|
 |
THE BASICS OF ONLINE BLACKJACK |
|
|
Almost every online casino operating on the Internet offers a form of blackjack among its roster of games. Online blackjack is quite a popular game among customers of online casinos because it appears to be so simple. However, if you are looking at a game of online blackjack for the very first time, you should not be taken by its obvious simplicity, as it can be quite deceiving. New live dealer blackjack versions are available. |
 |
The goal in online blackjack is to get a hand with cards having a total value of 21 or as close to 21 as it can get without “busting.” To bust is to have a hand with a total value exceeding 21. When you bust, you automatically lose the game. How do you compute the total value of your hand in online blackjack? In blackjack, the suite of the cards is not important. What is important is their numeric value.
|
|
Therefore, the value of each card in blackjack is equal to their face value, except for the ace card and the picture cards. The ace card is either a one (a hard ace) or an 11 (a soft ace), depending on how the player wants it to be. The picture cards, which are the king, the queen and the jack cards, all have a value equal to ten.
The placing of bets marks the start of any online blackjack game. Once all the bets are placed, the dealer gives the participating players two cards each, one at a time. After all the players have received their cards, the dealer then gets his/her own hand from the deck. The dealer usually has one card face up; this is called the Nevada style of dealing. Sometimes, a dealer only draws one card and puts it face up on the table and draws the other only after the player has decided to stand. This later style of dealing is called the London style.
After the cards have been dealt, the dealers ask each player in turn whether he/she will stand, which is to decide not to take any more cards, or whether he/she will take a hit, which is to take a few more cards. A player stands when he/she is satisfied that his/her hand is as close to 21 as it can get or is a natural blackjack (a 21). A player, however, can take as many hits as he/she wants until the value of his/her hand reaches 21 or close, or until he/she gets busted. If he/she gets busted, he/she automatically loses the game.
All the remaining players, those who did not bust, are done, the dealer then reveals his other card (if the Nevada style is used) or draws a second card from the deck (if the London style is used). If the hand the dealer has is not a natural blackjack, he/she takes a hit until the value of his/her hand reaches 17 or until he/she busts.
It is an automatic win for all the players who did not bust if the dealer busts. But if he/she does not, a comparison of hands will be made and players who have hands better than the dealer’s win. If there is a tie, which is referred to as a push, then the players who pushed would only win back his/her bet without any additional amounts.
|
