Black Jack

The blackjack, also called twenty-one, is a card game, typical of casinos with one or more English decks of 52 cards without the wildcards, which consists of adding a value closest to 21 but without going over. In a casino, each player at the table plays only against the dealer, trying to get a better hand than the dealer. The dealer is subject to fixed rules that prevent him from making decisions about the game. For example, he is obligated to hit whenever his score totals 16 or less, and is obligated to stand if he totals 17 or more. The number cards add their value, the face cards add up to 10 and the ace is worth 11 or 1, at the player's choice. In the case of the dealer, aces are worth 11 as long as they do not exceed 21, and 1 otherwise. The best play is to get 21 with only two cards, that is with an Ace plus a card of value 10. This play is known as Blackjack or natural 21. A blackjack wins on a 21 obtained with more than two cards.

It is played on a semicircular table with a capacity normally of 4 to 7 players, each of whom has a marked box on the table to place their bet before receiving the 2 initial cards of each hand. This bet must be made on each hand, necessarily before the first card is put into play.

History

Blackjack, a game of unknown origin, is the precursor of blackjack. The first written reference to this game is contained in the picaresque work of Miguel de Cervantes, Rinconete y Cortadillo. It presents two fraudsters who make a poor living in the Spanish city of Seville playing blackjack. The text describes that the objective of the game is to score twenty-one points without going over, and that the ace is worth one or eleven points. Since this story was written between 1601 and 1602, it follows that blackjack was played in Castile since the beginning of the XVII century. or even before. The game in the United States was popularized by the French colonists, who around 1820 settled in the southeast of the country in the city of New Orleans where the game was legal. Around 1849, with the gold rush, the game was incorporated into the halls of the American West, some casinos invented a special bet, the "black jack", consisting of paying ten times what the player bet if they won with the J (Jack) of clubs or spades (the black suits), imposing the name of the blackjack hand on that of the game twenty-one. Already in the century XX, in American casinos, the game acquired its current format which includes special prizes (bonuses also called independent bets).

In today's blackjack, the casino's advantage lies in the fact that the player hits first, having the possibility of going bust. In the event that you pass, you automatically lose the bet, eliminating the possibility of a tie. Even if the dealer also busted, the player would have already lost previously, so the casino would have already collected the bet.

The advantage for the casino is reduced by the player's ability to see one of the dealer's cards and make decisions regarding it. Thus a player can stand with 16 or less, waiting for the dealer to bust, something the dealer is not allowed to do. You can also double the bet when you believe that your cards are favorable with respect to the dealer's visible card, or you can spread the cards when you have two of a kind and therefore play several hands against the dealer in a hand that you consider unfavorable for him. With a proper gaming strategy, the chances of beating the dealer are significantly increased. However, studies show that even if the player always plays in the most favorable way, the casino still has a small advantage in terms of the player ending up busting or falling behind the dealer, therefore losing his bet.

A technique used by some players is card counting. The simplest technique is to add +1 for each low card (2 to 6) that reaches the table, which benefits the player for the following rounds as there is a greater chance of obtaining high cards and scores, or subtract -1 for each Ace or card with a value of 10 that reaches the table, which harms the player for the following rounds. The intermediate cards (7 to 9) do not add or subtract. When you are in positive score, there is a greater chance that the player will get a good play, so you can bet higher. On the other hand, with a negative score the chances of getting a good hand are worse, so the bets should be lower.

There have been very skilled card counters, who made great fortunes with this technique in casinos, but this game is more beneficial with team play than with individual play. Although all players at the table only have competition against the dealer, the distribution of cards can be sufficiently random and unpredictable playing only against the dealer. Ken Uston has been considered by many experts to be the greatest advantage game scorer in history.

Card scorers are not well regarded in casinos, and if the casino detects, or simply suspects, that a player is counting, they will invite him to change games, or simply expel him from the casino under the right of admission.

However, this game will not cease to be deterministic against number generators, computer simulations and continuous shufflers because it is inevitable that the player will have 55 possible starting hands with two cards: 10 hard hands, 10 soft hands, 10 pairs, 10 hands with ten possible cards, 553 possible combinations versus the dealer's visible card, and the dealer will always inevitably have 10 visible starting cards per hand and 45 possible final totals per hand.

