Blackjack Games

If Blackjack is your favourite card game, then you may choose to play this game from the comfort of your living room. This is possible these days with the invention of the online casino, people no longer need to go out to play their beloved games. Online casinos will offer you all types of Blackjack games from classic Blackjack to a more professional game for the high rollers. There are blackjack games that can be played with people all over the world, using a live casino dealer in an actual casino. There are online casino blackjack games where you play against a computer and have total anonymity. The stakes can be as high or as low as you wish and you can choose to play as many rounds as you wish and have time for with all the money you deposit or won remaining in your online casino bank account until you decide to return to the game.

Playing in online casino using a live dealer can be the most fun as you really get into the feel and mood of the actual casino. Through the screen displayed in the online casino window you will see other real life real time players betting and you will be playing against these as well as other online casino players all over the world. There also video blackjack games on offer in online casinos, these are computer generated and often resemble a slot machine with their style and themes, however the same blackjack rules and strategies will apply. It is safe to say, if you want to play blackjack like a pro these rules and strategies need to be read and learned by heart.

The main rule of blackjack both online and offline is to hit 21 or blackjack to win. The game starts with the dealer dealing each player two playing cards face up. The dealer will then deal his own cards, the first card will be face up for all players to see and the second card which is called the hole card in some instances, will be dealt face down for only the dealer to have a quick look at. However, if the dealer gets Blackjack with the hole card then both cards will be revealed straight away. The dealer will then go on to ask each player if they would like another card or not – The terms used for this are generally ‘hit’ which means to take another card, ‘stand’ which means to stick with what cards you have already drawn, or split which means you can double your chances of winning by splitting up the cards if you have 2 cards of the same value, ‘double’ which would mean you double your bet and will draw only one more card, or ‘surrender’which means you lose half of your bet and retire from the current game.

Once everyone has made there choices and are happy with the hand they have then the dealer will reveal his hand. The dealer must always stick on 17, so if for example his first card is a ten and his second a 7 he can not choose to hit and take another card. The player must have a higher hand than the dealer to win. If the dealer busts then every hand that has not already bust will win, Blackjack will trump all hands including twenty one. If he player has the same hand as the dealer this will be called ‘push’ and you will receive your bet back with no loss nor profit on it.

If on the dealer hand they reveal an ace card, which stands for two values – one and eleven then all players are offered the option of insurance. This applies to both online casinos and land based casino games. The insurance is a side bet, in which you are betting whether the dealer will draw a ten in his next card or not. This would give him a blackjack hand, chances of this happening are usually about a third so this may seem like the best option in these circumstances. That is not always the case, as the dealer in all likelihood will not have blackjack that often.

There also strategies that can be used to give the player the upper hand over the house, and if you really do your homework this can be achieved by serious players. Some strategies that can be used in online casino and land casinos are counting cards, where players keep a mental note of what cards have been used and what is remaining to be dealt which gives them an indication of what card could come next. Another is Shuffle tracking which requires quite a lot of skill and a photographic memory would certainly help in this situation. The player will track groups of cards during the shuffle and know what to play when those cards come around. For more information on strategies please refer to our strategies page. Good Luck with you Blackjack games!