About the online blackjack game

Blackjack is particularly popular in American casinos.

The game is of French origin and was originally called twenty-one. It was first played in French casinos around 1700.

Although the game became popular in America around 1800, it was not introduced to casinos until a century later without much success. To entice players to play the game, casino operators originally offered a 10-1 payout. For this you had to get 21 points with an ace and one of the two black jacks.

Hence the name blackjack (literally: blackjack).

Today, a blackjack is always a hand with two cards: an ace of value 11 and a face value of 10 or king, queen, jack.

Online blackjack is enjoyed by many players due to the simplicity of the game and the combination of luck and skill. Media attention and movies, like 21 with Kevin Spacey (recommended!), have also contributed to blackjack's popularity in recent years.

Millions of players play the game in traditional or online casinos, in tournaments or against the dealer alone.

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Blackjack is played at a blackjack table with a dealer and usually six players. The same rules apply to online blackjack as to traditional blackjack. Players play separately against the dealer and have no influence on each other's play.

Goal of the blackjack game

The object of the game is to get a higher hand than the dealer, but no higher than 21.

If the player has a higher hand than the dealer but not higher than 21, the player wins. The player loses if he has a hand higher than 21 or a hand lower than the dealer's.

If the dealer has a hand above 21 before the player goes over that value, the player wins.

Value of the different cards

In blackjack, all cards have their face value, except: ace, king, queen and jack.

The king, queen and jack have the value 10. The ace can have the value 1 or the value 11.

Usually the ace has the value 11, but if this makes the total higher than 21, you can change to the value 1. In principle, you can always adjust the value of the ace during the game, depending on the cards dealt .

The dealer must always count the ace as value 11 if the value of his cards is 17 or more. He must therefore count an Ace and a card of value 6 like 17. The four combinations no longer matter in blackjack today.

Soft or hard hand

A soft hand is a hand where you can use the ace as a value of 1 or as a value of 11, so that you don't get too many points.

For example, an ace and a 7 value card can give a total of 8 or 18 points. At this point we are talking about a soft 18, you can read them in two ways. If you now get an additional card of value 10, the ace takes on the value 1, otherwise you have too many points. It's a hard 18, you can only read it one way.

For example, if you now roll a 10 of spades and an 8 of hearts, you still have a hard 18, you can only play them one way.

Game flow

At the start of the game, players sit down at the table and place their bets by placing the chips on the betting slots. The game begins to the left of the dealer.

Players are then dealt two upcards by the dealer before he is dealt. The dealer places one of his cards face up (face up), the other face down (hole card).

Players then decide if they want to take (hit) or pass (hold) a card. If all the players have succeeded or are "broken" by exceeding the value 21, the dealer takes an additional card as long as he has less than 17 points and he has 17 or more.

Winning Blackjack Hand

The player automatically wins if the first two cards are 21 (an 11-valued ace and a 10-valued card). In a blackjack, the player wins 1.5 x his bet (3 to 2 wins).

If the player and the dealer reach 21 points (push, tie or stand-off), the player only gets back his bet.

If the player has a higher total than the dealer, he wins 1 x his bet (2 to 1 payout). The player loses if he has a lower point total than the dealer or a higher point total than 21.

Other blackjack rules

In addition to taking (hitting) or folding (holding) an extra card, blackjack gives you a range of play options.

Split

If a player's first two cards form a pair of the same rank (eg 6 hearts and 6 diamonds), one can choose to split the hand into two hands.

The player continues to play two hands and places a second bet on the second hand, equal to the first.

The dealer deals the first hand a second card, which is played before the second hand is dealt a card.

Note that some hands are better suited to splitting than others. For example, it is not advisable to split a pair of tens because it is a very good hand in itself.

Double up

If a player thinks he has a very good chance of winning, he can double down. This means he makes a second bet on his hand (initial bet x 2) and he gets an extra card for it.

In some online casinos, doubling is only allowed if the player has a total of 10 or 11.

Surrender

Surrender is not allowed in all casinos. If permitted, you must consider the following conditions:

- You must indicate your intention to surrender at the start of your turn (eg if you haven't bought a map yet).

- You can only surrender if the dealer has an ace or a 10 value card as the up card.

According to the house rules, there are two possible consequences:

- The croupier immediately takes your cards and half of your bet.

- The dealer takes your cards and your full bet and does not return half until he has blackjack.