blackjack

Like many other games and in this one the winner is the player with the hand with the highest score ( value of its cards ). In Blackjack the highest hand, which do not exceed 21 is the winner, everyone who has sum greater than 21 is said to to many or bust. The value of the cards is:
- cards with numbers ( from 2 to 10 ) are equal to their face value
- face cards ( jack, queen, king) have value of 10, all of them
- the ace is 11, but if the player is going to bust then the ace have value of 1.
If the player draws a ace as his first card, then his hand is called soft hand because whatever card he draws he cannot be bust.

The goal for the players is to beat the hand of the dealer i.e. they must have a hand greater than his, but also not to be busted (value above 21). Its important to say, that if both - the player and dealer busts, the player loses and the dealer wins the round. If the hand's value of the player and the dealer is the same then nobody of them wins and this situation is called push. But because each player at the table plays a independent game with the dealer its possible that some players may lose, some win and some are in push.

The minimum and maximum bets varies from casino to casino, but everywhere they are printed on a sign on the table. After the initial bets are placed the dealer deals two cards to the players and to himself. One of the cards of the dealer is faced up( all of the players see it ) and one is face down (called hole card ). The cards are dealt face up from a shoe or face down if it is a pitch game. If you play a European version of Blackjack, you must know that the hole card is dealt after the players have played their hands.

In American version of Blackjack, if the dealer's face up card has a value of 10 or 11, he check his hole card, to say if he has blackjack, this check occurs before any of the players have played, but after they have been offered insurance(if the face up card is an ace). If the dealer have Blackjack, all players lose their initial bets, except the player who also have Blackjack and thus they are in push

If a player has a two-card hand of 21(a ace plus a card with value of ten ) then he is the winner, unless the dealer has hand with value of 21 also, which leads to push. This hand is called "blackjack" or a "natural" and player holding it is usually paid 3:2 on his bet, in some casinos the player is paid only 6:5 and this payout increases the house advantage over a player with approximately 1000%.

During a deal, the player decisions are as followed: