Blackjack

What is Black Jack?

Blackjack is the second most popular card game in casinos and casinos after poker. The game, which is about 300 years old, is known and represented around the globe. Because it is played internationally according to almost identical rules, anyone who has mastered the basic rules can sit down at any blackjack table anywhere in the world and indulge in relatively fast gambling.

The popularity of blackjack has increased significantly in recent years due to the spread of online casinos. The game with fast-paced episodes is made for the Internet and its impatient users. In this guide you will learn which rules are used to play blackjack, how to behave at the game table, who has the greater advantage – bank or player – and what strategies are available in blackjack.

Where does Black Jack come from?

Scholars argue about the exact origin. However, it is generally assumed that today's blackjack is derived from the French games " Chemin de Fer “ and „ French Ferme “ those that served as inspiration. "Chemin de Fer" is translated as " The path of the railway “ and was actually a precursor of baccarat. The name is derived from the modern railway and the metal box in which the playing cards used to be stored.

In the 17th century, black jack was introduced in France under the name " Vingt-et-Un “ (invites. „ Twenty-one „) played. During the French Revolution, it was especially popular at the French court and among English merchants, sailors and soldiers. Everyone equally appreciated that in the event of a win, you were immediately paid out.

The optimal hand at that time consisted of an ace and a jack of spades, which ultimately gave rise to the name Blackjack. Those who had such a hand received an additional payout. Even when this rule was abolished, the name stuck.

As already brought with roulette french immigrants gambling in the southern United States, where it took some time for him to make a breakthrough. Especially colonists liked the card game and eventually brought it to the west of the USA, to Nevada. The traditionally gambling-friendly state made the game big, not least because it attracted the criminal money launderers due to its flexibility and speed. The state had to regulate black jack to make it less attractive for organized crime.

After blackjack had lost the reputation of the wicked, the great triumphal march of modernity began in Las Vegas. As early as 1931, blackjack was considered the most popular gambling game here after roulette and craps. The last Popularity boost thanks to the online casinos. Although there is still passionate debate and speculation about the exact origin, historians today at least agree that black jack as we know it today, is around 300 years old . It is therefore one of the oldest gambling games in the world.

Online Blackjack Casinos

In the following online casinos you can play the popular card game Blackjack online. All blackjack casinos listed here are fully regulated and licensed within dollarpas, state-certified for a fair game Randon Number Generator .

Blackjack Basic Rules

The goal of blackjack is to be like the German name " Seventeen and Four “ already suggests that he can achieve 21 with the values of his playing cards or at least get as close as possible to this value. The opponent is the bank, embodied by the croupier.

Blackjack is played in all casinos around the globe at almost semicircular tables covered with green felt. On the straight side is the croupier, who is also called dealer, banker or dealer. The players are sitting opposite him ( Pointeers ). Sitting at a blackjack table seats up to seven players however, some casinos limit the places to five. On the table are printed fields for the stakes in front of which the cards are placed, as well as for special regulations, which will be explained later.

Blackjack is played with french playing cards played. A deck of cards consists of 52 cards. As a rule, six decks are used, i.e. a total of 312 playing cards. Before the start of the game, the dealer shuffles the cards in front of the players' eyes. He has one of them cut into the row of cards with a neutral card at any point. Before the croupier puts the deck of cards in the the so-called sled after three quarters of the packet, he separates the cards again with a neutral card. It marks the place where the card pack will be renewed later.

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Card values in Blackjack

The cards in blackjack correspond to the following values:

• 2 to 9 count the printed score
• 10, Jack, queen and king correspond to the value 10
• Aces correspond to either 1 or 11 - depending on the player's desire

The game starts by each player placing his bets in the form of chips according to the limits set by the casino. After that, the dealer puts two cards from the sleigh face up to each player. First, everyone gets a card in a clockwise direction, incl. croupier. Then a second round is issued in this way, with the croupier's second card lying face down on the table.

The first thing is always the player's turn. He now has four options:

1. Map (Hit)
2. Hold (Stand)
3. Double Down (Double Down)
4. Split (Split)

If he thinks he has another card closer to the 21 or even exactly to this value, then he lets the croupier give him another card. This can be done either with the announcement " Hit song " or " Show “ or can be done with a gesture, tapping with the palm of your hand on the table. However, if another card is too risky for him, because it could bring him over 21, then he can hold his hand. For this he says to the croupier " Stand " or " Keep “ or waving his flat hand over his playing cards.

