Blackjack is a popular casino game that has been around for centuries. It is a simple game to play, yet it requires strategy and skill to win. In this tutorial, we will show you how to make a blackjack game in Java.
First, let’s define the rules of blackjack. The objective of the game is to have a hand value of 21 or as close to 21 as possible without going over. Each card has its own point value: numbered cards are worth their face value, face cards (king, queen, jack) are worth 10 points, and aces can be worth either 1 or 11 points depending on the player’s preference.
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To start our Java program, we need to import the necessary libraries:
import java.util.*;
import java.io.*;
Next, we need to create a deck of cards. We can represent each card using a string that contains its rank and suit. For example:
String[] ranks = {"2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "10", "Jack", "Queen", "King", "Ace"};
String[] suits = {"Clubs", "Diamonds", "Hearts", "Spades"};
We can then create an ArrayList that contains all 52 cards in the deck:
ArrayList deck = new ArrayList();
for (int i = 0; i < ranks.length; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j < suits.length; j++) {
deck.add(ranks[i] + " of " + suits[j]);
}
}
Now that we have a deck of cards, we can shuffle it using the Collections.shuffle() method:
Collections.shuffle(deck);
Next, we need to deal the cards to the players. In blackjack, there are two players: the dealer and the player.
Each player is dealt two cards. We can represent each player’s hand using an ArrayList.
ArrayList dealerHand = new ArrayList();
ArrayList playerHand = new ArrayList();
To deal the cards, we can simply remove the first two cards from the deck and add them to each respective player’s hand:
dealerHand.add(deck.remove(0));
playerHand.remove(0));
dealerHand.remove(0));
Now that each player has two cards, we can display their hands using a for loop:
System.out.println("Dealer's Hand:");
for (int i = 0; i < dealerHand.size(); i++) {
System.println(dealerHand.get(i));
// Styling Note:
// Note how we used a ‘for’ loop here to iterate over every element of ‘dealerHand’ arraylist.
// Also note how ‘
‘ tag is used to create multiple line breaks in HTML.
}
We can repeat this for loop for the player’s hand as well.
Now that we have dealt the initial cards, it’s time to play the game. The player goes first and has two options: hit or stand.
If the player hits, they are dealt another card. If the player stands, their turn is over.
To implement this in Java, we can use a while loop that continues until the player either stands or busts (goes over 21). Inside the while loop, we can display the player’s hand and ask them if they want to hit or stand:
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
while (true) {
// Styling Note:
// Note how ‘Scanner‘ class is used here to take inputs from user.
System.println("Player's Hand:");
<for(int i = 0; i < playerHand.size(); i++) {
System.println(playerHand.get(i));
// Styling Note:
// Again note how ” loop is used here to iterate over every element of ‘playerHand’ arraylist.
<for(int i = 0; i < dealerHand.size(); i++) {
<if(i == 0) {
System.println("Dealer's Hand:");
System.get(0));
We can then use an if/else statement to determine if the player wants to hit or stand:
<if(input.next().equals("hit")) {
<playerHand.remove(0)); // add a card to the player’s hand
<else {
<break; // end the player's turn
}
After the player stands, it’s the dealer’s turn. The dealer must hit until their hand value is 17 or higher. We can implement this using another while loop:
<while (true) {
<int dealerValue = getValue(dealerHand); // get the value of the dealer’s hand
= 17) {
<break; // end the dealer's turn
}
<dealerHand.remove(0)); // add a card to the dealer’s hand
}
Finally, we need to determine who wins the game. If either player goes over 21, they automatically lose. Otherwise, whoever has a hand value closest to 21 without going over wins.
We can implement this using another if/else statement:
<int playerValue = getValue(playerHand); // get the value of the player’s hand
<int dealerValue = getValue(dealerHand); // get the value of the dealer’s hand
21) {
<System.println("Player busts! Dealer wins! ");
21) {
<System.println("Dealer busts! Player wins!
");
dealerValue) {
<System.println("Player wins! ");
<else {
<System.println("Dealer wins! "); // if both hands are equal or if the dealer has a higher hand value
}
That’s it! You have successfully created a blackjack game in Java.
With this tutorial, you should now have a good understanding of how to create a blackjack game in Java, including how to shuffle cards, deal cards, implement game logic, and more. Good luck with your future programming endeavors!