The value of the cards

As you may have already deduced, the value of the cards in Blackjack is very important because we must know at all times the sum of our hand and that of the dealer to know what decision to make. If we do not know how much our hand is worth, we will never be able to apply a strategy that allows us to win. The values that the cards take are the following: from card two (2) to card ten (10), the value of the card is its own number. The figures are worth ten (10). The Aces can be worth one (1) or eleven (11) and it will be the player who decides what value the Aces take at each moment of the game.

Game development

The dealer deals two visible cards to each player. The value of the Ace is 11 or +1, the face cards are worth 10, and the number cards their original value. The value of the Ace can be changed according to the need not to go over the number 21. If a player receives an Ace together with a card of value 10, he automatically obtains blackjack, winning the bet unless the dealer also obtains blackjack. After finishing dealing the first two cards to each player, the dealer will then place his first card face up so that it is visible to the rest of the players, who will be able to make their decisions based on that card, while the dealer will have a second card. card face down waiting for your turn. Each player competes only against the dealer, being indifferent to the cards held by the rest of the other players.

Each player has the opportunity to stand and keep any score, or to draw more cards until reaching 21 points. Reaching 21 points with more than one extra card is not considered blackjack, and is therefore inferior to blackjack with two cards. If when requesting a new card the player exceeds 21, the player automatically loses the game and his cards and bet will be removed by the dealer. When all players have asked for their cards, the dealer will show his second card face down and draw more cards if necessary until he has 17 or more points to reach the number 21, at which point he will stand.

Between the dealer and each player, the final winner is whoever obtains blackjack (As+10) or whoever has the highest score without exceeding 21 points, with the possibility of a tie and recovering the bet.

Game rules in casinos

Depending on the casino where it is played, blackjack can have different variants. In general there are two versions of blackjack, European and American. The difference between them is that in the case of the American, the dealer, after placing his first card visible, will draw his second card that will be covered, but in the event that with the visible card there is a possibility of getting blackjack (an Ace or an value 10 card visible), will check the second card before continuing to see if it has blackjack. In the case of having blackjack, he will communicate this immediately by ending the hand, so if the game continues due to not having blackjack, we will know that we are not playing against the dealer's blackjack. However in the case of European blackjack, the dealer's second card is not drawn until all players have played his hand, drawing their second card last. In this case, there is a possibility that after increasing our bet, the dealer will obtain blackjack. For the player, American blackjack is more advantageous than European blackjack.

The basic game consists of a table with capacity for up to 7 players, and a dealer, who will be the permanent opponent of the players on behalf of the casino. Each player has the right to a space where he will receive two cards and can make the bet he wants, as long as it adheres to the maximum and minimum amounts that each casino has. On each table he will find the maximum and minimum amounts that can be played. Depending on the casino or even the table, it will be played with cards shuffled manually by the dealer, playing between 4 to 8 decks, using a shoe from which he will draw the cards as the game progresses; or with cards shuffled by an automatic machine where the number of decks varies. The basic rules of this game were established several years ago, but as time has passed, certain modifications have emerged that make playing blackjack a little more complex and require more attention.

The common rules are that the player's direct blackjack normally pays 3 to 2, unless the dealer also has a blackjack and a tie. If the dealer's visible card is an Ace, each player will be offered the opportunity to purchase insurance in case the dealer has blackjack. Insurance consists of putting half of the initial bet to cover possible loss. If the dealer had blackjack, he will collect all the bets that did not have blackjack and will pay the insurance at a rate of 2 to 1, while if he does not have blackjack, he will withdraw the insurance amount. In the case of American blackjack, it is also common that if the player has blackjack and the dealer has an Ace visible, he is offered the possibility of cashing the blackjack with a 2 to 1 (instead of the usual 3 to 2) as an alternative to the insurance purchase. This decision must be made before the dealer checks if he has blackjack, since if the dealer had blackjack, there would be a tie between the dealer and the player and the latter would only recover his initial bet without winnings. In general, experts do not recommend the purchase of insurance, since statistically the possibility that with a visible Ace the dealer will have blackjack is lower than the possibility that he will not have it.