While the player is free to decide whether or not to take another card, the croupier must Score of 16 and less Draw more cards . From 17 points, however, he may not draw any more. In addition, the dealer must always count an ace with eleven points, except if he would exceed the value of 21 in this way. Then the ace counts as just one point. So with an ace and a 7, the ace must be counted with 11. Because the cards add up to 18, he may not draw another card. The croupier is therefore quite limited in his freedom of choice by the rules (" Dealer must stand on 17 and must draw to 16 „).

Blackjack as the best result

For the player, the ideal case occurs when he has received two cards from the croupier at the beginning, which result in a blackjack. For the highest rating you need an ace as well as a picture or the ten. Only with these cards you can reach the 21 points with the smallest possible number of cards. In a blackjack, the player receives a Profit of 3 : 2 paid out, i.e. 1.5 times his stake. This is the highest possible profit.

However, if the dealer draws the same with a blackjack, the player has not won, but his bet is not lost either. In this case, the announcement of the croupier is " Stand off „. The bet can be left by the player, changed or withdrawn.

If no blackjack is scored, then you just have to try to get as close as possible to the 21. It wins who is closer to this value. The player then receives a win equal to the amount of his bet. If the player's score is lower than the croupier's, he has lost. The same applies if he overbought himself, that is, his cards exceed the target value of 21 ( bust ). Then tokens and cards are collected by the croupier .

If the dealer exceeds the value of 21, all opponents still in the game have won automatically. Otherwise, only those participants in the game whose values are closer to 21 than the value of the bank always win. In the event of a draw, neither won nor lost ( Stand off ).

Special rules

Blackjack would not be a game of chance if there were not a handful of special rules that give ambitious and professional players additional complexity and thus gaming pleasure. These special rules will be explained in more detail below.

Doubling - Doubling

If the first two cards result in a cumulative score of 9, 10 or 11, then the player can double his bet, but only receives one more card after doubling.

Split - Split

If the player receives two identical values as the first two cards, i.e. pictures, numbers or values, then he can form a second hand from them, that is, make two separate games. On the second hand, he must make a bet at the original height. For each hand, the player receives as many cards as desired.

If the player gets two aces at the beginning and divides them, then he gets only one additional card on each hand. However, if it is an ace again, it may be divided further. Important: In a split game, an ace with a picture or ten does not give blackjack, but only the value 21, since the combination of cards was not achieved with the first two cards.

Insurance - Insurance

If the croupier draws an ace as his first card, the probability increases that he will get a blackjack by the second card (10, jack, queen or king). On the other hand, the player can insure himself by placing an amount equal to half of his bet on the insurance line printed on the game table. This is also possible after doubling or splitting. If a blackjack actually results for the bank, the player is paid out on the insurance in a ratio of 2 : 1. If a blackjack does not come about, the insurance bet is lost and is withdrawn by the croupier. The bank advantage in insurance is 1/13 = 7.692 percent.

Box - Hand

The bets are placed in the so-called box, the box marked on the table. In a box, however, not only the box owner ( sit ) place chips yourself, also other players ( stand ) may participate in a box and thus participate in the game of the box owner. However, they have no say and must tacitly accept the decisions of the boxing owner – regardless of the amount of their bet. They are also not allowed to give advice.

The use of passive players may only be so high that the table limit set by the casino is not exceeded. So if the box owner reaches his limit, no other players can place more bets in his box. This is also the only way to avoid teammates. Otherwise, the boxing owner can not defend himself against fellow players.

Bet on Overbought Bust

In many casinos, there is the possibility that the player can bet before issuing cards that the dealer will overbought himself in this round (dealer busts). If the croupier actually gets a point value of 22 or higher, then the player is paid this side bet in a ratio of 5 : 2, otherwise the bet is lost. The probability that the bank overbought is 28.16 percent, or in other words: on average, the dealer overbought in less than two out of seven cases. By the way, the bank advantage in this bet is 1.44 percent.

