Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games in the world. The goal of Blackjack is to get your hand value closer to 21 than that of the dealer, without going over 21.
Blackjack - A total of 21 with your first 2 cards and can only be an Ace with a 10, Jack, King or Queen. It is not called a Blackjack if you split a pair (of Aces, 10s or face cards) and then get 21 one with the next deal, but is simply called 21.
21 - Any combination and number of cards that make a total of 21.
Soft Hand - A hand that contains an Ace is called a "soft" total if the Ace can be counted as either 1 or 11 without the total going over 21. For example (Ace, 6) is a soft 17. The description stems from the fact that the player can always draw another card to a soft total with no danger of "busting" by going over 21.
Hard Hand - The hand (Ace, 6, 10) is a "hard" 17, since now the Ace must be counted as only 1 (the value can not be changed). Also any hand that does not contain an Ace is called a "hard hand" as the value can not be altered.
Once the initial bets have been made, the dealer will deal the cards. Both you and the dealer will receive 2 cards. You can see both of your cards and one of the dealer's cards. You will then have the option to surrender, hit, stand, double, split or pay insurance (see Player Choices for details). The Dealer's Hand
The dealer will stand on all 17s. The dealer must continue to take cards ("hit") until their total is 17 or greater. An Ace in the dealer's hand is always counted as 11 if possible without the dealer going over 21.
Hit - Draw another card.
Stand - Stop at the current total and take no more cards.
Double (Doubling Down) - This can only be done on a two card hand with a rank of 9 - 11 (before another card has been drawn). Doubling down allows you to double your bet but you can receive only one additional card to the hand.
Split (Splitting Pairs) - When you are dealt a matching pair of cards (numerical value, example: 6 and 6 or Queen and King) you have the ability to split the hand into two separate hands, and play them independently. You are allowed to split pairs 2 times during a game, except that you can not resplit on split Aces. When you split you bet the same amount as the initial bet again on the new hand/s (you will only be given the option to split pairs if you have enough money to cover the extra bets).
Insurance - If the dealer's shown card is an Ace the "Insurance" option will be offered and you can bet half your original bet amount. The dealer will check to see if their second card has a value of 10, and if they do have Blackjack, your winning Insurance bet will be paid at odds of 2:1. Insurance is a side bet that has no influence on the original bet. So if the dealer does have Blackjack you will win the Insurance bet but unless you also have Blackjack you will lose your original bet.
Blackjack - You have a total of 21 with your first 2 cards and can only be an Ace with a 10, Jack, King or Queen. Pays 3 to 2
Win - You have a better hand then the dealer or the dealer "busts".
Bust - If your card total goes over 21 then you "bust" or lose.
Dealer Wins - Your total is under 21 but the dealer has a better hand.
Push - If both you and the dealer have the same value hand - your bet is returned.
You must place you bets before playing blackjack. At the completion of each hand of blackjack the previous bet will automatically be placed. You can choose to use this bet and click the "deal" button or change your bet (to increase your bet click on the different value chips in the left corner and to decrease your bet click on the chips in the middle of the table).
See Blackjack Rules for more information.
Hit - Draw another card.
Stand - Stop at the current total and take no more cards.
Double (Doubling Down) - This can only be done on a two card hand with a rank of 9 - 11 (before another card has been drawn). Doubling down allows you to double your bet but you can receive only one additional card to the hand.
Split (Splitting Pairs) - When you are dealt a matching pair of cards (numerical value, example: 6 and 6 or Queen and King) you have the ability to split the hand into two separate hands, and play them independently. You are allowed to split pairs 2 times during a game, except that you can not resplit on split Aces. When you split you bet the same amount as the initial bet again on the new hand/s (you will only be given the option to split pairs if you have enough money to cover the extra bets).
Insurance - If the dealer's shown card is an Ace the "Insurance" option will be offered and you can bet up to half your original bet amount. The dealer will check to see if their second card has a value of 10, and if they do have Blackjack, your winning Insurance bet will be paid at odds of 2:1. Insurance is a side bet that has no influence on the original bet. So if the dealer does have Blackjack you will win the Insurance bet but unless you also have Blackjack you will lose your original bet.
You can choose to use Auto Play - set your blackjack preferences and let the computer play for you. First you need to place your initial bet (this will be the bet amount that is used for each hand in autoplay). Then click on the "autoplay" button. You can then select the "number of deals" for the autoplay to do and when to stop (if you win or lose a cetain amount of money).
Read below for details on Auto Play Strategy and Changing the Default RulesThe blackjack autoplay strategy grid will show you the current strategy that autoplay will use when running. You can change the strategy to suit your preferred game play.
Fig 1
You will see on the left hand side a list that represents your hand. For example if you are dealt a {7 and a 9} you will have 16. This means the strategy will use the 3rd row from the top to use for its rules. See row underlined in red below (Fig 2).
Fig 2
Which rule it then uses is decided by the dealers first card. If the dealer is dealt an 8, from the above grid you can see the autoplay function will HIT. See yellow box shown below (Fig 3).
Fig 3
Please note that a 10, Jack, Queen and King all count as a 10.
On the left hand column you will also notice a section from Soft 20 to Soft 13. A SOFT hand is a hand that contains an Ace that at the time can be counted as an 11. For example:
Any soft hands as they contain an ace that can either be a 1 or 11, are chosen from this part of the guide. Again the dealer card is used to make the final decision as shown above in Fig 3.
The final section on the left hand column (pairs), are used when the first two cards you are dealt are the same. Remember, 10, Jacks, Queens, and Kings are all the same for pairs. So a Jack and Queen is a pair.
Any rule can be changed by you. To change a rule, click on the one you want to change. A menu will appear (Fig 4).
The actions you can take change for different sections.
You can HIT and STAND on any grid decision. You can only DOUBLE, SURRENDER and SPLIT when you have two cards. When you have a third card you can no longer use these options.
You will see when you select double or surrender or split (for pairs) that the menu will become restricted (in the cards section, to 2 cards). You can then choose an option (under ELSE) for hands that are greater than 2 cards.
Using these options supplied to you in the menu you can make up many different decisions. Once you have changed one or more options you click the save button to save the options. If at any time you ever wish to revert to the default options, just click the "default" button at the bottom of the screen.
If you change a set decision from the default, a small black pointer will appear as shown below (Fig 5). This simply means you have changed this rule from the default rule.
Fig 5
For more Blackjack information, see Wikipedia.