A player has the possibility of doubling his bet after receiving his first two cards, but this means necessarily asking for a new card and standing after that card regardless of its score. In some casinos the possibility of doubling the bet is limited to the player initially having 9, 10 or 11 points with the first two cards.

When the player receives the first two cards of the same value, he has the option to separate both cards into two different bets, also doubling the bet made. In this case each bet plays separately against the dealer. If the split cards correspond to two aces, you will only be allowed to draw one additional card in each of the two split bets. If, by separating the bet into two cards, 21 points are achieved in one of them with only two cards, in this case it will not be considered blackjack.

Terminology

• Fold: putting an additional bet to the initial, the dealer serves the player a single card on the two initials. Each casino in the world has different rules for this play; some allow to double always, whatever the first two cards are, others only allow to double if the first two cards add 9, 10 or even 11.
• Separate: if the first two cards are of the same numerical value, the player can separate them, placing an additional bet. On each of the separate cards is served one more, constituting each two card game an independent play. If the second card served on each move is equal to the first one, you can separate that play again by putting another bet, and so on.
• Secure/insurance: play that consists of betting that the dealer will get Blackjack, when his first card is an Ace. You can't bet on this move over half the initial bet. If the dealer gets a Blackjack pays the player twice the insurance bet. The basic strategy says that insurance should not be wagered, due to the low chance of winning the dealer.
• To surrender: if you consider that your first two cards will not be able to beat the dealer, surrendering will only be charged to the player half of their initial bet. This rule does not exist in many casinos in the world, mainly European countries.

Although the rules vary subtly between casinos, there are two main variants of the game: American and European Blackjack.<!R2> The difference is that while in European Blackjack the dealer deals only one card face up before handing over the turn to the players, in American Blackjack he deals two cards, the second being covered up. In the event that the revealed card is an Ace or a card worth 10, the dealer checks the value of the hidden card before passing the turn. If this allows him to make Blackjack, he does not pass the turn to the players, the dealer reveals the card, the players who have Blackjack tie with the dealer, that is, they do not win but they do not lose anything and the players who do not have Blackjack lose their bet.

The difference in the distribution of cards to the dealer in American and European Blackjack affects the casino's advantage. The casino has a greater advantage in American Blackjack for several reasons: when the dealer's face-up card indicates that he can get Blackjack, it will check the value of the face-down card; if he has Blackjack, the dealer does not give the players a turn and the game is over. If you do not have Blackjack, the dealer gives turns to the players who will play with the certainty that the dealer does not have the maximum play, very valuable information to know whether to split or double. In European Blackjack, players always play before the dealer, not knowing if the dealer will get Blackjack or not, and can double or split; If the dealer gets Blackjack, the players who doubled or split will lose all bets made.

Therefore, when playing European Blackjack and the dealer's card shows that there is a chance that the dealer will get Blackjack, it is advisable not to risk doubling or splitting. Another advantage of American Blackjack for the player is the option to collect money from a tie with a Blackjack hand for the same amount that was bet, that is, when the player has 21 natural and the dealer has a visible Ace, the player can collect 1:1 and not secure and the dealer does not continue with the second card which is not beneficial, that is to say collect at a rate of 1 to 1 and not at a rate of 3 to 2. When the dealer's revealed card is an Ace, in this case, the players with Blackjack may collect it for an amount equal to the bet before the dealer checks the value of the hidden card.

Steps during a blackjack game

Initially a blackjack game begins when the dealer begins to deal the cards to the players. Depending on the modality, one or two cards will be dealt to each player. Remember that one of those cards is covered. Subsequently, there may be the case in which the bank has a starting blackjack, although if this is not the case, each player decides their next action during the game turn.

Next, we give way to the banker's turn, where each player must show the hidden card or receive a new one if the game mode is American or European. The rules of blackjack force the dealer to hit if he has less than 16 points and stand if he has between 17 and 21 points. This is known as "banker's turn".

Finally, the 'payout' turn comes, where the hand ends. If the bank does not win the blackjack, it pays 3 to 2 (2.5 units for each bet). If the bank wins the blackjack, the payout is 1 to 1. If the result is a tie, the bets are voided and the stake is returned to each player.