How to Win at Blackjack

If the player is closer to the 21 than the croupier, then he will receive a win in the ratio of 1 : 1 ( Even Money ). So he gets his stake back as well as a profit in the same amount ( double use ).

In Canada, there is a special rule that results in a 3: 2 win if the player wins the 21 with three sevens ( Triple Seven ) accomplished. One speaks of the sevens triplet where the dealer's cards are irrelevant. As soon as the player has three cards with the value of seven each, he gets the win paid out and the game is over. Although this regulation is unusual outside Canada, it has also become common in Germany and Switzerland to grant the player a bonus in this constellation.

The black jack is handled uniformly around the world. Who has the 21 with the smallest possible number of cards ( Ace + image or 10 ), gets his Profit in the ratio of 3 : 2 , i.e. 1.5 times its stake. If this is 100 dollars, you get 150 dollars as a profit plus VCA. the stake = 250 dollars. If you make a side bet by insuring a blackjack of the bank, this will be paid out in a ratio of 2 : 1 in case of success. If you bet on the bank being overbought and you are right, even the ratio 5: 2 applies.

Advantages of the bank and the player

Compared to other games of chance, when looking at the rules of blackjack, some advantages catch the eye that seem to favor the player:

• The player decides freely whether, when and how many cards he can be dealt from the deck. The croupier is prescribed exactly when he has to draw a card and when he is no longer allowed to do so.
• The player is free to decide whether an ace should count one or eleven points. With the dealer, the ace always automatically counts eleven points.
• While the croupier only wins 1 : 1 in a blackjack, the player receives his win in the ratio of 3 : 2 in blackjack.
• The player can double the bet on a promising hand after the card deal has already begun. In this way, he can double his chance of winning.
• The player can split two cards of equal value and thus ideally even win with two hands against the croupier.

Sounds pretty good at first, doesn't it? Of course, we must not fool ourselves with blackjack. It is and remains a game of chance and of course also one with Bank advantage . Because that's the only way the business can work for the casinos at all.

Basically, the Bank Advantage in Blackjack however, significantly less than in other gambling games. This is evidenced by the study of a mathematician from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who described black jack in 1956 as the first one has taken a thorough look . This study shows that in the best case, the bank advantage can be reduced to just 0.475 percent. So this means that the bank only makes a profit of $ 0.0475 per game with a bet of $ 100 – on average, of course. When Roulette for example, the Bank advantage in the case of simple chances 1.35 percent and with multiple chances, even 2.70 percent.

Blackjack Strategies

As we have learned, blackjack is one of the gambling games with the best chances of winning for the players, because the bank advantage is relatively small. Who does not leave the game to chance, but with a strategy working, he can reduce the bank advantage to a minimum.

Basic Strategy – Basic Strategy

The beauty of Blackjack: There is a generally valid basic strategy with which the bank advantage is reduced to a minimum. It is based on the basic rules described here. In the event of rule changes, a change in strategy is also necessary. At least if you want to keep the bank advantage as low as possible. This also applies when playing with more or less than six decks of cards. The basic strategy specifies exactly which further step to take for each game situation.

Hard Hands

Hard hands are all card combinations that do not contain an ace or an ace that is scored with only one point (Ace + 4 + 3 = Hard 8).

• If the croupier holds an ace, 10, 9, 8 or 7, the player should buy up to a hard 16 and hold from a hard 17.
• If the croupier holds a 6, 5 or 4, the player should buy up to a hard 11 and hold from a hard 12.
• If the croupier holds a 3 or 2, the player should buy up to a hard 12 and hold from a hard 13.

Soft Hands

Soft hands are all card combinations with an ace corresponding to eleven points (Ace + 4 = Soft 15).

• From a Soft 19 onwards, no further tickets will ever be purchased.
• With a soft 18 consisting of three or more cards, another card is only bought if the dealer has 9, 10 or an ace.
• Up to and including Soft 17 out of three or more cards, the player should always buy more cards.

Soft Hand Doubles

• A Soft 13 (Ace + 2) should only be doubled against a 6, in all other constellations the player should buy another card.
• A Soft 14 (Ace + 3) or Soft 15 (Ace + 4) should only be doubled against a 6 or 5, in all other constellations the player should buy another card.
• A Soft 16 (Ace + 5) should only be doubled against a 6, 5 or 4, in all other constellations the player should buy another card.
• A Soft 18 (Ace + 7) should only be doubled against a 6, 5, 4 or 3. A 2, 7 or 8 is held and another card is bought against a 9, 10 or an ace.
• With a hand of Ace + 8, Ace + 9 or Ace + 10 (Blackjack), the player should never double, but always buy.

