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The Rules and History of Blackjack

Outside of Poker, Blackjack is possibly the most popular Casino card game in the States. It’s also called by some as “21” as the object of the game is to get as close to or exactly twenty-one with two cards (the minimum) on your hand.
21=Blackjack?

Why blackjack you ask? When the game was introduced in America it was not at first popular. Gambling establishments had to make promotional tactics to encourage players to play such as offering bonus payouts. One popular bonus was a 10-to-1 payout (your bet wins ten times the original amount) if your hand is the ace of spades plus any one of the black suited Jacks (spade or club). This hand was called the "blackjack." It became synonymous to the game even though the 10-1 was consequently abolished.

How To Play

Blackjack is played using the standard 52-card deck. No jokers are needed. Blackjack can be played typically by two to seven people (including the house or dealer) it's fundamentally a two-player game. Players all compete against the house, and not against each other.

The objective is to accumulate a higher point total than the house without going over 21 points, which are computed adding the values of your individual cards. Cards 2 to 10 keep their values while all royal cards J, Q, and K are worth 10 points. The Ace can be worth either 1 or 11 points depending on the player’s choice.

One person in the group should be the dealer. It depends on the group to decide whether they rotate being the house every hand or for a set number of hands. At casinos, the house is always the dealer.

The game starts after each person has made a bet, in which case the dealer then gives each player two cards each. The players' cards dealt face up, while the dealer has one face up and the second face down. The face down card is called the hole card.

There are two scenarios you can face as a player. The first is if you get the best possible hand at the start the game, which is any Ace with any card with a ten value (10, King, Queen, Jack). This is what is called a Black Jack or “natural 21.” You automatically win 1.5 times your bet unless of course the house also gets blackjack, which would result in a draw or “Push.” If you draw with the house, your bet is returned to you.

The second scenario is you don’t get blackjack, in which case you need to do any of several options below:

Stand: if you think your hand is better than the house’s hand you “stand” or keep the cards you have without adding more.

Hit: This means the dealer deals you one more card from the remaining deck. This is done one at a time, player from player until all players either stands or busts (goes over 21).  When all the players have finished, the dealer will turn over his hole card. If the dealer gets blackjack, he wins (or draws with anyone who has blackjack in which case it is a draw for that player). If he gets below 21, the dealer can “hit” until he reaches a specific number or busts.

Unlike the player, the dealer must follow specific rules such as dealer must hit if the value of the hand is lower than 17, otherwise the dealer will stand. The rules differ from game to game, and like casinos, home players can set the house rules.

If the dealer busts, all players who are still in the game wins – those players who have busted or surrendered (more on surrendering later) can’t win any more as the house has already taken their bets. Players who have higher point total than the dealer wins while players with lower totals lose.

Additional Blackjack Rules

Aside from the basic game mentioned above which can be played as is, there are several other “side rules” typically added at casinos to spice up the game.

Insurance – When the dealer has an ace facing up, players can bet whether he has a blackjack or not. The insurance bet equals your original bet, and will cancel out your losing bet if you win, allowing you to break even.

Surrender – a surrender allows you to reclaim half your bet, and the house keeps the other half uncontested. If the house has blackjack, surrender is disallowed.

Splitting – If you get two starting cards of the same face value, you can split the hand in two and place bets of the same size as the original bet to play two hands.

Double - If you are confident that your hand will beat the dealer’s hand (without a blackjack – say a 20), you can double your original bet.