Black jack online. How to play black jack. Online black jack rules. Online black jack specifics

Nowadays, both online and offline casinos are offering their clients multiple gambling entertainments, including the game of blackjack. What is the secret of black jack popularity? What are its basic rules? This article addresses these important questions and more.

Wide popularity enjoyed by blackjack online is little surprising: online black jack features very simple rules, high pace, and easy-to-understand strategies. It must be said that earlier black jack was known under the name of ‘21.’

Black jack card

In online black jack game, all cards have a certain value. All numeric cards are worth their face value. Face cards (Jack, Queen, King, Ace) are worth 10 points. Ace can be counted as either 1 point or 11 points. The decision is always made to the player’s favor. If the player counts Ace as 1 point, this is a soft hand. If the player chooses to have 11 points, this is a hard hand.

Black jack goal

The major objective of any black jack player is to beat the casino represented by the dealer. To do that, the player need to collect a score of 21. Sometimes, smaller scores (e.g., 20, 19 or even 18) are enough for the victory. Remember that your hand must not exceed 21 under any circumstances. If you go over 21 points, you “bust” and lose your entire bet.

If the player’s starting hand has a Ace plus a Ten, the situation is called “black jack” or “natural.” This is the highest paid card combination in casino black jack. It should be said that a black jack has an advantage over any other 21-point card combination.

Number of players in black jack

In casino black jack online, participants are competing against the dealer, and not each other. The maximum number of players is only limited by the number of places around the table (“boxes”). Most casinos online have a black jack table with seven boxes.

How to play black jack

The dealer and the player are dealt two cards each. If your hand wins, you get 1 dollar. If you bust or the dealer wins, you lose 1 dollar. Furthermore, you may have a black jack in your starting hand. Black jack goes with 3:2 payout, i.e. you get 1.5 dollars. If the player and the dealer both have the same number of points, this is a draw. The player keeps their original bet.

After taking a look at your starting hand, you know how many points you need to add to have a blackjack. Then you decide how to act. You can choose to take additional cards (“hit”) to come closer to 21. The game will go on until you decide to stop (“stand”). If you think that your hand is as close to 21 as possible, you can hit the Stop/Stand button.

Keep in mind that Ace is counted as 1 point or 11 points. This means that it may be OK to have a hand of 7 plus two Aces.

Once the round is over, the dealer deals themselves a new card. According to online black jack rules, the dealer must take additional cards until they collect at least 17 points. Even if the dealer had a hand of 16, they must keep hitting.

Basic black jack strategy and black jack table

Many black jack players are trying to reduce the possibility of busting. For example, if the player already has 12 points, they are scared of being dealt a Ten – which is little surprising because a Ten comes up most frequently. This is the reason why the player chooses to stand. However, this may not be a wise strategy long-term as it takes your winning chances down to 4%.

Let’s take a look at the online black jack table for the basic black jack strategy that shows how the player should act in certain situations.

Black jack table for the basic black jack strategy

H - Hit (take another card);

S - Stand (stop);

D - Double your bet if allowed, otherwise hit;

Ds - Double your bet if allowed, otherwise stand;

P - Split a hand;

H/P - Split if double after split is allowed, otherwise hit;

H/R - Surrender if allowed, otherwise hit,

A - Ace (counts as 1 point or 11 points).

As you can see, the table covers every possible situation. The basic black jack strategy takes the house edge down to 0.5%, meaning that the casino online has a 50.25% chance to win, while you have a 49.75% chance to beat the house. This is even better than the roulette!

For a better understanding, let’s take an example. Suppose, your starting hand includes a Ten and a Six. The dealer has a Ten (see Screenshot 1). Now check the table and find the spot where line 16 (Ten plus Six) crosses with column 10. The basic black jack strategy tells us to surrender. In this case, you recover half of your original bet back.

As you can see from Screenshot 2, we did the right thing. The dealer had a blackjack! If you didn’t follow the strategy, you would lose your entire bet.

The basic black jack strategy is crystal clear and be easily used by any gambler to play black jack. By using this strategy, you can boost your winning chances and protect your bankroll from disappointing losses.