Dealer blackjack rules

The goal in any hand of Blackjack is to beat the dealer. To do this, you must have a hand that scores higher than the dealer's hand, but does not exceed 21 in. HOW TO PLAY BLACKJACK. Rules. A blackjack game has a dealer and one or more players. Each player plays against the dealer. All players get two cards to. Blackjack dealers have no options for the in-game decisions of whether to hit or stay; they follow a strict algorithm that will depend on. Stand on 17+ – The first rule in blackjack is to stand on a hard 17, or higher. Even if the dealer is dealer blackjack rules an Ace or 10, it is best to hold.

Dealing & Hosting a Party

Do dealers win ties in blackjack? In blackjack, a tie, also known as a "push," occurs when both the player and the dealer have the same total value of their hands. In this situation, the player neither wins nor loses; instead, the bet is returned to the player. The dealer does not win in the event of a tie.

Does dealer automatically win on 21? If the dealer goes over 21, the dealer pays each player who has stood the amount of that player's bet. If the dealer stands at 21 or less, the dealer pays the bet of any player having a higher total (not exceeding 21) and collects the bet of any player having a lower total.

What is the rule of dealer in blackjack? A blackjack dealer manages operations at a blackjack table, typically in a casino. They shuffle the deck of cards, count chips, handle money, and follow gaming regulations.

Who wins if you and the dealer both have 21? In standard blackjack (also known as 21), if both players (or a player and the dealer) are dealt a blackjack, it results in a push or a tie. This means that neither player wins nor loses, and their bets are returned to them.

What are the rules for the dealer at 21? Once all cards are drawn, whoever has a total closer to 21 than the dealer wins. If player's hand and dealer's hand have an equal value, it's a tie. All winning bets are paid 1/1 but when you get Blackjack you get paid 3/2.

Does dealer count ace as 1 or 11? The Dealer's first ace counts as 11 unless it busts the hand. Subsequent aces count as one. If the player's total is closer to 21 than the Dealer's, the player wins even money (1 – 1). If the player's total is lower than the Dealer's total then their Blackjack wager will be lost to the House.

Do you hit on 16 blackjack dealer? This is the rule of the game of Blackjack, and unlike the players who have a decision of whether to hit or stand and have the opportunity to split and double down, dealers do not have any choice on how they play the game, and must always hit a 16 or lower and stand on 17 or higher.

What happens in blackjack if the dealer has 21? A player total of 21 on the first two cards is a "natural" or "blackjack", and the player wins immediately unless the dealer also has one, in which case the hand ties. In the case of a tie ("push" or "standoff"), bets are returned without adjustment.

All players get two cards to begin and can ask for more until they bust their total exceeds 21 or they stand are happy with the total of their cards. Face cards count 10, ace may be 1 or The dealer is dealt one card face up and one face down, and plays a fixed strategy: hit 16 or less i. The player loses if they bust, wins if they do not bust and the dealer does. No money changes hands in the case of ties.

Strategies for the player. Many people assume that the best strategy for the player is to mimic the dealer. A second conservative strategy is called never bust : hit 11 or less, stand on 12 or more. Each of these strategies leads to a player disadvantage of about 6 per cent, i.

Edward Thorp in his book Beat the Dealer describes a simple strategy that makes blackjack almost an even game. Soft Hands. Wins are paid out at even money, except for player blackjacks, which are traditionally paid out at 3 to 2 odds. Many casinos today pay blackjacks at less than This is common in single-deck blackjack games.

Blackjack games usually offer a side bet called insurance , which may be placed when the dealer's face-up card is an ace. Additional side bets, such as "Dealer Match" which pays when the player's cards match the dealer's up card, are also sometimes available. After the initial two cards, the player has up to five options: "hit", "stand", "double down", "split", or "surrender".

Each option has a corresponding hand signal. Hand signals help the " eye in the sky " make a video recording of the table, which resolves disputes and identifies dealer mistakes. It is also used to protect the casino against dealers who steal chips or players who cheat. Recordings can also identify advantage players.

When a player's hand signal disagrees with their words, the hand signal takes precedence. Dealer blackjack rules A hand can "hit" as often as desired until the total is 21 or more. Players must stand on a total of After a bust or a stand, play proceeds to the next hand clockwise around the table. After the last hand is played, the dealer reveals the hole card and stands or draws according to the game's rules.

When the outcome of the dealer's hand is established, any hands with bets remaining on the table are resolved usually in counterclockwise order ; bets on losing hands are forfeited, the bet on a push is left on the table, and winners are paid out. If the dealer shows an ace, an "insurance" bet is allowed. Insurance is a side bet that the dealer has a blackjack.

