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History of Blackjack

First off I thought it would be nice to give you an idea of the history of blackjack, where it started, and how far it has come today.  The origin of the game Blackjack is still in dispute to this day, but can be traced back to several European card games. The French "Vingt-Un" (21), "Trente et Quarente" (20 and 30), "Chemin de Fer" (Railroad); Spanish "One and Thirty"; and Italian "Baccara" and "Seven and a Half" all have some similarity to modern Blackjack. Blackjack came to the United States in the 19th century. (Courtesy Work the Odds)

The name blackjack actually comes from the "natural" hand winner in the early stages of blackjack.  In its earliest stages any player who was dealt a Jack and Ace of Spades in his/her first two cards was an automatic winner and was payed a bonus for this natural blackjack.  This hand has evolved throughout the years and now any hand that begins with an Ace and a Face Card or Ten is considered a natural blackjack and automatically wins.  We will get into more detail about this at a later date.

How Blackjack is Played

The majority of blackjack tables across the world either at an online virtual casino or at a land-based casino has openings for 7 players at each table.  Most of the time players can enter the table anytime in the middle of a shoot.  A shoot is considered the amount of cards that are held by the dealer and dealt out before the dealer shuffles the cards again.  However, there will be times where it will be posted that players cannot enter a blackjack game in the middle of a shoot, and will have to wait until the deck of cards is reshuffled before they can enter the game.  A side note here is that it is proper blackjack etiquette to ask the players at any table if they mind whether or not you enter the game.  Sometimes if the table is hot the players may not want to change the flow of cards as the winnings are piling up!  Most of the time however players will say they are more then happy to let you in.

Now lets get into the main details of the game of blackjack.  First off it is important to understand how the cards are valued in the game of blackjack.  All face cards have a value of 10.  Cards that are dealt between 2-9 are counted at face value.  Therefore if you are dealt a 3 of Spades this card has a value of "3".  Simple huh?  The card of all cards in the game of blackjack of course is the Ace.  The Ace is a quite interesting card in the game of blackjack and the value of the card can either be considered a 1 or 11.  That's right you can use it either way which ever benefits you the most of course. 

At the beginning of each hand the dealer will deal each of the players two cards either down or up, depending on the type of table you are playing at.  The dealer deals himself two cards also, however one card is down, so you cannot see it, and the other card is up and visible to the players.  This card is considered the dealers "up card" and is very important in the strategy of blackjack which we will get into later.

If the dealer's upcard is an ace, players are given the opportunity to place an Insurance bet.  An Insurance bet pays 2 to 1, and if the dealer ends up with a blackjack, then your bet will be payed out 2 to 1.  After the Insurance betting is over, the dealer will check his/her down card to see if she has a 10 underneath.  If she does she will pay off all of the Insurance bets, and the rest of the bets are losers and will lose their bet they currently placed.  If the dealer does not have a 10 underneath the game moves on, and the first player on the table "the first baseman" begins play with his/her hand.  Depending on the two cards this player holds, he has a few options.  He may Stand, Hit, Double-Down, or Split.  Here are examples of these terms:

Stand:  The player will stay with which ever cards he currently has.

Hit:  The player will take an additional card to try and better the hand he currently holds.

Double-Down:  This is a very interesting bet and you need to read the rules of the table to determine when you can place this bet.  Most tables allow you to double-down on any two cards and also after splits.  However some only allow you to double-down when your first two cards add up to 11.  Be sure to ask or read the rules to find out for sure.  When you double-down you double your original bet and recieve one and only one more card for your hand.  So if you have a bet of $5 on the table, you would place another $5 on the table to make your total bet of $10 and you will recieve one more card for your hand.

Split:  If a player is dealt two cards that have the exact same value, such as two 8's, the player is given the opportunity to split these cards into two separate hands.  The player is required to match his original bet on the first hand with the second hand, and then will recieve two more cards, one for each hand.  When a player splits Aces, the player is only given one more card per ace however, and blackjacks only pay 1 to 1 for these types of bets.  Each of the hands can win or lose independently of each other.  They are played as two totally different hands.

"Busting" occurs when the player takes a hit and the value of all the cards put together that he holds is greater then 21.  Remember you can take as many hits or cards as you want, but you do not want to go over 21!  That gives you an automatic losing hand no matter what the dealer is holding.  If a player is initially dealt a blackjack (Ace & 10), the player is paid a bonus usually 3-2 and automatically wins.  However if the dealer also has blackjack the player ties, or "Pushes" with the dealer and no money is won or lost.  It is important to note that some land based casinos will allow you to take "even-money" when you have a blackjack and the dealer is showing an ace.  This allows you to recieve even money for your original bet, and if the dealer ends up with a blackjack you still get your even money!

