| If you have ever played Pontoon or 21, the basic principles of Blackjack will not be new to you. |
| The game is played between you and the Dealer. Your aim is to reach a score closer to 21 than the Dealer. If your score exceeds 21 you "bust", which means you lose your bet / stake immediately and take no further part in the hand / coup currently in play. |
| In all U.K. casinos, and in most casinos around the world, the game is played most often with six decks of cards (Jokers removed), although some casinos use four or even eight decks. |
In the game of Blackjack cards are valued and added together as per their face value. The different suits (Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades) have no value and are therefore irrelevant in the game of Blackjack.
All Court cards (Jack, Queen, King) have a value of ten.
Aces count as either one or eleven. A hand containing an Ace being counted as eleven is referred to as a "soft-hand". Should the value of the hand when counting this Ace as eleven exceed 21 the Ace automatically reverts to a value of 1 and the hand is then known as a "hard-hand". |
A Blackjack, or Natural 21 |
A "Blackjack" is a hand containing an Ace and any ten value card.
This is also known as a Natural 21 and it out ranks all other hands, except another Blackjack. |
The cards once shuffled are offered to a player to cut. He does this by simply inserting a plastic cutting card / postillion into the shuffled decks. The body of cards in front of and behind this "cut" are reversed in order. The postillion is then placed by the dealer a deck or two from the bottom of the pile of cards and the entire mass is placed into a dealing shoe, or sabot. This keeps them secure and allows the dealer to deal them one at a time. When the postillion is reached during play hands already in play are played out in the normal way but no new hand or coup will be dealt.
The cards remaining in the shoe are now removed and shuffled together with the cards that have already been played, which are kept in a discard box to the dealer's right, and a new shoe begins. |
| In some Las Vegas casinos the game is played with one deck, or even two decks, of cards dealt from the dealers hand. |
Unfortunately many U.K. casinos now seem to be introducing automated shuffling shoes. The use of these hideous contraptions now means that the game is a non-stop affair, the poor old dealer doesn'tt get the chance to relax for a minute or two whilst shuffling the cards (every ten minutes or so), as was the case when dealing Blackjack from a traditional shoe.
This also means that the players no longer get a chance to answer the call of nature without losing their place at the table, as they could before.
The casinos, of course, love these machines as they allow more hands per hour to be played which equates to more profit.
Perhaps the most attractive aspect of these machines for the casinos is that they make card counting impossible.
Casinos hate Blackjack card counters, they consider them to be cheats.
This is nonsense, card counters are simply players using their mathematical skills to adjust their betting and play strategy to take advantage of favourable conditions. |
If you visit a casino where you have a choice between a table with a traditional shoe or a table with an automatted shoe go for the traditional everytime, it's a much nicer game.
We only use traditional shoes on our fun casino tables. |
| By far the most common Blackjack table has a baize with seven boxes imprinted upon it. This seven box layout is pretty much universally accepted as the industry standard, although five and six box layouts do exist. |
| Nine box tables are used in a few casino's, these are awful to deal on due to lack of space from the Dealers point of view. They are not too good from the players point of view either, too many players not enough room, particularly when players are seated. |
Before any cards are dealt players must place their bet in the box nearest to where they are standing. It is a house rule in many casinos that a minimum of two boxes must be in play, this means that if you are the only player at the table then you must place two bets.
Bets are placed using value chips, most often referred to as cash chips, which can be purchased from the Dealer for cash (BANK NOTES). |
In all casino games the minimum and maximum value of bets permitted on any given table are decided by the casino management.
These amounts are always displayed on the table signage.
Only you can decide if the table allows you to bet amounts that you feel comfortable with. |
Many times over the years I have had players buy-in at my table and then place a bet significantly below the table minimum. As a Dealer I have then to politely point out to them what the table minimum is.
This invariably causes some embarrassment to the player concerned, usually a novice, who on occasion will then insanely bet and risk many times more than they can really afford rather than walk away, and as they, so wrongly, see it lose face.
Take my advice and always check the table signage to determine that the table minimum is not too high for you before placing any bets.
