Blackjack is an incredible game. It’s exciting and it’s been featured in movies, series, and everything else that you could possibly imagine. What started out as a casino game became an incredibly popular casino title and is the world’s most widely played casino game in the world.
Having said that, Online Blackjack is an easy game to learn, but a difficult game to master. Once you have the basics of the game down, you’ll be able to learn the intricacies of the game, figure out some strategy, and start to make real money. Here at Veritop, we explain the game, from the deck down to the value of the cards, and everything in between.
The Deck
Online blackjack, much like single deck blackjack is played with one pack of cards. It’s a 52-card deck that is used to deal cards to the players and the dealer. This is in contrast to traditional blackjack games at casinos where they would typically use six decks of cards. Due to the fact that there’s no time involved in shuffling a deck of virtual cards, a single deck can be used to completely prevent any kind of card counting.
This does leave it open to a number of other things though. If a game has got a bunch of little cards that have already been played, you can calculate based on the odds, that there’s a certain likelihood that a number of cards will be big in the remaining deck. This needs to be taken with a grain of salt due to how RNG works.
Blackjack Rules
The rules in blackjack are simple: beat the dealer. This can happen at 21 or it can happen at another number in which the dealer busts. No matter what cards are dealt and what money is on the line, the dealer and the players need to abide by a strict set of rules. It’s that simple.
Object of the Game
Every player at the table will want to get to 21. That is the object of the game, failing that, a player won’t want to exceed 21 or they’ll go bust, and they’ll be able to stand on any number and still win, as long as the dealer goes bust. Of course, there are more intricacies to the game, and we’ll uncover those as we go on.
Values of Cards and Scores
Every face card including a King, Queen and Jack are valued at the same as a 10. It doesn’t matter what suit it is; it’ll still count the same. It’s understandable then, that getting two Kings is great in Poker, just like it is in Blackjack.
When it comes to an Ace in Blackjack, it can mean two things. It can represent either a 1 or an 11 and the player can decide. For example, if you get a 9 and an Ace, you’ll have 10, or 20. This means that you can either stand on 20 or hit on 10. Logic would dictate you stand, but it also depends on what the dealer is holding.
Betting
Before the players and the dealer get their cards, players will need to place bets. You’ll need to meet the minimum bet of the virtual table and place it down. What’s nice about an online blackjack table is that you can often repeat bet at some of the more popular casinos. This saves you the trouble of picking through your chips each time.
You’ll place your bet, and the dealer will start putting out the cards. At times there can be a bonus section to play that will offer you high cash payouts for blackjack, but it’s very seldom that those games and tables are played as often.
Dealing
After the bets are placed the dealer will give a face up card to each player who is in, including themselves in a clockwise direction. Following this, another round of cards is dealt face up to the players, and then the dealer puts the final card in their hand face down. In total, each player gets two face up cards and the dealer has one face up and one face down.
If an Ace is shown for the dealer, then insurance may be offered across the table. This means that if the dealer manages to get a Blackjack with the combination of the two, then all players who take insurance are given half their bet back. Once everything has been put down on the table, we move onto the actions.
Intentions or Actions
Players have a couple of actions that they can do when playing online Blackjack. The three most popular actions are: hit and stand. It’s pretty simple, if you want another card, then you hit, and if you’re happy with your total then you stand.
There are a couple of other actions that can be done too. You can double down, split pairs, surrender (on some tables), or get insurance, as we’ve discussed above. If you decide to double down, you have to place double your initial bet on the table, and then the dealer will give you one more card. That’s it! It’s great to do this on an 11 and get a 10 or a face card to give you 21 with double your money.
Splitting can be done when you have two of the same cards. You’ll place an equal amount of your initial bet down again, and then the cards will be split as if they were independent boxes. The initial cards will then be given an extra card to make two hands of 2. Then you’ll hit or stand like you would normally for each box. With a Surrender, your hand will be thrown away, and you’ll lose half your bet.
Blackjack Payouts
Once a player has done what they need to do and has played their hand and the dealer has either not had enough to beat you, or has busted out, it’s time for the payout. Blackjack payouts usually pay even money when the player wins or when the dealer goes bust. That means you’ll get back from the house what you’ve put in to bet in addition to your original bet.
If you and the dealer have the same total, you’ll have what’s called a Push. With a Push, you’ll keep your bet and be able to walk away without losing anything. If you land a Blackjack, any kind of Blackjack with an Ace and any other picture card, you’ll get 3:2, so you’ll get $3 for every $2 that you’ve wagered.
Types of Blackjack
There are many kinds of Blackjack that you can play. Online Blackjack pays out the best in terms of return to player percentage, but there are many different variants that can be played too. There are games like Pontoon, Super 21, Blackjack Switch, Spanish 21 and so many more.
While there are a lot of variants with many different rules, they are all exciting games to play. Despite the fact that they are fun, we found that traditional Blackjack pays the best, so if your goal is to look for the most money to win, stick with the original game.
Blackjack Etiquette
It may sound like something that’s a little made up, but there are procedures and codes of conduct that are kind of unspoken in the online gambling world. They do differ from land-based casinos, but these processes are here to make the entire process better for everyone involved.
Since online Blackjack is in a more controlled environment, there are fewer things that players can do to mess up the rhythm of others. The two things that we’ll always suggest for online Blackjack players is never to advise or tell fellow players how to play their hands. It’s not right, and it’s presumptuous to assume that you are the better player.
The other thing that we suggest is to tip the dealer. Even if you’ve had a really bad run of form and your luck has been completely down all day, it’s not the dealer’s fault. Don’t take it out on them and make sure that you’re a good patron for the online casino. Bearing in mind, you can only really tip at live dealer Blackjack casinos.
