OnlineCasinoAdvice.com being the world's biggest casino guide will teach you all the above mentioned things, and if you read all our articles you'll find out how to win at blackjack. But in this text we'd like to focus on the basics first, therefore, below you'll find information about basic blackjack rules, terminology and game play tips.
Blackjack Rules
In a game of blackjack, you'll be playing against the dealer and you're goal is to finish the round with better cards than him. More concretely, you'll be required to get your total value of cards in your hand as close as possible to 21, but never going above this number.
You'll win the game if your score is 21 (blackjack), or closer to 21 than the dealer's cards, but if you go above 21, you will lose instantly. When the game beings the dealer will give you two cards with face up, and two to himself one face up and one face down. After this, you'll have several options to choose from, namely hit, stand, split, double down, insurance and surrender. Read below to find out more.
- Hit - This is pretty straightforward meaning that you'll receive another card when choosing this option. In real casinos, you'll usually be required to say "Hit", but in online casinos you'll need to press the "Hit" button.
- Stand - Like its name suggests, this option gives you the possibility to refuse any new cards from being given to you. Likewise, in a real casino you must say "Stand" or "Stay" and in an online casino, you'll have a specific button for this.
- Split - You are allowed to do a split when you've received a pair of cards with the same value. When you split, each of your two cards will become a separate hand and you'll be required to make a new bet with the same amount as your initial bet.
- Double Down - This option allows you to double your original bet, but it requires you to accept one more card, after which you'll be needed to stand.
- Surrender - Surrender gives you the possibility to forfeit your game and receive half of your bet back. Only surrender if you are certain you can't win the round.
- Insurance - This is another action you can perform in blackjack and gives you the possibility to make an insurance bet if the dealer's face up card is an ace. If it turns out the dealer got a blackjack with his second card, you'll lose your initial bet, but win your insurance bet.
Remember: Some online blackjack casinos may have some specific rules set in place, like limiting the number of times you're allowed to surrender, or not allowing this at all. Always read the blackjack rules of the casino you're playing at.
Blackjack Gameplay Rules
There are also separate blackjack rules set up for the dealer. A ground rule dealers must follow is that they will have to hit until they reach or go above 17. If they reached or got above 17 they'll be forced to stand and don't receive any new cards.
Another thing you should remember is how to bet correctly at blackjack. If you are a new player who doesn't know the advanced blackjack strategies, you should focus on small stake bets first. Online blackjack is remarkably cheap and with bets like $0.10 you can play endless rounds until you feel comfortable enough to invest more money.
You should also remember the value of each card, but this is pretty straightforward actually. The numbered cards value the same as their number, jacks, kings and queens value 10 and an ace values either 1 or 11, depending on what suits your hand the best.
As you see, blackjack is extremely easy, but there is much more to it than the things mentioned in this article. We recommend you to read our other guides, as well, since they will teach you about some very useful and advanced blackjack strategies allowing you to win many blackjack games.