The Gamble Club

Blackjack rules XI

admin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:03:30 +0000

The rules of gameplay in blackjack are very specific for the dealer and he must observe the rules closely and cannot play as he chooses. There are two commonly used rules, one of which states that a dealer must continue hitting till his hand value totals 17 or higher. While this is the variation followed by most casino houses, in some places another regulation may be followed. This stipulation that states that ‘Dealer hits soft 17’ is almost similar to the other rule with the single exception which explains what the dealer’s choice of action is when his hand value totals soft 17.

So, whether the dealer has a hand holding an ace and a 5 card (=16) or a pair or aces and a 4 card (=16) or an ace card, a 2 and a 4 card (=17), in each of the situation his hand strength is holding a value that is equal to soft 17. The rule states that in such cases, the dealer must continue to draw and when on hitting his hand value becomes either soft 18 or more than that, or hard 17 or a value higher than that. Once this is reached, the dealer stands.

Although not used extensively by the casino houses, this rule gives a better house edge for the casino against the players. But, under no condition does the dealer have any free choice of playing his hand and must follow the rules of he house. Moreover the dealer’s gameplay gets cramped by the fact that he is not allowed to split pairs and is compelled by the rules to go on hitting till his hand strength attains the value of at least 17 or gets busted by reaching more than 21. If the dealer’s hand value equals 21 with constant hitting, he can now stand but it may be pointed out that such a hand value is not a blackjack but simply a total of 21.

Blackjack rules X

admin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:03:20 +0000

In blackjack games, the dealer is required to play his hand according to some rules and has no way of playing his hand as he chooses. There are two widely used regulations that a dealer can follow regarding what should be the total of his hand value and how he should draw his cards. While the variation of rules for the dealer is not universal, each casino makes it a point to declare which of the rules it is following by clearly indicating it at the blackjack game table.

The most common rule, which is mostly adopted by the casino houses, is the one that states — Dealer stands on all 17s. This means that the dealer must hit the card deck, that is, continue drawing cards till his hand value reaches the aggregate of 17 or more than that. Under this rule the value of an ace card in the dealer’s hand is almost always invariably taken to be 11, although if the total turns out to be crossing 21, this condition is relaxed and ace card value can be assigned to 1. Therefore, if the dealer has his first two cards as an ace and a 9 card, his hand value stands at 20, which is over 17 and he can stand, which means that he no longer has to draw any more cards. Similarly if the dealer is holding an ace and a 6 card and his total becomes 17 even then he can stand without any more hitting. However, if he holds an ace and a 4 card, his total is now only 15 and he must draw another card till his hand value become 17 or higher. Now if he draws an 8 card his ace card value becomes 1 to prevent the total from exceeding 21 and the three cards – ace, 4, 8 – becomes 13 and so the dealer must hit again and cannot stand till 17 or more is reached.

Blackjack rules VIII

admin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:03:10 +0000

Once a player has become well conversant with the chip value and color and also with the point system used, the blackjack game starts with the player needing to place his bets before being dealt the cards. The dealer makes two passes to all the players in the game table starting from the seat to his left hand side. Once dealing is over, all the players and the dealer have got two cards each. This is followed by the dealer turning one of his cards face up for all players to see.
In case a shoe game is being in progress, for the benefit of the beginner, the cards received by him are already with their faces up. He is not required to touch the cards and can only make the betting decisions and go on with the game without having to handle the cards at any stage of the play.

For those blackjack games which are played as hand-held, the players’ cards are hole cards, that is, they are dealt with their faces turned down which are picked up by the players and held by them in their hands, whereby the name of the game style has originated. Playing hand-held games of blackjack requires some stipulations to be remembered and followed by the players. One of the commonest regulation is that the player can only touch his cards using one hand, since poker players don’t have to face such restrictions and can take their cards using both their hands, this rule of the blackjack game needs some practice to be followed by seasoned poker players. Moreover, the cards dealt to the players are required to be always kept over the table in full view of the dealer and other players and can under no circumstances be removed or concealed in any way.

Blackjack rules VII

admin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:03:01 +0000

The value of the ace card in a blackjack game needs to be assigned carefully as it has two possible point values and is assigned according to the rank of other cards in the player’s hand. A blackjack hand can either be a soft total or a hard total depending on whether the value of the ace card taken as 1 or 11 makes the total hand value exceed 21 or not. So, for a hand holding an ace and a 4 card, the best possible value for the hand would be 15, which is lower than 21 and hence the hand becomes a soft 15. The significance of a soft total is that this enables the player to draw another card without risking to get busted which happens when his hand value exceeds 21. Now on drawing another card, say an 8 card, the players hand becomes 23 if ace is taken as 11 and the hand gets busted. So, now the hand is called a hard 15 and it indicates that the ace card now must be valued at 1 so as to avoid the total from exceeding 21. Interestingly if instead of an 8 card, the player had drawn, say, a 5 card, his hand total would still be soft 15 as the hand value, taking the ace card as 11, would stand at 20 which is lesser than the limit value of 21.
Since in the game of blackjack, the total 21 when reached by the player or the dealer after receiving only the first two cards, the value of ace is invariably calculates as 11. In this case, since the total is a blackjack or 21, the term ‘soft’ is not used. However the value of the second ace card which may be dealt as either the second and/or the third card is always 1 because otherwise the hand will get busted.

Blackjack rules VI

admin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:02:50 +0000

Blackjack is a gambling game of cards and value of the cards is an important aspect of the game and it helps determine the strength of the hand and the outcome of play.

The suits of the cards are not relevant to the game and the value of a hand is determined entirely according to the point system of the cards which are added to arrive at the strength of the player’s hand. So, if someone has the 5, 7 and 9 cards in his hand his hand strength is valued at 21.

Two things are to be remembered in connection with assigning value to blackjack cards. While the cards from 2 to 9 assume face value, the 10 card and all the subsequent face cards, that is, the king, queen and jack cards have been given the value of 10 in a blackjack game.

The ace card in this game can have either of the two values – 1 or 11. Interestingly a player is not required to make his ace card value known beforehand. In course of the game whatever value of the ace card makes the player’s hand best possible without exceeding 21 is taken into account. The situation of what an ace card’s value would be taken can be illustrated by an example of a player’s hand. If a player has initially the ace and the 9 card in his hand, his point value may either be 10 or 20. If the player does not draw any other card, his hand would be regarded as value 20; however if he draws another card, say, 5, then his point value becomes either 15 or 25. Now when the player had only two cards, his best possible hand was made by taking the ace as 11. But with three cards, if ace value is taken as 11, the hand strength exceeds 21; so in this case the ace is valued as 1 and the player’s hand strength becomes 15.