Basic Rules of Black Jack

The rules of black jack are very simple. The main objective is to achieve a total which would be greater than the total of the dealer and which does not exceed that of 21. Even if there are other players at the table the main opponent at blackjack is the dealer. There are not many decisions which have to be made during a game of blackjack. The player only has to consider his/her own cards and that of the dealer and if the total goes above 21, the player would "bust".

Rules of black jack:

• A card would be dealt to the player face up and then one card to the dealer. The card of the dealer would be face down and is referred to as hole card.
• The second card would then be dealt face up to the player.
• The player will then have to decide whether he/she wants to draw any further cards or not.
• After the player has completed the hand, the dealer would then proceed and draw cards in order to finish his/her hand.
• The player would win if his/her total is higher than that of the dealer.
• If the dealer exceeds the total of 21, the player would again win.
• If the total of the player is the same as that of the dealer, there would be a stand off and nobody would lose or win.
• If the dealer's total is greater than that of the player or if the player goes over 21, the player would lose.

All of these rules of black jack remain mostly unchanged though there would be a few blackjack variations in some casinos at even some online casinos.

Card Values

• The picture cards i.e. King, Queen and Jack have a value of 10 points.
• The Ace has a value of 1 or 11 points, which ever is better for the player.
• All of the other cards would have their numerical face value.
• No jokers are used in blackjack.
• Blackjack itself is the combination of an Ace or a picture card or a 10 with the first two cards. A blackjack would pay the player one and a half times the bet unless the dealer too has a blackjack, in which case there would be a stand off.

Splitting

If the first two cards of the player are of the same value then the player can split these up in order to form two or three different hands. The aces can be split only to form two hands. The player would receive an additional card for ever hand. However, a bet would have to be made by the player which would be equal to the original time. The rules for splitting the hands would be different for every casino.

Double Down

The player can place an additional bet which should not be more than that of the original bet if the first two cards have a total of nine, ten or eleven without any Aces. The player would be given an extra card when doubling down.