The dealer asks for insurance bets before the first player plays. Insurance bets of up to half the player's current bet are placed on the "insurance bar" above the player's cards. If the dealer has a blackjack, insurance pays 2 to 1. In most casinos, the dealer looks at the down card and pays off or takes the insurance bet immediately.

In other casinos, the payoff waits until the end of the play. In face-down games, if a player has more than one hand, they can look at all their hands before deciding. This is the only condition where a player can look at multiple hands. Players with blackjack can also take insurance.

When this happens, it is called 'even money,' as the player is giving up their payout for a payout when taking insurance with a blackjack, under the condition that they still get paid if the dealer also has a blackjack. Insurance bets lose money in the long run. The dealer has a blackjack less than one-third of the time. In some games, players can also take insurance when a valued card shows, but the dealer has an ace in the hole less than one-tenth of the time.

The insurance bet is susceptible to advantage play. It is advantageous to make an insurance bet whenever the hole card has more than a one in three chance of being a ten. Card counting techniques can identify such situations. Note: Where changes in the house edge due to changes in the rules are stated in percentage terms, the difference is usually stated here in percentage points , not a percentage.

Blackjack rules are generally set by regulations that establish permissible rule variations at the casino's discretion. Most of the house's edge comes from the fact that the player loses when both the player and dealer bust. The house edge for games where blackjack pays 6 to 5 instead of 3 to 2 increases by about 1.

Player deviations from basic strategy also increase the house edge. Each game has a rule about whether the dealer must hit or stand on soft 17, which is generally printed on the table surface. The variation where the dealer must hit soft 17 is abbreviated "H17" in blackjack literature, with "S17" used for the stand-on-soft variation.

Substituting an "H17" rule with an "S17" rule in a game benefits the player, decreasing the house edge by about 0. All things being equal, using fewer decks decreases the house edge. This mainly reflects an increased likelihood of player blackjack, since if the player draws a ten on their first card, the subsequent probability of drawing an ace is higher with fewer decks.

It also reflects the decreased likelihood of a blackjack—blackjack push in a game with fewer decks. Casinos generally compensate by tightening other rules in games with fewer decks, to preserve the house edge or discourage play altogether. When offering single-deck blackjack games, casinos are more likely to disallow doubling on soft hands or after splitting, restrict resplitting, require higher minimum bets, and pay the player less than for a winning blackjack.

The following table illustrates the mathematical effect on the house edge of the number of decks, by considering games with various deck counts under the following ruleset: double after split allowed, resplit to four hands allowed, no hitting split aces, no surrendering, double on any two cards, original bets only lost on dealer blackjack, dealer hits soft 17, and cut-card used.

The increase in house edge per unit increase in the number of decks is most dramatic when comparing the single-deck game to the two-deck game, and becomes progressively smaller as more decks are added. Surrender, for those games that allow it, is usually not permitted against a dealer blackjack; if the dealer's first card is an ace or ten, the hole card is checked to make sure there is no blackjack before surrender is offered.

This rule protocol is consequently known as "late" surrender. The alternative, "early" surrender, gives the player the option to surrender before the dealer checks for blackjack, or in a no hole card game. Early surrender is much more favorable to the player than late surrender. For late surrender, however, while it is tempting to opt for surrender on any hand which will probably lose, the correct strategy is to only surrender on the very worst hands, because having even a one-in-four chance of winning the full bet is better than losing half the bet and pushing the other half, as entailed by surrendering.

If the cards of a post-split hand have the same value, most games allow the player to split again, or "resplit". The player places a further wager, and the dealer separates the new pair dealing a further card to each as before. Some games allow unlimited resplitting, while others may limit it to a certain number of hands, such as four hands for example, "resplit to 4".

After splitting aces, the common rule is that only one card will be dealt to each ace; the player cannot split, double, or take another hit on either hand. Rule variants include allowing resplitting aces or allowing the player to hit split aces. Games allowing aces to be resplit are not uncommon, but those allowing the player to hit split aces are extremely rare.

Allowing the player to hit hands resulting from split aces reduces the house edge by about 0. Note that a ten-value card dealt on a split ace or vice versa will not be counted as a blackjack but as a soft After a split, most games allow doubling down on the new two-card hands. Disallowing doubling after a split increases the house edge by about 0. Under the " Reno rule", doubling down is only permitted on hard totals of 9, 10, or 11 under a similar European rule, only 10 or The basic strategy would otherwise call for some doubling down with hard 9 and soft 13—18, and advanced players can identify situations where doubling on soft 19—20 and hard 8, 7, and even 6 is advantageous.