Hard Hand Doubles

• Up to a Hard 8, the player should never double down.
• A hard 9 of two cards without an ace should only be doubled by the player if the dealer holds a 6, 5, 4 or 3.
• A hard 10 or Hard 11 of two cards without an ace should always be doubled by the player, unless the dealer holds a 10 or an ace.
• From a Hard 12, the player should never double down.

Splits

• The player should always split two aces, unless the croupier has an ace. Then you evaluate your own hand as Soft 12 and can give yourself another card.
• The player will only split two twos, threes and sevens if the croupier holds a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7.
• The player divides two fours only if the croupier holds a 5 or 6.
• Two fives and tens should never be divided.
• The player should only split two sixes if the croupier holds 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6.
• The player should only split two eights if the croupier does not hold a 10 or an ace.
• The player should only split two nines if the croupier does not hold a 7, 10 or an ace.

The basic strategy is often presented in tabular form. What at first glance looks complex and confusing is a good help on closer inspection. The table specifies exactly for each sheet – also in color - which decision should be made in accordance with the strategy. But even the table can not take away from the ambitious blackjack player the memorization of the combinations and decisions. At the blackjack table, in any case, the table can not be consulted before each game decision. The online casino is a little different.

Blackjack Card Counting

That Blackjack Card Counting is probably the most hotly discussed blackjack strategy. It was founded in 1961 by the American mathematician Edward O. Thorp developed and published a year later in his book "Beat the Dealer". The basic principle is simple: the player keeps his eyes open during the game and looks closely at which cards have already been dealt. In this way, it can be estimated how high the probability is that more playing cards with high or low value will now come.

Info video about card counting

Because although it is random which cards come next, it is also logical. If there are still many good, i.e. high cards in the deck, then the Probability is also higher that the player is assigned such a card by the dealer. If many high cards have already been played, then the probability of good cards is lower.

Many high cards in deck are good for the player. Not just because the probability increases to get such a card himself, but also because it is more likely that the dealer will draw such a card and overbought himself, because he has no choice. Also, the chances of a blackjack and thus a higher payout increase. Therefore, you should bet more if there are still many high cards available and less if many of them have already been dealt.

But how do you know how many cards are still in stock? This is exactly what should be done with the Blackjack Card Counting be found out. Before Thorp published this strategy, the whole thing was still pretty simple. Because it was only played with one deck, i.e. 52 playing cards. The used cards were put aside. So it was not so difficult to keep track of which cards had already been drawn, even without concrete calculations.

Understandably, the casinos did not like card counting at all and they took countermeasures quite promptly:

• The number of card sets has been increased from one to four initially. Today, a total of 312 cards are usually played with six packs. However, some casinos also use eight card packs. If four aces were played earlier in a set, it was clear that there was no ace left in the stack. With six packages, there are a total of 24 aces. Even if 15 have already been played, there are still enough. A prediction is therefore more difficult.
• A deck of cards is no longer played to the end today, but is renewed after two-thirds or three-quarters. Therefore, before the start of the game, the croupier cuts in the pack of cards at approximately this point with a neutral card.
• Today, more and more card slides are used, which have a built-in card mixing machine. After a round, the dealer puts the drawn cards directly back into the sled, where they are mixed in again. In this way, each coup becomes independent of the other, as well as in blackjack. In this case, of course, card counting no longer makes sense.

But even with the significantly increased number of decks of cards, some blackjack players swear by card counting. Since hardly anyone is able to remember all the dealt cards just like that, there is a simplified counting method. For the high-low method, all playing cards are first divided into three groups according to their value:

• High cards: Aces, Pictures, 10
• Middle cards: 7, 8, 9
• Low cards: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

The high cards are assigned the value -1 by default. The value of the middle cards is 0. And the low cards get the value +1. The card counter now observes exactly which cards are dealt and calculates the total value of all previously dealt cards based on the individual values.

