Blackjack is a casino game in which a player tries to beat the dealer by guessing the number of cards that will be drawn. The game is played with a standard 52-card deck, with aces high and counting as 1, 2, 3, etc.
Blackjack is considered a draw game, meaning that the player’s goal is to get as close to 21 (a blackjack) as possible without going over. .
There are three basic ways to play blackjack: hand-to-hand (where you place your own bet and take your turn playing against the dealer), Spanish (where the dealer pushes all the cards face down in front of them before dealing), and split (where each player splits their bet between hands). The most common form of blackjack is hand-to-hand, where each player plays against the dealer.
There are a few basic rules for playing blackjack:
-You must be 18 years or older to play blackjack in most U.S. states.
-You must place at least one bet before playing any hands. This bet can be either chips or cash, but it cannot be split between hands.
-You must stand if you are playing hand-to-hand; you cannot sit down while playing Spanish or split blackjack.
-If you are dealt two cards that would both give you an advantage over the dealer (called “natural,” “supernatural,” or “black jack”), you may either keep those cards or discard them and replace them with another card from your hand. If you keep them, you are said to have “split” and must place another bet equal to the total of your original bets plus the value of the new card(s). If you discard them, you are said to have “hit” and do not have to make a new bet.
-If the dealer hits (has two cards that total 21), they may ask for any additional cards they wish from the player before drawing again. If the player declines, then the hand is over and the dealer wins regardless of what else may happen.
-If both players tie at 21 after drawing two cards each, then a new round of hands begins with everyone starting again at 1 chip (or whatever equivalent amount was used for betting).
