Blackjack rules and strategy
Blackjack is played with a set number of 52 card decks. Cards 2 through 10 have their face value. Jacks, Queens, Kings have a value of ten and Aces can be either 11 or 1.
Basically, Blackjack is all about coming closer with drawing cards to 21 than the dealer does, without overbuying oneself. Having blackjack means the player got any hand of two cards totaling 21. Blackjack pays 3 to 2. If the player has blackjack the hand automatically wins unless the dealer also has blackjack which results in a push
The game begins getting two cards and the dealer is dealt two cards. If you have blackjack you do not have any more decisions to make. If you have less than 21 you have the option to hit-take another card or stand -stay with the current hand, or in some cases double, takes one additional card and doubles bet ,split, split same cards into two hands, surrender or take insurance against a dealer blackjack.
Once you reach 21, bust or decide you do not want anymore cards the dealer will reveal the face down card and draw additional cards if required by the rules. After the dealers hand is completed the game ends and winning hands are paid.
Other outcomes are win - the players hand is higher than the dealers hand or the dealer busts which results in a 1 to 1 pay off. Push - the players hand and the dealers hands are of equal value. In this case bets are returned. Bust - if the players hand totals over 21 the hand automatically loses.
If the dealer is showing an ace the player will be offered the option of insurance. This is a bet that the dealer has blackjack and requires that the player place an additional bet of half of the original bet. This pays off 2 to 1 if the dealer has blackjack you win your bet total bet back.
Counting Cards
Probably you have heard about counting cards, which is perfectly legal, but it's very unpopular in the gaming business. Players who exhibit counting behavior for any reason will invariably find casino hospitality cut short. Many of these behaviors would seem quite innocent to the average player.
If you're interested in training yourself on counting cards the basic rule of counting cards is when a card leaves the deck it changes the probability of receiving any one of the remaining cards. You've probably noticed that tens favor players because they make nice pat hands and usually cause the dealer to bust when he hits. Small cards have the opposite effect.
A player simply scans the cards as they are revealed during play and assigns a number to each one. Cards with a value of two, three, four, five, and six become +1. Seven eight, and nine are zero. Tens, face cards, and aces are -1. The numbers are added and the result is a measure of how many tens and aces are left in the deck compared to smaller cards.
Let's say it's only you and the dealer playing with a freshly shuffled deck. At the end of the first hand you have two tens and the dealer busted with a ten, a three, and another ten. Great for you, but on a single deck the count is now -3. The cards remaining in the deck favor the dealer. You might win the next hand and the next one after that but those little cards will come back to haunt you. Conversely, if the count is positive, you can expect big fat tens to come out of the deck at some point, even if you're losing.
Card counters divide the running count by the number of decks remaining in the shoe to get the "true count," so -4 is only -1 when playing a six-deck game with four decks left in the shoe. All this information is used to make decisions, including, when to deviate from basic strategy, when to take insurance, and how much to bet. Bets are raised when the count is up and lowered when the count is down.
That's how counting works. A good card counter can turn a slim house edge into a plump 1.5 percent player advantage and (with luck) win thousands in a matter of minutes.
|
