Blackjack Online
Indian online casinos offer almost endless possibilities for playing different forms of blackjack.
Blackjack rules - as close to 21 but no more
Blackjack is one of the most classic table games out there and it can be played in a variety of different ways. In blackjack, you never play against other players, instead, everyone plays against a dealer.
The cards in the game have different values that also determine what your hand is worth, and these values are the same regardless of the suit of a card.
The cards with 2-9 on them simply have the values written on the cards.
10, jack (J), queen (Q), and king (K) are all worth 10 and finally is
ace (A) worth 1 or 11.
The goal when playing blackjack is for the value of the cards you are dealt to land as close to 21 as possible. The dealer, in turn, has the same goal, and it thus applies that you get closer to 21 than what the dealer manages to do to win the round. However, you don't want to end up over 21 because then you bust, or get fat, as it is also called when the value of your cards lands above 21.
Below is a slightly simplified version of the game to give an overview of the game's basic principles, however, there are variations and more advanced betting options, but we will cover those later.
The game round
When you sit down at a blackjack table, you will find a bet box in front of you, and to be in the game you of course need to place a bet. When all players have placed their bets, the game begins.
The dealer (or the banker as he may also be called) then deals clockwise, starting from the player to the left of the dealer (the dealer's left), one face-up card at a time until everyone except the dealer has two cards. The second card that the dealer gives is placed upside down (dark), the dealer, however, sneaks a peek at it and if it means blackjack, it is also turned over and the game is over.
One of the dealer's cards is now face up and visible to all players, while the other is face down. All players who were dealt blackjack (a ten or face card along with an ace) are paid the winnings (usually 2:1) and they are done for this round. The remaining players around the table have two face up cards in front of them, and this is when the fun begins.
The players at the table can then, starting from the left of the dealer, choose whether they want to stay or take another card (more advanced options are also available, but you can read more about them later), until they are satisfied with their hand. If the player exceeds 21, they are out and lose their bet regardless of how the dealer fares.
When all players are done, the dealer turns over his second card. If the dealer's combined value of the cards is below 17, the dealer must continue to take cards, but if the value is 17 or more, the dealer will not take any more cards (sometimes the table rules may require the dealer to take cards if he has a "soft 17" hand, see below on what is meant by "soft" and hard "hands").
When the dealer has stopped or gone over 21, the result is compared against the players in turn, and any winnings are paid out. Different varieties of blackjack can pay differently, but the most common is that you get your bet back and the same amount if you beat the bank. If a player and the bank have the same result, the bank usually wins, but some variations can return the bet.
Blackjack strategy for beginners and tips
Getting started with blackjack is a breeze, but don't jump into the live casino all at once where it moves pretty quickly. We recommend NetEnt's Blackjack Pro, which at first glance may look advanced, but when you can take it at your own pace and at the same time be exposed to slightly more advanced concepts and rules, the learning becomes effective.
Check out our article that goes deeper into more blackjack strategies
Take it easy, play with pretend money, and consult the very clear regulations. Before long, you will have grasped the rules of the game and can start experimenting with different strategies.
The basic strategy in blackjack
The first step to start "thinking blackjack" is to not focus so much on your hand. The dealer's actions are always dictated by the rules, which means you can always predict their next move.
Example with a dealer showing a five, and:
Regardless of which card is turned up, the dealer will be forced to take a card
That the card that is turned up is higher than seven is also likely as there are more of these in the deck
The dealer will, therefore sit on a hand worth 12-16 but must take a card
A card worth ten, of which there are a few, will therefore guarantee that the dealer will be fat
A good way to learn which hands are good is to find out a blackjack slot dog. It can get a little mechanical to follow it slavishly but it's a good way to take a shortcut to smart decisions, and in the long run, you'll start to understand why you made them.
Is it worth counting cards in blackjack?
Another fact about the game of blackjack is that a game round, unlike roulette or slot machines, is affected by previous game rounds (provided that the deck has not been reshuffled). A deck has a certain number of cards and after a round of play, both the player's and the dealer's cards are known. By counting backwards, you can thus figure out what is left in the deck, and what the probability is of drawing a certain denomination.
As it is relatively easy to count cards when you are sitting in front of the computer - with software or self-playing bots - online casinos have of course done their utmost to prevent this from being exploited. Most random number-based variants of blackjack shuffle the deck after each round. Alternatively, up to 6 games are used, which makes it statistically impossible to make half-reasonable predictions. That said, it's still good brain exercise.
You get the best experience by playing blackjack live
Playing blackjack against a live dealer is something that is steadily growing in popularity. This is done via a TV link where a dealer in the form of a real person is standing on the other side of the table, and you can also interact with the dealer in real-time. Playing blackjack live gives a much more authentic gaming feeling.
It is more or less exactly like being at a physical casino from the comfort of your own home, or wherever you are as long as you have access to a computer, tablet, or mobile phone and an internet connection. Playing blackjack in a live casino works exactly as we described above, but an important thing to keep in mind is that it goes much faster when you play live blackjack.
Live casinos cannot be tested with pretend money either. It's always a tight spot there, but there are plenty of tables to choose from and bet levels to suit most people.
