Basics of Blackjack
When explaining the object of the game, the explanation is the object from the player’s standpoint. The dealer has no object to his play; he simply must follow the rules set forth by the casino, which is to stand on hands of 17 or more, and draw to all hands of 16 or less.
The object of the game, in its most simple terms, is to beat the dealer. To do this, the player can win in two ways. First of all, he or she must have a total higher than the dealer’s total, or he or she must have a valid hand, of whatever total, while the dealer “busts” by going over 21.
The player loses if his or her total is less than the dealer’s total, or if the player busts. Once the player busts, his hand is out of play and his bet is removed. It doesn’t matter to this player if the dealer subsequently busts his own hand; once the player busts, he loses.
If both the player and the dealer have the same totals in their respective hands, it’s a tie, a standoff. The casino term for this is a “push.” And that’s just what it is, a push. Neither the player nor the dealer win. The player keeps his bet, and neither wins or loses anything.
How does a player improve his total? First, to understand this concept, look at the original hand dealt to the player.
The Original Hand
The dealer, to put a round of play in motion, deals out two cards to each of the players and two cards to himself. The cards are dealt one at a time, face down, the player to the dealer’s left getting the first card, and then each player after that getting a card in clockwise fashion. After each player has received one card, then the dealer gives himself a card, also face down. Then a second card is dealt to each of the players, also face down, in the same order, and the dealer gets his second card, and turns it face up.
This face up card is known as the up card. Thus, all the players see one of the dealer’s cards, but the dealer sees none of the players’ cards. It wouldn’t matter if he saw the players’ cards or not, for the dealer is bound by strict rules. In some casinos, in multiple deck games, the players’ cards are dealt face up.
Most players prefer to have their cards dealt face down, for it gives them a feeling they’re actually involved in a secret game of some sort, hiding their cards from the dealer, who couldn’t care less. But most experts prefer to see all the cards dealt face up, because they get a better grasp of what cards are in play and out of the deck, and this gives them a slight advantage.
The two cards the player gets at the outset of play is an original hand. The highest total he can get is 21 on the original hand; an ace and a 10-value card. When a player (or dealer) gets this hand, it’s known as a blackjack, or a natural. A blackjack pays 3-2 if it wins. All other winning hands pay even-money. If a dealer gets a blackjack and none of the players have a blackjack, the dealer simply wins the player’s bet at even-money; he doesn’t get that extra bonus.
If a player and the dealer have a blackjack, then it’s a push; neither win.
The next highest total is a 20. This is a very strong hand, and usually a winning one, either on the part of the dealer or the player. Thereafter, the hands go down in value.
The important thing to remember is that neither a player nor a dealer can bust on the original hand.