Blackjack is perhaps the ultimate way to master this timeless card game for fun, gambling and total risk free play! Just like Twenty-One, Pontoon, and Vingt-Un, this classy Las Vegas casino classic challenges you to attempt and get as near to 21 at once to win the big jackpot. Play the long game or play the short game and see how you can beat the dealer, it's all in blackjack!
A blackjack game is played by using a standard deck of 52 cards. On your turn you will choose from either the top or bottom deck, depending on whether you have more cards or less. Once you have chosen a card, the dealer will deal four hands of blackjack from that deck and then deal another four hands off to the table. The dealer then places his hand on the board and says "I've got...deal." At that point, any player may call the blackjack and bets, after which, the deal is repeated and the first two cards dealt in the same manner.
Once the blackjack has been dealt, each player will pick up the cards and look over the board, looking for any pattern or indication as to which card was dealt beforehand. This can be a clue as to who has the blackjack and any other cards needed to make the final winnings. If one player has more cards than the other, that player must bet out to take that lead. It doesn't matter if the lead was smaller than the final total, but it does need to be outbid before time expires.
In blackjack games, the odds are generally in favor of the house. Most casinos include blackjack odds in the games offered, so it is not necessary to work them out yourself, if you don't want to. The odds are usually listed next to the names of the players or under the numbers on the card. This lets you know the odds as compared with what you would win at the card table, without having to make your own calculations. If you are unsure of the odds, however, you may want to use a dealer whose odds are posted on the casino's website and not one that works off of odds alone.
At the end of the deal, the dealer will deal seven cards, counting them from one to seven. Then, the dealer will place his card on top of the deck and then shuffle the deck. After the shuffling is done, the dealer will deal seven more cards, counting them from one to seven again. After this is done, the cards are dealt out face down in front of the players.
A typical game of blackjack involves dealing seven cards to each player. There are two ways that these cards are turned over: face down and face up. When dealing with multi-card deals, the dealer may deal each player two cards face down and one card face up. This is known as the full house edge. When playing blackjack online, this is not an issue, as online casinos will have eliminated the need for the traditional full house edge.
