When playing blackjack, a player may choose to Double Down (ie. bet two times the original bet). On a Double Down, the player is hoping to win twice the original wager.
In most cases, if a player Double Downs and gets a blackjack, they will win at least the original wager plus the amount of the Double Down. However, there are some factors that can affect whether or not a player will actually win more on a Double Down than they would have on an original wager.
One important factor is whether or not the dealer has a Hole Card. If the dealer has a Hole Card (a card that counts as either 1, 2, 3, or 4), then the player would only stand to gain if they got an Ace (a card that ranks high on most blackjack hands).
If the dealer does not have a Hole Card, then the player would stand to gain even if they only got a 2 or 3 (cards that are not as beneficial in blackjack hands).
Another important factor is whether or not any other players are also doubling down. If no other players are doubling down, then the dealer will usually give the player an extra card (known as Second Chance) before dealing another hand.
This means that, even if the player only gets an Ace on their first hand, they can still theoretically win if they get an Ace on their second hand as well. However, if other players are also doubling down, then the chances of getting Second Chance decreases significantly – meaning that it is more likely that any Ace won on the second hand will not be enough to win.
Overall, when playing blackjack, it is important to understand both how much you stand to gain on a Double Down as well as how much chance you have of actually winning more money than you would have on an original wager.
