Blackjack: Everything You Need to Know

Bryan Carmichael
Feb 21, 2021
4 min read

Updated: Mar 14, 2021

Note: This is the fifth article of a new series I'm writing titled Everything You Need to Know. If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out my previous articles and stay tuned for all future articles.

Introduction

Winner winner, chicken dinner. One of the biggest phrases in cards. It will be said at any blackjack table that has a blackjack winner.

In my previous articles, I’ve taught everything to know about theoretical concepts, scientific facts, artistic, genetic traits as well as medical hormones, so what better idea than to write my twenty first article, on the twenty first day of the month on a card game revolving around the idea of twenty one.

How is Blackjack Played?

Blackjack is played in many forms. For simplicity reasons, we will be playing the American style, as that is where the game is most popular. It is played with everyone getting dealt (from left to right) two cards, one face up followed by one face down. Using the numeric value on the cards (face cards are ten, Ace is one or eleven of the players choice), the aim of the game is to get as close to twenty one as possible. If a player goes over twenty one, they immediately forfeit. If a player is dealt twenty one, it is known as a ‘natural’ blackjack.

Upon a player’s turn, the player can choose to ‘hit’, requesting for another face up card from the deck to add to their total, or ‘stand’, choosing to stick to the current value on the cards. Once all the players have made their decision to either ‘hit’ or ‘stand’, all of the cards are turned face up and the closest player to twenty one is the winner. If there is a joint highest number, the round is declared a tie.

In the case of a tied blackjack, the round is still declared a tie, however, some variants say that if the blackjack is natural, it is considered higher than the unnatural blackjack. Other variants say that if the blackjack contains a black jack card, it takes the win over the others.

How Does Casino Blackjack Differ from Casual Blackjack?

In the casinos, blackjack is played a little differently. Instead of playing against other players, the players each individually play against the dealer. Each player bets a certain number of chips in the betting box before getting dealt cards. In the casino, players get both of their cards face up with the dealer receiving one face up and one face down. To compensate for this, the dealer is obligated to hit until the total reaches at least 17 (with the Ace value at 11).

When all the cards are dealt, each player gets their turn to ‘hit’, ‘stand’, ‘double’, ‘split’ or ‘surrender’. ‘Doubling’ is a double bet, you bet double the money than what was in the betting box and take a single card to add to your total, your turn ends there. ‘Splitting’ is only allowed when you have two cards of the same number. You can choose to split them and be dealt two more cards, playing two simultaneous hands. ‘Surrendering’ is forfeiting half the money in the betting box and keeping the other half, in exchange for folding the round.

If the player gets higher than the dealer, the player wins, and vice versa with the dealer beating the player. If the dealer goes over twenty one, all hands (that have not ‘surrendered’) win. Strategically, you can either ‘hit’ to try and get twenty one, or you can ‘stand’ and hope the dealer goes over twenty one.

What is ‘Counting Cards’ and How Does it Work?

The movie 21 shone a light on something called ‘counting cards’, a way to beat the casino blackjack system. It’s essentially counting and remembering which cards came out of the deck and as such which ones have yet to come out. This is extremely difficult as between one and eight regular decks are shuffled together to make one casino deck.

Ideally, when a casino table deals out more small numbered cards, more big numbered cards are left to come, increasing the chances of twenties and blackjacks. Players will sit at various tables counting cards until a deck gets stacked with big cards, and will then start to bet big.

The simple system looks something like this.

Card values two to six are given a value of +1
Card values seven to nine are given a value of 0
Card values ten to Ace are given a value of -1

Every time a card from two to six is dealt, the count of the entire deck increases by one (plus one chance of dealing a big card in the future). Every time a card from ten to Ace is dealt, the count of the entire deck decreases by one (minus one chance of dealing a big card in the future).

Of course when you first sit down you won’t know how much of the deck has been used previously, but after a while, you can accurately use this system to take advantage of the deck. One a deck reaches a count above +13 or +14, you can start to bet bigger and win bigger.

The best part about counting cards is that it is completely legal to do so in casinos and has been decreed in court that so long as the player is using their brain and not a computer, the method is fine. However, obvious, successful players may be asked to leave for the sake of the casino not going bankrupt.

Conclusion

Blackjack. It is such an interesting game, not only due to the fact that it can be manipulated by simple math, but also because of the millions of people that play it, casually and competitively, all enjoying its very nature. I personally find the idea of card counting very interesting and would be keen to try it out someday.

Not to mention, I only went through the American style of Blackjack. In future, I would be keen to look into foreign variants and see how their styles affect the nature and style of the game. To leave you, here are words you can take home tonight and use anywhere you’d like: winner winner, chicken dinner.