Blackjack Rules

With so many variations out there, it's hard to believe this most popular of casino card games is as simple as getting as close as you can 21 without going over. But it is as simple as that.

In fact, with this knowledge alone, you already understand 99% of the game.

It's the other 1%, however, that makes it a bit more complicated.

Let's start with the basics:

All numbered cards are worth their face value.
All picture cards (or Royalty) - namely: the Jack, Queen, and King - are worth 10.
An Ace is worth either 1 or 11, whichever serves your hand better.

The game starts when players place their bets.

The Dealer then gives each player two cards, face up, and gives him/herself one card facedown and one card face up. You are attempting to beat the dealer, meaning that the value of your cards totals 21 or as close to 21 as possible without going over.

Once your initial 2 cards are dealt, you have the following options:

Hit - request another card from the Dealer. If your new total is still below 21 you
can choose to hit again. If your new total is over 21, your hand is "Bust" and you automatically lose.

Stand - you are satisfied with your hand as it is and you request no further cards

Double Down - a risky but sometimes rewarding move, you double your bet and
request one and only one more card. After you are dealt this one card, you may not request another.

Split - you may only do this if you are dealt a pair (two cards of the same value).
In this instance, your single hand of 2 cards becomes 2 separate hands of 1 card each, and the Dealer must complete your hands by Dealing you 2 new cards, one for each new hand. In order to do this, you must place an additional bet equal to your initial bet on the new, second hand.

Take Insurance - you can only do this if the Dealer's face up card is an Ace.
We'll go into deeper explanation on this below.

Each player in turn continues to make their choices from the available options until they either Bust (go over 21) or Stand (leave their hand alone and hope for the best).

Once the players are done making their choices, the Dealer then turns over his/her facedown card and makes their own choices from the same aforementioned options until either winning (beating everyone at the table by getting 21 or closer to 21 than any of the Live Hands at the table - hands that haven't Busted out - without going over) or going Bust (going over 21, in which case, any players with Live Hands win).

If you beat the Dealer with Blackjack (an Ace and a 10/Picture Card) you win 3 to 2 on your bet. If you win with a normal hand (anything other than Blackjack) you win 1 to 1.

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, the Dealer's actions are restricted to the following rules:
If their hand totals 17 or higher, they must Stand.
If their hand totals less than 17, they must Hit.

If both the Player and the Dealer Bust, the Player still loses his/her bet.

Now, going back to Insurance:

If the Dealer's face up card is an Ace, you can choose to pay a small amount of money, usually 50% of your initial bet, in case the Dealer's facedown card is a 10 or a Picture Card (thus giving them Blackjack). If you place Insurance and the Dealer does indeed have Blackjack, you win (usually) 2 to 1 OF YOUR INSURANCE.

In other words - read carefully here - if you take out Insurance on an Ace the Dealer is showing and the Dealer does indeed have Blackjack, you still lose your initial bet, but you win 2 to 1 on your Insurance.

If the Dealer does not have Blackjack, you lose the Insurance and the rest of the game is played out normally as described above.