Another round of cards is then dealt face up to each player, but the dealer takes the second card face down. When all the players have placed their bets, the dealer gives one card face up to each player in rotation clockwise, and then one card face up to themselves. (Not dealing to the bottom of all the cards makes it more difficult for professional card counters to operate effectively.) The Deal The dealer designates one of the players to cut, and the plastic insert card is placed so that the last 60 to 75 cards or so will not be used. The dealer thoroughly shuffles portions of the pack until all the cards have been mixed and combined. Minimum and maximum limits are established on the betting, and the general limits are from $2 to $500. Bettingīefore the deal begins, each player places a bet, in chips, in front of them in the designated area. Face cards are 10 and any other card is its pip value. It is up to each individual player if an ace is worth 1 or 11. Object of the GameĮach participant attempts to beat the dealer by getting a count as close to 21 as possible, without going over 21. When four or more decks are used, they are dealt from a shoe (a box that allows the dealer to remove cards one at a time, face down, without actually holding one or more packs). In addition, the dealer uses a blank plastic card, which is never dealt, but is placed toward the bottom of the pack to indicate when it will be time for the cards to be reshuffled. The six-deck game (312 cards) is the most popular. The standard 52-card pack is used, but in most casinos several decks of cards are shuffled together. In the home game, all of the players have the opportunity to be the dealer (a 'changing bank').

The dealer is in charge of running all aspects of the game, from shuffling and dealing the cards to handling all bets. In casino play, the dealer remains standing, and the players are seated. In the casino version, the house is the dealer (a 'permanent bank'). As a popular home game, it is played with slightly different rules. Today, Blackjack is the one card game that can be found in every American casino. While the popularity of Blackjack dates from World War I, its roots go back to the 1760s in France, where it is called Vingt-et-Un (French for 21). In fact, for the expert player who mathematically plays a perfect game and is able to count cards, the odds are sometimes in that player's favor to win.īut even for the casual participant who plays a reasonably good game, the casino odds are less, making Blackjack one of the most attractive casino games for the player. Equally well known as Twenty-One. The rules are simple, the play is thrilling, and there is opportunity for high strategy.

Blackjack basic strategy table