The Player's Options in Blackjack
The players in blackjack will initially get a pair of cards as a starting hand. From there they judge what move they'll make depending on what cards they have and what card does the dealer show. There are five options or moves that are open to players in a game of blackjack. Whatever move a player makes will be an own individual choice. There are players who choose to follow basic strategy and there are those who don't, so in the end no one is responsible for the outcome of blackjack decisions other than the player who made them.
The least common among the six options open to all players is surrender. There are blackjack tables that allow either a late or early surrender and there are blackjack tables that won't allow either of them. This option can be made before any other decision in a game of blackjack.
The surrender option allows the players to lose only half of the original size of the wager they made before the hands were played. Remember that if players have split, hit, and double down (i.e. any other decision other than surrender) then the surrender option is no longer open. There is an early surrender and there is also an option for a late surrender.
An early surrender means that a player surrenders the initial hand before the dealer checks his hand for a blackjack. The late surrender, as you might have guessed, can be offered by the dealer after checking if the dealer hand is a possible blackjack.
Hitting is a common decision that is made by blackjack players. This simply means to take another card to add to the player's current hand with the hope that it will give a better total. The opposite of this option is to stand. To stand means that the player will stick to the current total of the hand as it is and then compare it to the dealer's total. The only danger with hitting is the possibility of getting a total over 21, known as bust, which, in blackjack, means that that hand loses.
Related to hitting is the double down option. This option in blackjack lets a player take just one more card and then the player doubles the wagered amount. This option is only available for your initial two-card hand. This move is usually done if the situation is advantageous for the player.
The last option is to split, which can only be done if the initial hand consists of two cards of the same value. A player splits the two cards and is dealt an additional card for each of the two initial cards thus making a couple of new hands to play separately against the dealer.
These are the options open to players in blackjack. Players get to judge which move is best suited for them during a game. Basic strategy or not, players still get to choose what moves to play in blackjack.
