Blackjack Terms & Phrases
Blackjack: an automatic victory for the player, where the cards they have been dealt are an Ace and a card valued at 10.
Bust: loss for either player or dealer because the total value of their hand exceeds 21.
Face card: One of the royal cards, any suite.
Hard hand: a hand that either does not have a card present, or where it is not possible for the ace in the hand to be valued as eleven.
Hit/draw: to acquire additional cards and add them to the current hand
Hole card: the card that is face down and in the possession of the dealer
Insurance: an option for the player in the event that the dealer happens to have an ace as a face up card.
push: a draw.
Soft hand: where either dealer or player has a hand that includes an ace.
Split: to divide a pair of cards to form two hands
Stand: to skip a turn without taking any cards
Stiff hand: if the hand is valued between 12-16
Surrender: only available to the player, means they forfeit the round with 50% of their bet.
In the game of blackjack, the primary goal is to try and get a hand that is of a higher value than the dealer. However, if you should exceed 21 then you will lose automatically. If you are able to acquire a blackjack hand then you will actually get 3 times versus 2 times of your bet. This bonus is nullified if the dealer ALSO happens to have blackjack.
Aces can either be valued at 1 or 11 dependent on the value of the face cards. Blackjack will always trump a hand that is 21 from other cards. According to the rules, the dealer is required to continue drawing cards until they reach a value of 17. When they reach this figure, they must stand and draw no more cards.
Make sure that you stand if the value of the first two cards in your hand are a good value as you will run the risk of losing if you continue to draw additional cards.
Double down: here, your bet will be doubled and you are permitted to draw one additional card and add it to your hand. Whether this is a good idea is up to you, in the circumstances.
Splitting is a good idea if you find that you have a pair of cards which are of the same value. Many online casinos operate a slight quirk to the rules of the game by requiring that the player draws an additional card in the event that they split a pair of aces.
Stay away from insurance, the reason for this is because it provides limited protection and actually benefits the dealer more than it benefits you. The reason for this is that if you purchase the insurance and then discover that the dealer does not actually have blackjack, then you will end up forfeiting the value of your insurance wager. If both the player and the dealer manage to have blackjack, then the game is declared a push and so the player will receive their insurance back and does not lose anything. The chances of acquiring a blackjack are so low, that they do not justify the high cost associated with the insurance approach.
surrender is not commonly permitted within many internet casinos, however it can be a good way to avoid total destruction of your bankroll.
