Blackjack is a game of chance played with cards in which players try to get as close to a total of 21 without going over. The game is played with one or more decks of 52 cards and is the most popular casino game in the world.
Blackjack can be played in many different ways, but the basic rules are always the same. In blackjack, the Ace has a value of 1 or 11, the King, Queen and Jack have a value of 10, and all other cards have a value of their face value.
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The object of blackjack is to have a hand with a higher total than the dealer’s hand without going over 21. If you go over 21, you “bust” and lose your bet.
If the dealer busts, you win. If you and the dealer both have hands with the same total, it is a “push” and nobody wins or loses.
In blackjack, each player gets two cards dealt face down. The dealer also gets two cards, but one is dealt face up for all to see. After looking at your two cards, you can “hit” and take another card from the dealer if you think it will help your hand.
You can keep hitting until you either bust or decide to “stand.” Once you stand, the dealer will turn over his face down card and hit or stand according to his hand.
If the dealer’s up card is an Ace, he will offer “insurance” to any player with a blackjack. Insurance is a side bet that pays 2-1 if the dealer has blackjack.
It is a bad bet for the player because the odds of the dealer having blackjack are only about 9%.
The most important decision you make in blackjack is whether to hit or stand on your own hand. This decision should be based on what you think the dealer’s hidden card is and whether or not you think your hand can beat it.
There are many different opinions on how to make this decision, but there is no one right answer.
In general, you should hit if your hand totals less than 17 and the dealer’s up card is 7 or higher. You should also hit if your hand totals 12-16 and the dealer’s up card is 6 or lower. Otherwise, you should stand.
These are just general guidelines though and there are many exceptions depending on what cards you have and what cards have already been played (i.e., if there are a lot of low cards left in the deck).
Some people believe that certain hands always require hitting while others always require standing regardless of what the dealer’s up card is. For example, they might say that always hitting 16 against a 7 is correct because eventually the 7 will come up and then you’ll win. Or they might say that always hitting 12 against 2 through 6 is correct because those low cards will come up eventually and give you an easy win.
But these are just generalizations that don’t always hold true in every situation. The best thing to do is use your best judgment and try to make an educated guess about what the right play is in each situation.
There really isn’t such thing as burning in Blackjack- it’s more like taking an extra precautionary measure to make sure that as many high value cards as possible are drawn before lower value ones so that players have better chances at winning hands overall by having closer sums to 21 without going over (busting).Some casinos may do this differently by having players show their cards before burning- but ultimately it comes down to house preference more than anything else so players shouldn’t necessarily expect this everywhere they go.
