Blackjack is a game that is easy to learn, but hard to dominate. When it started in France, it was earlier known as "vingt-et-un", which translates to "twenty-one". When it was brought into the U.S.A., casinos would give pay a hand containing a Black Jack (jack of clubs or jack of spades) at ten to one, which is how the name came to be. Blackjack is now a popular game in most casinos. It takes a full measure of both luck and strategy to win. The object of the game is to get the highest hand without exceeding twenty-one points. Any had with too many points is a "bust" and loses automatically. In Blackjack, each player must beat the dealer to win, not other players. If a player and the dealer have the same total score, the hand is a "push", and nobody wins.
What is the point value of each card? The cards two through ten are worth their face value. Jacks, Queens, and Kings (also called "face cards") are each worth ten points. The Ace is the hard part, and this is where some extra thinking comes into play. An ace is worth eleven points when the rest of the hand is worth ten or less. If the rest of the hand is worth eleven or more, the Ace's value drops down to one point.
A winning blackjack hand no longer needs to have a jack or even a single black card. All you need is an ace and a ten-point card (face card or ten) to get to a winning score of twenty-one. This is the best hand a player can get. Any hand greater than seventeen will also serve just as well. Hands between twelve and sixteen make up a gray area. Players can win a hand, but can also go bust if they take another card. Casinos in the U.S. have the rule that, if the dealer has blackjack, all players lose unless they also have blackjack, which results in a push for them.
The players are dealt their cards face up, while the dealer gets one face down card, the hole card, that only they are allowed to see, and a face up card. Players then have a few choices to make on their hand: The player can take another card ("hit") in an effort to improve their hand. Most players hit when their hand has a value of sixteen or less. The usual hand signal to hit is for the player to tap their fingers on the table.
The player can also choose to keep his current hand ("stand") and not take any more cards. Players generally stand when their hand is seventeen or better. The hand signal for this is for the player to wave their hand across the table over their cards.
These are the fundamentals of the game. From here, we move into more sophisticated play alternatives. The player can double his bet ("double down") after their first two cards, but only take one more card. If the player's bet were $20, they would step it up to $40 and take a single card. Players frequently use this move when their first two cards total nine, ten or eleven in hopes of getting a ten-point card or an ace.
If the player holds two cards of equal value, he can create two new hands with each card ("split") and place an additional bet for the second hand. The player plays each hand separately, so the player can win one hand but still lose the other. When a player splits two aces, the rules usually only allow for one additional card on each hand.
The final option the player has is to quit his hand ("surrender") in exchange for half the bet. However, some casinos may not offer this option.
