Rules for Playing Blackjack (page #2)

Insurance

Insurance is designed to protect you when you think that the dealer may have blackjack. When buying insurance, you place ½ of your initial bet by pressing the 'Insurance' Button. If the dealer does have blackjack, you are paid 2 to 1 on your insurance bet. If the dealer doesn't have blackjack, you lose your insurance bet.

Blackjack Rules Glossary

BLACKJACK: A hand consisting of an Ace and a 10-value card (10, Jack, Queen or King) totalling 21. Pays 3-2.
BROKE or BUST: Going over '21' with additional cards drawn to the original hand.
HARD TOTAL: A hand with no Aces or where the Ace is counted as '1.' For example, a nine-eight combination counts as a hard '17'.
HIT or DRAW: Adding a card to your hand in an effort to come closer to 21, without going over.
INSURANCE: When the dealer shows an Ace as the upcard, you can bet up to one-half the amount of your original wager that the dealer has a Blackjack. Insurance pays 2-1 if the dealer does, in fact, have blackjack. If he doesn't, the house collects the insurance bet. NATURAL: A Blackjack dealt with the original two cards. An ace and a face card.
PUSH: Player and dealer tie. The money bet is retained by the player.
SOFT TOTAL: A hand with an Ace that counts as an '11'. For example, an Ace-8 combination counts as a soft '19.
STAND: The player doesn't want any more cards and so 'stands' with the cards he has.
STIFF: A hand that could go bust by adding one more card. For example any hard 12-16 combination is a stiff.
SURRENDER: In some casinos, the player is allowed to forfeit half of their original bet if the player does not want to play against the dealer's hand. For example, the player has a bet out of $10 and is dealt a 7 and a 9 card for a total of 16 and the dealer's card is showing a 10. If the player now says "surrender" the dealer will remove the players cards and $5 of the player's original bet, leaving the player with $5. We do not recommend using surrender. Check with the dealer on the casino house rules.
UPCARD: The face up card in the dealer's original hand.

Now that you know the basic rules of the table in blackjack, you need to know how to play skillfully.

Basic Strategy

The rules of basic strategy explain the safest way to play out your blackjack hand in order to come out a winner in the long run.
In order to determine which basic strategy chart applies to the blackjack table at Gold Club Casino, these house rules are important:
The dealer must draw cards until his hand totals at least 17, and must stand at 17 or higher.
The single deck is shuffled after each round. (In traditional casinos, players can better their chances of winning by learning how to count cards in an effort to predict the cards still left in the deck. However, since the deck is shuffled after each round at Gold Club, card counting is not possible. )
Players are allowed to double after splitting, but are not allowed to re-split a split hand.

Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart

In the following chart, look for the value of your hand in the left-hand column. Then look for the value of dealer's upcard in the top row. (A = Ace, 10 = 10 or Picture Card) The chart will tell you which option is statistically favorable:

S = Stand
H = Hit
D = Double Down
P = SPlit
The Dealer's Upcard

Here are some strategies. No matter what the dealer's upcard is:
Always split a pair of aces.
Always split a pair of 8s.
Always stand on 17 and up.
Always double on 11.

If you're going sit down at a blackjack table to play at a traditional casino, it's advisable memorize the correct chart.