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How to Play Blackjack (single player)
Blackjack is played
with eight fifty-two card decks. After each game
has been played, the used cards are shuffled back
into the deck. All face cards are valued at ten
and the cards from 2-10 are valued as indicated.
Aces can be valued at either one or eleven; if
counting the Ace as eleven would put the hand over
twenty-one, the Ace is automatically counted as
one instead. You do not need to specify which
value the Ace has as it's always assumed to have
the value that makes the best hand. The value of a
hand is the sum of the values of the individual
cards. For example, a hand containing a Jack, 3,
and 4 has a value of 17.
Betting: Your chips are stacked by denomination ($1,
$5, $25, $100, $500) at the bottom of the screen
above your User label. Select the amount you would
like to wager on a given hand by clicking the left
mouse button on the chip of that denomination. The
amount wagered per hand may be increased or
decreased by placing the mouse on the stack that
you wish to add or subtract to your bet. Each time
you click the left mouse button you will add a
chip from that pile to your planned wager amount.
Likewise by clicking on the right mouse button you
can decrease your planned wager amount. You may
repeat your last bet by simply hitting the "0"
button of your numeric keyboard. Other keyboard
shortcuts are summarized below. If you place a
wager that is lower than the minimum table bet
limit, your bet amount will be automatically
adjusted to the minimum bet amount.
To
start: You begin a hand of blackjack by
placing a bet on the table as described above. You
will then receive two cards face up. The dealer
will receive one card face up and one face down.
Once you have been dealt your two cards (and based
on the nature of these cards) you can do the
following by clicking with the left mouse button
on the appropriate button:
Hit:
Requests another card. You can request
a hit as many times as you like, but if your total
goes over twenty-one, you will "bust" and lose the
hand.
Stand:
Requests that
you receive no more cards. The hand as it
currently stands will be judged against the
dealers.
Split:
If you have
two cards of the same denomination, a Split button
will appear. This option will only be active
immediately after you receive your first two cards. You can split your cards into two hands and
play each hand separately. Your original bet will
be duplicated for the new hand. Each hand will be
played out as usual except when splitting Aces,
where only one additional card per hand is dealt.
A white box displaying your card total will appear
over each hand indicating which hand is active.
The split option can only be used once per hand -
you cannot split part of a split hand. Any winning
21 obtained after splitting a pair is paid 1-to-1.
Double Down:
If you select
this option, three things will happen: you will
get exactly one more card, your turn will end, and
your bet will be doubled. This option will only be
active immediately after you receive your first
two cards.
Insurance:
Whenever the dealer's up-card is an Ace,
the player has the option of taking insurance for
half the amount of the bet.
If you wish to
take insurance, click on the "Insurance"
button.
If you do not wish to take insurance, you simply
click on the "Pass" button to proceed with the
rest of the hand.
When you buy insurance,
you are effectively betting on the fact that the
dealer's down card is a ten or face card, ie. a
natural blackjack.
If the dealer does have
a 10 ranking card, the player is immediately paid
2-to-1 on the insurance bet, but the original
wager is lost unless the player too has a
blackjack and pushes with the dealer. If the
dealer does not have a natural blackjack, the rest
of the hand is played out as usual, and you lose
your insurance money.
If you eventually
win the hand, you will get back your original bet
plus the same amount in profit.
If you win
with a natural blackjack, you will be paid off at
3-to-2 odds, which means you get your original bet
back plus 150% profit. (So if you bet $50 and win
with a natural twenty-one, you get $50 (your bet)
plus $75 (your bet plus half of your bet), which
totals to $125.
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