 'blackjack' - the Ace of Spades plus either the Jack of Spades or Jack of Clubs.
That payout is no longer available, but the name remains. Today, a 'blackjack' is a starting hand including an Ace and a card with a score of 10 (Ten, Jack, Queen or King). Blackjack is famous as the game that spawned the 'card-counter'. Because a deck has only a finite number of different cards within it, it's sometimes possible to get an advantage if you watch what's already been dealt. If lots of low cards have appeared already, that theoretically means that most of the remaining cards should be high, and vice versa. Card counters learn to look for these situations and then act when the odds seem to be in their favour.

Blackjack, with its system of discarding cards after use, was particularly open to counting. Edward O Thorp's 1962 best-seller Beat the Dealer revealed the maths behind this arcane profession, and sparked off wave after wave of card counting crews. Admittedly, card counting is hard to do, and casinos made lots of money from players drawn to the game by the promise of a 'winning system'. Nonetheless, players like Stanford Wong and Lawrence Revere would become famous for their professional and successful approach to a game that, supposedly, can't be beaten.

Basic Rules of Blackjack Two cards are dealt to the dealer, and to each of the players. Regardless of how many are playing in a game of blackjack, an individual will only ever
compete against the dealer,
not the other players.

The aim is to get a hand that adds up to a higher score than that of the dealer.

21 is the best score you can achieve.
If the hand exceeds 21, the player (or dealer) goes bust. The cards from 2 - 10 are assigned values equivalent to their face value.

Jacks, Queens and Kings all score 10.

The Ace is more unusual, as this card can carry a score of either 1 or 11.

The player theoretically decides which of the scores the ace is worth, although the dealer will usually assume the value that adds up to the strongest hand.

Live Dealer Blackjack allows you to see live video of the cards being dealt by a genuine dealer.

You can often interact with the dealer and with other players in the game. While this may add some pressure, it also increases the social aspect, and lets you share triumph and disaster with others, rather than 'experiencing' everything alone. Live Dealer games are also considered to have more integrity. It's theoretically easier for a crooked casino to fudge random numbers than it is to fake live video without being detected.

Also, because you're generally playing alongside others, there's less chance that the casino is targeting you and trying to make you lose. Those hoping to count cards will also prefer the Live version, although it's questionable whether the technique can really be applied here.

On the other hand, Live Dealer games do take longer. On RNGs, you can cut down on the bells and whistles and just stack up lots of games. Conversely, you can often pause and deliberate for long periods before making your decision. The pace is down to you.

Tips to Get Started Whether to hit or to stand can give you some real dilemmas.

To win over the long term, you should generally hit on 8 or less, and stand on 17 or higher.

Where the hand is a 10 or 11, it generally pays to double down.

The other hands, though, are down to you.

If your original hand was a pair (eg, two 5s), you'll have the option of 'splitting' them.

This means you double your bet, and effectively get to play both hands through individually, giving you two chances of victory rather than one. Statistically, As, 8s and 9s are likely to lead to victory if split. 4s and 5s, though, should be avoided.

If the dealer's first card is an ace, the player has the option of taking 'Insurance'.

This means putting on an extra bet, usually half of the value of your starting bet. If the dealer draws a card scoring 10 and gets a blackjack, the player loses their initial stake, but gets double the extra bet as compensation.

This generally means that the player breaks even. However, you're effectively taking a payout of 2 to 1 when there's only a 30.8% chance of a blackjack coming up. Insurance is a losing proposition. Ignore it, unless you're a card counter who knows lots of high cards are due.