Have a wander around the casino and check out the various minimums, if you can't find any tables allowing betting amounts that you feel comfortable with, the answer is simple, don't bet. |
Almost all casino's allow up to three players to place their bet's in each of the table boxes.
This means that up to twenty one players can enjoy betting on a seven box Blackjack table at any one time. |
| A very important point to note here is that only the first player on a box, that is the player who began playing the box before any others (his bet is the bet nearest to the cards / front of the box), has a right to make any decisions regarding play. |
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Play in progress at end of the initial deal on a seven box table.
Note that the dealer has only one card, the players have two. |
Note that box number five has two players betting on it.
(boxes are referred to by number - number one being that closest to the dealing shoe - top right in the above photo) |
| The first rule of Blackjack if playing "behind" another player must therefore be to chose a player whose standard of play you are happy with. The rules of the game and table etiquette dictate that you have no right to complain about another player's actions, or inactions, when they "cause you" to lose your money. |
Play begins once the cards are shuffled and placed in the shoe and all players have placed their bet's.
In the British version of the game one card is dealt in turn to each of the boxes with a bet, or bets, "on" them starting with the box nearest to the dealing shoe (commonly known as the first box).
After each box in play has received it's first card the dealer deals himself a card and then immediately deals a second card to each of the boxes in play, but no second card to himself. |
This style of play is known as the "London Deal". |
After this initial deal should any box, or boxes, have received a Blackjack, and the dealer does not have an Ace or ten value card, (ie : the potential to also make a Blackjack) all bets on that box will be paid immediately at odds of 3 to 2 against.
EG : A bet of £10 will be paid £15, the player now has £25. |
Having paid out any Blackjacks the dealer will now announce the total point value of the two card hand dealt to the first box in play.
The player controlling that box now has to make a decision regarding further play. |
The player's options are to draw a third card or stand with the two card total that he has. He may draw as many cards as he likes, one at a time,
(in Pontoon this is known as twisting) providing the total value of his hand does not exceed twenty-one.
Should this happen the player loses his bet and takes no further part in the coup in play. |
| In Blackjack, unlike Pontoon, there is no such thing as a five-card-trick. |
| To make the game more interesting and allow the player opportunities to win more money the casino, good guys that they are, offer additional bets known as doubling-down and splitting, these are explained below. |
In the British version of the game if the total value of the player's first two cards are nine, ten or eleven the player may "double-down", that is double his original bet and receive one additional card only.
This is the same as buying a card in the game of Pontoon. |
Three seven's, a rare 21, wins the lucky receipient a bottle of Champagne
in some overseas casinos |
An option available to the player if his first two cards are a pair, that is two cards with an identical point value, is to split them and play them as two separate hands. Some British casino's do not allow players to split pairs of fours, fives or tens. Splitting these particular pairs is mathematically such a poor bet for the player that even where allowed it should never be done.
In order to split a pair a player must place another bet equal to his first. Once this additional bet is placed the dealer will separate the cards (players are not permitted to touch cards at any time in British Blackjack) and deal one initial additional card to each thus making two hands which are now played out in the usual way according to the player's preferences.
Should another pair occur the player may split them as before by placing yet another additional bet. |
| If the player splits a pair of Aces he only receives one additional card on each of them with no further option to draw more cards. If a ten value card is dealt onto a split ace the resulting hand does not count as a Blackjack / Natural 21 and so will not be paid at odds of 3 to 2. This hand counts as just a 21 and will be paid at even money. It will lose to a dealer's Blackjack. |
Once all hands have been played out the dealer will now play his hand.
The fact that the house only plays it's hand after all player's hands have been played is the casino's single biggest advantage in the game of Blackjack in so much as the house has already won the bets on hands that have exceeded 21. |
When playing his hand the dealer must adhere to a strict set of rules.
He must carry on drawing cards until he has a total of 17 or more, or until he " busts" by going over 21. |
If the total value of your hand exceeds that of the dealer you win and your bet is paid at odds of 1 to 1 (even money).
If the dealer has a point total nearer to 21 than you then you loose.
If you and the dealer should have the same points total then the hand is a draw, most often referred to as a stand-off in the U.K. and a "push" in the U.S.A. |
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