Black Jack card playing tips

Black Jack, or the game of 21 is a card game which is played against the bank, and not against other players. The aim is to get as near to or exactly on 21 without going over.

The numbers on the cards count up as the numbers they show. The pictured cards (Jack, Queen, and King) count as 10 and the Ace counts as 1 or 11, whatever are better for you.

The game is played like this:

The bank gets one card, the player two. All the cards are face up. Now the player has to decide if he will take another card (hit) or not take another card (stay). If the player hits and ends up with a score of more than 21, he has lost (Bust). If he has less than 21, he has to make the same decision again.

When the player stands, it is the bank's turn. The bank takes another card. Now the bank must hit until it reaches 17 or higher, and must stay when it reaches 17 or higher.

If the player wins, he receives twice his bet. If the bank wins, the player loses his bet. On a draw, the player gets back his original bet.

Blackjack : If the player has 21 with his first two cards (Ace plus 10), he has a Blackjack. He will receive 2.5 times his original bet if the bank does not have a Blackjack as well.

Pair: When the player has two cards with the same value, he can decide to split his cards. To do this, he has to also pay his original bet another time and can play with two hands.

Double Down: When the player's first two cards count 9, 10 or 11, he can double his bet but will get only one more card.

Insurance: If the bank's first card is an Ace, you can buy insurance for half your bet. Mathematically the insurance does not make any sense (for the player).

Blackjack is not only a game of luck (unlike roulette). The average house percentage depends on the strategy the player uses. The player who decides with intuition will loose a lot more than the player who uses the Black Jack Basic Strategy.

The Basic Strategy is mathematically calculated and proved as the best strategy in many different simulations. But this still does not mean that you will win, using this strategy! You only minimize the house's percentage (your loss).

Whoever seriously wants to play Blackjack needs to use the basic strategy which I will explain in the next section. More details you can find in the second part of my Blackjack Introduction.

Print the Basic Strategy. It will be your most important tool.

You see three tables. Usually you will only need the first one but the other two have the same importance. You need the second one, when one of your cards is an Ace and the third one, when you have two cards of the same value (when you split).

The left column shows your hand, the upper row shows the dealer's initial card. Where the column of your cards meets the row of the dealer's card, you find the correct action.

Your hand is 2,2 and the dealer has 6. Look at the first row of the third table to find the dealers 6. Now find the 2,2 in the left hand column. Where the column meets the row, you will see 'SP' which means Split. This is the correct action.

Your hand is Ace,7 (Soft 18), the dealer holds 6 . The table shows D/S. This means, Double Down when possible, otherwise stand.
Your hand is 2,3,Ace (Soft 16) against dealers 5. The table shows D/H. Usually you can not double down, already having three cards. This means that you have to hit.

In a very short time you will already know how to act in most of the possible situations and only have to look at the table in one off cases. To get used to this strategy, I recommend that you play a few games in the “Fun Mode” . Almost every casino offers a mode to play without risking your own money.

New: Download the Blackjack Mentor for free where you can train your Basic Strategy skills.