Example: Player 1 has a king (-1) and a 4 (+1). Player 2 an ace (-1) and a 7 (0). The dealer has a 6 (+1) and a 2 (+1). The card counter calculates: -1 + 1 = 0 – 1 + 0 = -1 + 1 + 1 = 1.

In order to know with the help of the total value whether the remaining deck of cards is good or bad, you need the number of decks still in the slide. This must be estimated on the basis of the cards played so far, preferably by counting them roughly. The counted number of individual cards (card count value) is then divided by the number of remaining decks of cards. In our example, as -1 / 5 decks of cards, because we are still pretty much at the beginning. Gives -0.2.

This result is the True Count, the true count value. He now decides how much the card counter bets. The higher the number, the more you bet. Anything below 0 is bad for the player, because many high cards have already been played. The following table shows when and how much to bet.

Result	Use
≤ 0	1x Use
1	2x Use
2	4x Use
3	8x Use
4	10x Use
≥	12x Use

Card counting is not prohibited

Many people read on the Internet that card counting is prohibited... but certainly not on websites that deal with Maps Germany Berlin how to deal with kartenwerkstatt.at , the former website of Andreas Trawöger . The site www.Kartenwerkstatt.at although the focus is on digital maps on maps from Germany Berlin, but there are enough casinos in Berlin with the possibility to live out the blackjack game, so that this would have been a nice gimmick. Sooner or later you always come to the topic of blackjack card counting. Both in Germany and in the USA there are no legal regulation which prohibits counting. Of course, it is still not liked by the casinos, And they exercise the house right. Who, therefore, when counting cards " getting caught ", he is usually asked to change the table or leave the casino. Nothing can be done about it, because there is no right to play . If you want to use the strategy of card counting, you should do it as inconspicuously as possible. In general, the speed of blackjack requires a lot of practice and experience.

Third Base

Third Base is not a strategy, but rather a superstition . This is how the place at the table is called, which is located on the far right from the croupier. It is sometimes considered decisive because this square affects the outcome of the dealer. After all, a card that he no longer takes falls to the dealer. However, since the following card is not known, the player on the Third Base no advantage. For this, his playing style is sometimes criticized by his fellow players, especially if the hand of the bank turns out well. Therefore, most players avoid this place at the table.

The five biggest player mistakes in Blackjack

1. Take out insurance

Insurance is an option only for uninformed players. The Home Insurance Benefits is a whopping 7.7 percent. So, out of 100 dollars spent, almost eight dollars are lost.

2. Buy another card at Soft 18 if the croupier has a 9

The probability that the dealer will get a 10 or an ace on a 9, is only 28 percent . That's why you should keep your hand at a soft 18 instead of buying a new card. If you don't, you give away an advantage of 8.3 percent to the bank. This rule also applies if the player has an 18 and the dealer has a 10 or an ace.

3. Do not double down on a Soft 18 if the croupier has a 6

If the croupier holds a 6, then the probability is that he will overbought, at 42 percent . It is therefore more sensible to double your bet afterwards, even if you only receive one more card. Even if the player gets a 5 or 6, the chances are good that he will win because the dealer is overbought. If the player holds instead of doubling, he gives an advantage of ten percent to the bank.

4. Do not buy a card at 16 if the dealer has an ace

In fact, a player usually overbills himself when he buys another card at a point value of 16. However, does the croupier have an ace, the chances of winning the 16 are falling rapidly anyway . Therefore, the player should also take advantage of the small chance and buy another card. If he does not do this and fits, he gives an advantage of 15 percent to the Online Casino Games starting.

5. Split tens when the croupier has a 6

If you split two tens, there is an advantage of 18 percent for the player. However, if he holds the tens together, then the advantage is even 70 percent . So he would simply give up $ 50 for a bet of $ 100.

Conclusion: Gambling with good chances of winning

At its core, blackjack is a relatively simple and fast-paced card game that is played according to the same basic rules worldwide. Compared with other games is the banking advantage relatively small . So the chance of winning for the player is higher. But above all, this can be significantly increased by the right strategy. The Basic Strategy specifies exactly for which card combination which step according to the Probability Calculation is the most sensible. This makes blackjack a manageable card game full of chances and excitement, even for laymen and newcomers. The main thing is that the 21 is not exceeded!