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Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games in the world. Your goal in Blackjack is to get the value of your hand closer to 21 than that of the dealer, without going over 21.
Blackjack – Occurs when your first 2 cards add up to 21, which can only be a card valued at 10 plus an Ace. It is not a Blackjack if you split a pair (of Aces, 10s or face cards) and then happen to get 21 with the next deal. It is simply called 21.
21 – Any combination of cards where the value adds up to 21.
Soft Hand - Any hand that contains an Ace is known as a “soft” total if the Ace can be counted as either 1 or 11 without the total value of the player’s card going over 21. For example (Ace, 5) is a soft 16. The description stems from the fact that the player can always draw another card to add to the soft total with no danger of “busting” (ie going over 21).
Hard Hand – The hand (Ace, 5, 10) is a “hard” 16, because now the Ace can only be counted as 1. Any hand that does not contain an Ace is called a “hard hand”, since the value is unable to be altered.
The dealer deals the cards once initial bets have been made. Both the dealer and the player will then receive 2 cards each. The player is able to see both of their cards and one of the dealer’s cards. The player can then choose to hit, stand, double, split, surrender or pay insurance (you can see Player Choices for further details).
The Dealer’s Hand
The dealer will always stand on 17s. The dealer must continue to take cards (“hit”) until their total adds up to 17 or greater. An Ace in the dealer’s hand is always counted as 11 if possible as long as the dealer going over 21.
Stand – Stop at the current total and take no more cards.
Hit – Draw another card.
Double (Doubling Down) – This can only be done on a hand of two cards with a value of 9 to 11 (before another card has been drawn). Doubling down will allow you to double your bet. However, you can receive only one additional card to the hand.
Split (Splitting Pairs) – When you are dealt two cards of the same value (numerical value, example: 7 and 7 or Jack and Queen) you are given the option to split the hand into two separate hands, and can play them independently. During a game, you are allowed to split pairs twice, except that you are not allowed to resplit on split Aces. When you split your cards, you bet the exact same amount as the initial bet again on the new hand/s. You are only given the option to split if you have enough to bet on the new hand.
Insurance – Should the dealer’s shown card be an Ace, the “Insurance” option is offered to players, and you have the option to now bet half your original bet amount, since it assumed you will now have a much lower chance of winning. 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 out at odds of 2:1. Insurance is a side bet that has no influence on the original bet. If the dealer does have Blackjack you will win the Insurance bet but unless you will lose your original bet unless you happen to also have a blackjack.
Bets are placed before the cards are actually dealt in Blackjack. Following each hand of Blackjack, the previous bet made will automatically be placed. You can choose to use this bet and click the “deal” button, or you can change your bet. If you want to increase your bet, click on the different value chips in the left corner. If you want to decrease your bet, click on the chips in the middle of the table).
Auto play is another option available to players, which lets you set your Blackjack preferences and allow the computer to play for you. You simply place your initial bet, and choose the ‘autoplay’ button. You can select the ‘number of deals’ option to determine when autoplay should stop.
Auto Play Strategy
The strategy grid for Blackjack autoplay shows you the current available strategy that autoplay uses when active. You are able to change this strategy to suit your own style of game play.
On the left hand side is a list that represents your hand being shown. For example if you are dealt a {7 and an 9} you will have 16. This means the strategy used will be the 3rd row from the top for its rules. See the row underlined in red below (Fig 2).
Which rule it then decides to uses is determined by the dealers first card. If the dealer is dealt an 8, you can see from the above grid that the autoplay function will HIT. See the yellow box shown below (Fig 3).
On the left hand column, you should also notice a section from Soft 20 to Soft 13. Remember that a SOFT hand is a hand that has an Ace that at the time can be counted as a 1 or an 11. For example:
| Hand | Value | Soft |
|---|---|---|
| Ace, 7 | 18 or 8 | Yes |
| Ace, 7, 10 Value Card | 17 | No |
| Ace, 5, 2 | 18 or 8 | Yes |
| Ace, 6, 7 | 14 | No |
| Ace, Ace, 6 | 18 or 8 | Yes |
| Ace, Ace, 7, 7 | 16 | No |
All soft hands can be chosen from this part of the guide. Again, the dealer’s card is used to determine what the final decision is as shown above in Fig 3.
The final section which is on the left hand column (pairs), are used when the first two cards you are dealt happen to be the same. Remember that 10s, Jacks, Queens, and Kings are all the same for pairs. So a Queen and King make a pair.
You can change any rule you like with the strategy grid. If you want to change any rule, just click on whichever one you’d like to change. A menu will appear for you (Fig 4).
The actions you are able to take change for different sections.
You can STAND and HIT on any available grid decision. You are only able to DOUBLE, SURRENDER and SPLIT when you possess two cards. When you have a third card, you are no longer allowed to 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 will then be able to choose an option (under ELSE) for any hands that are greater than 2 cards.
Using these options supplied to you in the menu, you are able to make many different decisions. Once you have changed one or more options, you can 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.
Should you change a set decision from the default option, a small black pointer will appear as shown below (Fig 5). This simply means you have changed this rule from the default rule.