After all the players have played out their hands, the dealer will then play out her hand adhere to the rules of the casino.  The dealer makes no decisions and follows the guidelines of the casino rules of whether she must hit or stand on a given hand.  If the Dealer busts, all non-busting players win their bet.  If the player's hand is higher then the dealer's hand, then the player wins their bet.  If the dealer's hand is higher then the player's hand then the player loses their bet.  If the dealer and player's hands are the same in value, it is considered a tie or "Push" and the player's original bet is returned to him.

Blackjack Strategy:

To win an be successfull and blackjack it is important to understand the basic blackjack strategy of the game.  This strategy allows you to make a very educated judgement on when you should hit or when you should stand.  This strategy is based upon the dealer's upcard which was described earlier.  There are times to hit on a 12 and times strategy tells you to Stand on 12.  This strategy is also dependent on the amount of decks that are being played with on the given table.  What this means is whether you are playing with one deck before the dealer shuffles, or are you playing with multiple decks before the dealer shuffles?  In blackjack strategy it is also important to understand the difference between the terms "Hard" and "Soft" totals.  A hard total is when the player's two cards add up to a hard number.  An example of this would be a 7 and a 3.  This gives you a hard 10.  A soft total is when the player has an Ace in his/her hand.  Remember the Ace can be valued at either a 1 or 11.  An example of this would be if the player has an Ace and a 3.  This hand can either be considered a value of 4 or a value of 14.  Thus you could consider yourself having a soft 4 hand.  Below you will find a table describing either a multi-hand strategy or a single-hand strategy for hard and soft totals in blackjack.

Multi-Deck Strategy (Hard Totals):

Hard Totals	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Ten	Ace
5	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
6	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
7	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
8	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
9	Hit	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
10	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit
11	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Hit
12	Hit	Hit	Std	Std	Std	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
13	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
14	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
15	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
16	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
17	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std
18	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std
19	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std
20	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std

Multi-Deck Strategy (Soft Totals):

Hard Totals	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Ten	Ace
Ace - 2	Hit	Hit	Hit	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
Ace - 3	Hit	Hit	Hit	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
Ace - 4	Hit	Hit	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
Ace - 5	Hit	Hit	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
Ace - 6	Hit	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
Ace - 7	Std	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Std	Std	Hit	Hit	Hit
Ace - 8	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std
Ace - 9	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std

Multi-Deck Strategy Splitting Pairs:

Hard Totals	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Ten	Ace
2 - 2	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
3 - 3	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
4 - 4	Hit	Hit	Hit	Spl	Spl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
5 - 5	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit
6 - 6	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
7 - 7	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
8 - 8	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl
9 - 9	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Std	Spl	Spl	Std	Std
Ten - Ten	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std
Ace - Ace	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl

Single-Deck Basic Strategy (Hard Totals):

Hard Totals	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Ten	Ace
5	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
6	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
7	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
8	Hit	Hit	Hit	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
9	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
10	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit
11	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl
12	Hit	Hit	Std	Std	Std	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
13	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
14	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
15	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
16	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
17	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std
18	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std
19	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std
20	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std

Single-Deck Baseic Strategy (Soft Totals):

Hard Totals	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Ten	Ace
Ace - 2	Hit	Hit	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
Ace - 3	Hit	Hit	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
Ace - 4	Hit	Hit	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
Ace - 5	Hit	Hit	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
Ace - 6	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
Ace - 7	Std	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Std	Std	Hit	Hit	Hit
Ace - 8	Std	Std	Std	Std	Dbl	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std
Ace - 9	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std

Single-Deck Strategy Splitting Pairs:

Hard Totals	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Ten	Ace
2 - 2	Hit	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
3 - 3	Hit	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
4 - 4	Hit	Hit	Hit	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
5 - 5	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Dbl	Hit	Hit
6 - 6	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
7 - 7	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Hit	Hit	Hit	Hit
8 - 8	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Std	Spl
9 - 9	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Std	Spl	Spl	Std	Std
Ten - Ten	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std	Std
Ace - Ace	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl	Spl

As you can see the top row of numbers is the up card of the dealer.  Depending on what the dealer is holding helps determine what you should do on your next move.

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