Blackjack Help
Blackjack, also known as "21," is one of the most popular card games in the world. All inPlay Blackjack remains true to the version played in casinos everywhere, with a couple exceptions that are specified later in this document.
Playing your First Hand
Want to get started right away without reading about all of the complexities of the game? This section is for you. There are, however, some things you need to know before you play your first hand.
First of all, in Blackjack, each player plays against the dealer, rather than each other. You can have up to four players with you at a table, but remember, what happens to another player does not affect you and vice versa.
In addition, there are some terms you'll need to be familiar with:
- Hard Hand: A hand without an Ace, or with an Ace valued at one, is said to be Hard, in that it can only be given one value, unlike a Soft Hand. You can value an Ace as one or eleven, whichever best suits your situation.
- Soft Hand: A hand that contains an Ace that is counted as 11 is called a Soft Hand.
- Push: When a player ties the dealer, it is known as a push, and no money changes hands.
That's all you need to know to play your first hand. If you want to know more about the rules and the various types of winning hands, read on down the page for the specifics. For now, let's walk through our first hand.
Once you join a table, you'll hear the intro music, and you'll be told the names of the other players that are with you at the table. While there's a hand in progress, you'll be told so, and you can listen to what's happening with the hand until its conclusion. After that, your hand will start. You'll hear a sound letting you know that a new hand has started and then you'll hear some music. There are three types of music you'll hear, all of which are centered around the same drum and bass theme. When you start a new hand, the first tune you hear is played when its time to bet. In Blackjack, all players bet at the same time; there's no need to take turns. Enter any amount you'd like to bet, up to the table maximum. Once everyone has bet, or the betting time has expired, you'll move to the next phase of the game.
After betting, you'll notice a change in the music. If it's your turn to play, you'll hear a funky guitar tune. Otherwise, you'll hear the basic drum and bass tune. At this point, you'll be dealt your two cards. You'll hear each card, followed by the total value of your hand. Then you'll be told the card the dealer is showing. Once you hear the guitar, (and the speech prompt,) it's decision time. Note that depending on your hand, you may have an additional option. Here are your choices:
- Hit: Press H to hit. This will cause the dealer to deal you another card. You'll be told the new card, along with your current total. You'll then be prompted to either hit again or stand.
- Double Down: Press D to double down. If you think you're next card has a good chance of giving you a hand value at or close to 21, doubling down is the thing to do. It will double your current bet, and the dealer will deal you one card. Note that you can't hit again after this; you're stuck with your hand as it stands after you double down. Also, you can only double down as your first action when you have 2 cards and enough chips to double your bet.
- Surrender: Press Q to surrender. Do this if you want to opt out of the current hand. You will forfeit half your bet.
- Split: (Optional) Press P to split. If you have two cards of the same value, you'll be given the option to split. This will split your one hand into two and double your bet at the same time. You'll be dealt one more card for each hand, and then you'll be given options for each of your two hands. Yes, you can split again, up to three times, if you're dealt the appropriate cards.
- Stand: Press S to stand. Standing tells the dealer, and everyone else, that you're perfectly happy with your total as it is now.
After everyone has taken their turn, the dealer will play, which will finish the hand. At the end, you'll be told whether you won, lost or pushed, along with how many chips you won or lost.
Blackjack Hot Keys
In addition to the standard keys used to play your hand, there are a few handy hot keys in Blackjack:
- M: During betting, this will bet the maximum amount allowed.
- L: During betting, this causes you to let your previous winnings ride (up to the maximum bet for the table), meaning you don't add anything to the chips you have on the table.
- Enter: During betting, this will place the same bet you made last hand.
- U: This will tell you the card the dealer is currently showing.
- Space: This will tell you the value of your current hand.
- Shift+space: This will read the cards in your current hand.
Player Friendly Rules
Although we tried to stick withh the most common casino Blackjack rules, we made a few modifications to make things more fun for our players.
- You'll notice that unlike in a casino, the same player doesn't always go first. In All inPlay Blackjack, we rotate who goes first for each hand, just to keep things interesting.
- if a player gets 21 and the dealer has blackjack, we call it a push. Normally, the dealer would win.
- players can split aces and if you get a 10 value card on the split, it *is* a blackjack. Most (perhaps all) casinos have a rule that this is not blackjack, simply a hand with value 21.
- a player's 5 card charlie beats the dealer's blackjack.
- you can split up to 3 times with no restrictions on what can be split. (Some casinos won't let you re-split aces.)
Number of Decks
The default number of decks is 5. If it is different, it will be clear from the table name. If there is only one deck, the cards are shuffled before each hand. With greater than one deck, a "spacer" is placed randomly somewhere near the middle of the shoe, (a "shoe" is a collection of decks.) When that spacer is encountered, the entire deck is reshuffled.
Dealer Rules
In blackjack, the dealer is very limited in what he can do. The dealer must continue to take cards ("hit") until his total is 17 or greater. An Ace in the dealer's hand is always counted as 11, if that is possible without the dealer going over 21.
Payout
Here are the default payouts for All inPlay Blackjack. Please note that tournaments and/or special tables may have different payouts to spice things up a bit.
- Blackjack - player has an ace and a 10 value card. This pays 3 to 2, or 1.5 times your bet.
- Diamond Blackjack - player gets blackjack where both cards are diamond suit. Pays 3 to 1, or three times your bet.
- True Blackjack - player gets the jack and ace of spades. Pays 3 to 1.
- Five Card Charlie - player has 5 cards that total less than 21. This pays 2 to 1, or twice your bet.
- Five Card 21 - player gets 21 with 5 cards. This pays 5 to 1.
- Triple 7s - player has three 7s. This pays 10 to 1.
Going Broke
Please see the play page for deatils on what happens when you go broke.
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