Blackjack for Absolute Beginners
Want to learn how to play blackjack? Basic blackjack is very easy to learn, even for beginners. But first, you need to learn some basic vocabulary:
1. Deal - to give cards to the players. 2. Dealer - the guy who holds all the cards and deals them out. 3. Hand - the cards that are given to you. 4. Bet - the money you are playing for. 5. Ace - that's a card with an "A" mark, instead of a number, also known as the "one" 6. Face - the "front" of the card.
Now that you know the vocabulary, you need to learn what you need to do to win at blackjack:
To win at blackjack, you need to have a hand whose value is higher than the dealer's hand. HOWEVER, your hand must NOT have a value that is higher than 21.
For example, the dealer's cards have a total value of 10 and you have 11 or above, you win. If the dealer's cards have a value of 7 and your cards have a value of 5, you lose.
If your dealers cards have a value of 20 and your cards have a value of 22, you have a higher value, but you still lose, because you went over 21!
If your hand's value is exactly 21, you win - you definitely win! It can't get any better than that!
To know whether or not you are winning at blackjack, you need to know the card values:
• For the cards that have numbers, whatever number you see on the card is its value. • For an ace, the card's value can either be 1 or 11. • For a king, queen or jack, the card's value is 10 points.
Now, you're ready to play blackjack. All you need to do is follow these simple steps:
Step 1: Place a bet on the table.
Step 2: The dealer will give you two cards and give himself two cards as well. The dealer will put your cards face down, so nobody can see them. He will put ONE of his cards face up, so everybody can see the value of one of his cards.
Step 3: Look at your cards. Don't let anybody else see their value, especially not the dealer. Only you must see what hand you got.
Step 4: From the one dealer's card that you see, decide if your hand has a value closer to "21" than the dealer's cards.
Step 5: If you think that the dealer's hand is closer to 21 than your hand, and you think another card will bring you closer to 21 without going over it, ask for another card. If you are satisfied with the hand you already have, you can refuse to take anymore cards.
Remember that if you go over 21, you lose automatically.
If the dealer doesn't want another card and you don't want another card, you both show your cards to everybody.
Step 6: Whoever's hand is closer to 21 wins the bet and gets the money.
So those are the blackjack rules. Easy, right? Just get a hand of cards that is higher than the dealer's and make sure you don't go above 21. And now that you know the rules, you're ready to play blackjack!
