As discussed last week, the game of Blackjack is not that complicated. Players are playing against the dealer trying to acquire a hand as close to twenty-one as possible, without going over. The player wants his hand to be closer to twenty-one than the dealer's hand is. Cards are valued as follows: two through nine are at face value, ten and picture cards are valued at ten, and aces can be one or eleven. Last week's article left off with the hand being dealt.



In Blackjack the players use signals to communicate with the dealer. If the player wants another card, he signals with the cards by scraping them on the felt. The dealer will give him another card. If the player doesn't want another card, he signals by moving his hand, palms down, back and forth. When a player has all of the cards he wants, he slides his cards under the chips. Verbiage is not picked up by the casino security camera which is why the player has to signal. The player who has Blackjack should turn the hand up immediately. If the dealer is bust, he pays all of the players. If the player draws a card and the total goes over twenty-one, he loses automatically.

There are times when players think their hands are good and they want to bet in a way that's called Doubling Down. When a player wants to Double Down, he signals by sliding a second set of chips next to original bet. The dealer will give the player another card. The player should wait until the dealer has finished with the other players, and then turn his cards up. If the player wins, he wins on both bets; if he loses, he loses both bets.

If the player is dealt a pair for his two down cards, the player can Split the pair. The player places a second bet and plays both cards as separate hands. The dealer will give a card for the first card in the split. The player can keep taking hits on that hand. When the hand from the first card is over, then the hand from the second card is played in the same manner. The player can win or lose on both hands. Check with the casino for their rules on further splitting. In some casino if you pair on a split card, you can split that pair also and play that as a third hand. If the player has split a pair, he can also double down. Aces are handled a little differently in a split. When a pair of aces is split, the dealer will only put one card on each ace. Again, the player wants to be as close to twenty-one as possible.

Sometimes a player will want to protect his hand, especially if the dealer has an ace showing. The dealer will ask the players if they want insurance. Insurance is a bet on whether or not the dealer has Blackjack. If the player wants the insurance he slides a stack of chips equal to half his original bet next to the original stack. If the dealer has Blackjack, the player wins an amount equal to double his insurance bet.

Depending on the casino rules, players may be able to surrender in cases where they do not think they can beat the dealer. If the dealer takes half of your chips when you surrender, the casino rules allow early surrender. The player only loses half of his bet instead of the entire bet. However, if the house rules are for late surrender, the dealer will mark the player's bet and continue. The player then only receives half his bet back if the dealer doesn't have Blackjack. If the dealer has Blackjack, the player loses his entire bet. This is one of the reasons why it's important to know the house rules since they can vary from establishment to establishment.

The difference is house rules is obvious is Las Vegas. On the Strip and in Atlantic City, dealers stand on a hand of seventeen. On Fremont Street, dealers can take a hit on a hand of seventeen. The house has a bigger advantage on Fremont Street where the dealers take a hit. They have an extra chance at scoring twenty-one. Another factor to take into consideration is the number of decks used. The fewer the number of decks used in the game, the better the chance the player has of winning. Check out the casino where you are playing. You may find that the number of decks in use varies from table to table. Card-counting is easier with one deck than it is with six-decks. With card-counting you keep track of the number of cards, like the number of aces, the number of kings, etc. If there is one deck in play and two aces are showing, then there are only two other aces remaining that can come up. If there are two decks in play, then there are six aces remaining. Don't be too obvious in your card counting as some casino will ask you to leave.

Players develop their own strategies, but usually will stand on a hand that is seventeen or higher. They risk a chance of going over twenty-one if they draw. If the player has a hand between twelve and sixteen, and the dealer has a seven or higher showing, the player will usually take a hit. If the dealer has a low hand showing, like a two through six, and the player has a hand of twelve to sixteen, the player will usually stand. Chances are the player has the dealer's hand beat in this situation. Players will usually stand on hands of eighteen or higher, especially if the dealer is showing a low hand, like eight or less. Remember in Blackjack, the player is playing against the dealer, not the other players. It is the dealer's hand that the player has to beat.

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