Blackjack (also known as twenty-one), is a descendant of Baccarat and Chemin-de-Fer and is often considered one of the world's most popular casino table games.

Object of the Game

The object of the game is to achieve a higher card count than the dealer without exceeding 21.

Play Mechanics

The deck is shuffled after each hand.

The Bets - Select an initial bet amount and click Deal to begin the game. There is a minimum bet of $1 and a maximum bet of $100. The Cards. Aces may be considered 1 or 11. Face cards have a value of 10 and all other cards are counted as their face value.

The Deal - A card is dealt face up to the player followed by one to the dealer. A second card is then dealt face up to the player, and a second card face down to the dealer. At this point, the player may choose to stand or draw one or more cards to improve their hand total. The dealer takes additional cards only after the player has completed his or her hand(s), following specific rules (see Dealer Strategy below). The player's hand is completed when the player:

1. Draws Blackjack (a natural 21 consisting of an Ace and a 10 or face card)
2. Chooses to stand
3. Busts (the hand count exceeds 21).

The winner is determined by which hand's total is closest to 21. A Blackjack beats all other hands totaling 21 (this applies to the dealer as well). If both the dealer and the player draw a Blackjack, it is a considered a push (tie) and neither hand wins nor loses.

Player Options

The player is initially dealt two cards. After these cards are dealt, the player has the option of making the following additional wagers:

Splitting Pairs - This option is available to the player when the two original cards are of the same value (6's, 8's, etc).
The player splits the cards into two hands and plays each hand individually. Additional pairs can not be split again. A pair of Aces may be split but each Ace receives only one additional card. Except when splitting Aces, the player has the option to double down (see below) after splitting. In all cases, the player must wager an additional amount equal to the original bet when splitting.

Double Down - If the first two cards do not total 21, the player has the option to double down. Should the player feel that he or she can win with only one additional card, the player may double the original bet and receive one more card. The player may also double down after splitting a pair unless the pair consists of Aces. In this case the player is only entitled to receive one card after splitting.

Insurance - If the dealer's first visible card is an Ace, the player has the option of buying insurance. Insurance is a wager equal to one-half the player's original bet which pays two to one if the dealer draws a Blackjack. If the dealer does not draw Blackjack, the player loses his or her insurance.

Dealer Strategy

The dealer must:

• Be hit on a count of 16 or less
• Stand on Soft 17
• Stand on a Hard 17 or more

Soft Hand: A hand where an Ace may be counted as either 1 or 11 without the total exceeding 21.

Hard Hand: A hand with no Aces or one where the Ace must count as one so as to not exceed 21.