How to Play Blackjack Online

October 20, 2009

One of the most popular casino card games that players tend to learn first is blackjack, also known as ‘21.’ This is because the game is extremely easy to pick up for a novice player and is one of the few games that offers the least house edge; this allows more of a skill element into the game making it much easier for intermediate and advanced players to make money due to several card counting strategies.

Now for those of you that are interested in playing blackjack but have not learned how to play, don’t worry, we have all the rules covered for the game of “21″ for you below.

Rules for Online Blackjack

The goal in blackjack is to ultimately have a better hand than the dealer’s hand without going over 21, which is also known as busting.

• Before the dealer deals the cards, players will first have to place their bets. Online, bets can be found as low as $1 to as high as $500 per hand. In a brick and mortar casino, bets will generally start around $5.

• After all the bests have been placed, the dealer will then deal all the cards first starting with the player to his or her left. Each player will receive two cards with the dealer’s second card being dealt face up.

• Now, once the cards have been dealt, a player will then want to determine the value of their hand. In blackjack, most of the cards value is their ‘face’ value. So for example, a 2 is worth 2, 10 is worth 10, 3 is worth 3 and so forth. All face cards are worth 10 and aces are worth 11 or 1. Any hand that consists of an ace is considered a ’soft’ hand while any hand that doesn’t have an ace s considered a ‘hard’ hand. All the hands should be totaled up so that players know the total value of their hand.

• Once a player knows the value of his or her hand, they can then make one of several plays.

Stand: One of the options that a player has is to ’stand.’ When a player stands, they have decided that their hand is good enough to go up against the dealer’s and does not take another card. Online there will be a ’stand’ button while a wave of the hand is all a player needs to do in a brick and mortar casino.

An example of a hand that a player may stand with is a 20, 19 or even an 18.

Hit: Now, the complete opposite of standing on a hand is “hitting’ a hand. When a player “hits” they are saying that they want the dealer to give them another card. For example, a hand that a player may hit would be when they have a 5-4 or 2-6 and so forth. The dealer would ‘hit’ the player as much as the player wants until the player decides to ’stand’ or ‘busts’ (goes over 21).

Double Down: Doubling Down in blackjack is when a player matches their original bet in exchange for one more card. For example, hands that players tend to double down with are any combination that makes an eleven in hopes to hit a face card and double their profit. So, a player may make an initial $5 bet and get dealt a 5-6 then decide to double down; so, they will have to match the $5 and then the dealer will give them one card. It will not matter if the card is a 2 or a 6 or whatever; the player only gets one card when doubling down. So, be sure to realize that doubling down does carry a minor risk in which a player will not be able to hit their hand after doubling down.

Splitting: When a player is dealt a pocket pair, they have the option to split the two cards and make each one into its own separate hand.

For example, if a player were dealt a pair of 4’s, they can split those into two separate hands. This player would have to pay another bet, and then would play each hand separately. The dealer would give the player another card for the first hand and the player can then stand, hit or double down and once he is done with that hand, then they’d move to the second hand.

When splitting hands, players can win one hand and lose the other, lose both hands or win both hands. Often this can be a great way to break even and get your money back depending on the circumstance.

• Another thing to know about is ‘insurance.’ Insurance is when a dealer has an ace face up and offers the opportunity to pay a small fee ‘in case’ the dealer has a natural 21. If a player buys the insurance and the dealer has 21, then the player can keep his or her original bet. If not, the players will lose their money to a 21.

• There are a few things that players should be aware of that may vary from casino to casino.

Soft 17: Most casinos will make their dealer hit their soft 17’s. So any hand that the dealer has that consists of an ace will require the dealer to hit his or her hand. This can prove to be a positive for the player as this will be another opportunity for the dealer to bust.

Surrender: Surrendering is when a player can ’surrender’ half his or her bet after seeing their cards and the up cards of the dealer. This is very uncommon.

Playing Blackjack Online

Learning how to play blackjack will literally only take most players a few minutes to learn and once they do, they can then focus on learning some of the simple strategies that should take beginning players and turn them into intermediate players.

Written by Rob · Filed Under Online Casino Games