Commonly known as twenty-one, blackjack is the most widely played casino game in the world. The object is to have better score than the dealer. Played with 1-8 full decks of 52 cards, the game starts with two initial cards, and afterwards players should choose either "hit" or get another card or stand. The number of decks is important, since it raises/decreases the edge of the house. It is widely known that with single deck, the house advantage is 0.17% and it rises to 0.46% for double deck, 0.60% for four decks, 0.64% for six decks and 0.65 for eight decks.

Basic Blckjack Rules

The cards 2-10 are worth their face value, kings, queens and jacks are worth 10, and aces can be counted as 1 or 11. The object is to get to 21, or closer to 21 than the dealer, without exceeding it. Blackjack, or 21 is the bet that pays most (3:2 ratio for your bet), whereas all other bets offer even ratio. Seven players can play on one table, plus the dealer. After all bets are placed on the table, the dealer gives each player two cards. There are variations where player's cards are dealt face up, and where one is dealt facedown and players can see it. In both cases, one of the dealer's cards is dealt face up. After the initial draw, each player can choose hit or stand. There are soft and hard hands, depending of the value of the Ace. A soft hand is when the Ace is count as 1, while hard hand is when the Ace counts as 11.

Blackjack Side Bets

Besides the basic rules, there are few side rules in blackjack, used after the deal and a moment before you take more cards. One of those is insurance, an option every player gets when the dealer has an ace, and likely blackjack. When you win an insurance, you get paid 2:1 ratio. Bear in mind, most strategy are against using insurance. When you have a bad hand, you can surrender your bet and reclaim half of the invested money. The other half goes to the casino. When you believe that you will beat the dealer, it is advisable to use double. That way, you get paid twice your bet, but you get only one more card.

Pontoon – the British Answer to Blackjack

One of the advantages of pontoon, the British version of blackjack, is the element of player's choice, which reduces the casino advantage to less than 0.5%. Since the dealer has no hole card, meaning players do not know what card the dealer has until he draws the second card. Because of that, they can draw to 21 and win against a natural advantage which is not possible in blackjack. In pontoon, an Ace is always counted as 1 in pre double hand. This is why it is not good strategy to double on soft hands.