How to Play Blackjack

admin · Site Admin Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 862

Learning how to play Blackjack is both fun and challenging for players around the world. Although the game can become complicated by side bet options and game variations, most people learn the basics of how to play Blackjack without difficulty. The process of quickly developing skills and working on expanding future strategy is part of what makes learning how to play Blackjack so exciting. Here is an outline of how to play Blackjack:

Blackjack involves only two players. Even though a Blackjack table may have multiple players seated, each only plays against the dealer (the casino representative). The goal of Blackjack is for the player to score a hand total closer to 21 than the dealer's hand total without "busting," or going over 21. "Busting" is an automatic loss in Blackjack for both the dealer and the player.

The game begins when the dealer deals each player two cards face up (the dealer has one face up and one face down card). Each player is then presented with four different options for what to do next in the game. The first option is to "stand," or accept the cards dealt without making changes. The second option is to receive a "hit" of one additional card to add to the hand total. The third option is to "double down," doubling the original bet, taking a hit, and then standing. Players with a pair may "split" them into two different hands.

The player closest to 21 is the winner.