The Reno rule prevents the player from taking advantage of double-down in these situations and thereby increases the player's expected loss. The Reno rule increases the house edge by around 0. Patriots super bowl mvps In most non-U. With no hole card, it is rarely the correct basic strategy to double or split against a dealer ten or ace, since a dealer blackjack will result in the loss of the split and double bets; the only exception is with a pair of aces against a dealer 10, where it is still correct to split.

In all other cases, a stand, hit, or surrender is called for. For instance, when holding 11 against a dealer 10, the correct strategy is to double in a hole card game where the player knows the dealer's second card is not an ace , but to hit in a no-hole card game. The no-hole-card rule adds approximately 0.

The "original bets only" rule variation appearing in certain no hole card games states that if the player's hand loses to a dealer blackjack, only the mandatory initial bet "original" is forfeited, and all optional bets, meaning doubles and splits, are pushed. In many casinos, a blackjack pays only or even instead of the usual This is most common at tables with lower table minimums.

Although this payoff was originally limited to single-deck games, it has spread to double-deck and shoe games. Among common rule variations in the U. Since blackjack occurs in approximately 4. Video blackjack machines generally pay a payout for a blackjack.

The rule that bets on tied hands are lost rather than pushed is catastrophic to the player. Though rarely used in standard blackjack, it is sometimes seen in "blackjack-like" games, such as in some charity casinos. Each blackjack game has a basic strategy, the optimal method of playing any hand. When using basic strategy, the long-term house advantage the expected loss of the player is minimized.

An example of a basic strategy is shown in the table below, which applies to a game with the following specifications: [15]. Most basic strategy decisions are the same for all blackjack games. Rule variations call for changes in only a few situations. For example, to use the table above on a game with the stand-on-soft rule which favors the player, and is typically found only at higher-limit tables today only 6 cells would need to be changed: hit on 11 vs.

A, hit on 15 vs. A, stand on 17 vs. A, stand on A,7 vs. Regardless of the specific rule variations, taking insurance or "even money" is never the correct play under a basic strategy. Estimates of the house edge for blackjack games quoted by casinos and gaming regulators are based on the assumption that the players follow basic strategy. Most blackjack games have a house edge of between 0.

Casino promotions such as complimentary matchplay vouchers or blackjack payouts allow players to acquire an advantage without deviating from basic strategy. The basic strategy is based on a player's point total and the dealer's visible card. Dealer blackjack rules Players can sometimes improve on this decision by considering the composition of their hand, not just the point total.

For example, players should ordinarily stand when holding 12 against a dealer 4. But in a single deck game, players should hit if their 12 consists of a 10 and a 2. The presence of a 10 in the player's hand has two consequences: [17]. Even when basic and composition-dependent strategies lead to different actions, the difference in expected reward is small, and it becomes smaller with more decks.

Using a composition-dependent strategy rather than a basic strategy in a single-deck game reduces the house edge by 4 in 10,, which falls to 3 in , for a six-deck game. Blackjack has been a high-profile target for advantage players since the s. Advantage play attempts to win more using skills such as memory, computation, and observation.

While these techniques are legal, they can give players a mathematical edge in the game, making advantage players unwanted customers for casinos. Advantage play can lead to ejection or blacklisting. Some advantageous play techniques in blackjack include:.

During the course of a blackjack shoe, the dealer exposes the dealt cards. Players can infer from their accounting of the exposed cards which cards remain. These inferences can be used in the following ways:. A card counting system assigns a point score to each card rank e. When a card is exposed, a counter adds the score of that card to a running total, the 'count'.

A card counter uses this count to make betting and playing decisions. The count starts at 0 for a freshly shuffled deck for "balanced" counting systems. Unbalanced counts are often started at a value that depends on the number of decks used in the game. Blackjack's house edge is usually around 0.

Card counting works best when a few cards remain. This makes single-deck games better for counters. As a result, casinos are more likely to insist that players do not reveal their cards to one another in single-deck games. In games with more decks, casinos limit penetration by ending the shoe and reshuffling when one or more decks remain undealt.

Casinos also sometimes use a shuffling machine to reintroduce the cards whenever a deck has been played. Sometimes a casino might ban a card counter from the property. The use of external devices to help count cards is illegal throughout the United States. Another advantage play technique, mainly applicable in multi-deck games, involves tracking groups of cards also known as slugs, clumps, or packs through the shuffle and then playing and betting according to when those cards come into play from a new shoe.

Shuffle tracking requires excellent eyesight and powers of visual estimation but is harder to detect; shuffle trackers' actions are largely unrelated to the composition of the cards in the shoe. Arnold Snyder's articles in Blackjack Forum magazine brought shuffle tracking to the general public. His book, The Shuffle Tracker's Cookbook , mathematically analyzed the player edge available from shuffle tracking based on the actual size of the tracked slug.

Jerry L. Patterson also developed and published a shuffle-tracking method for tracking favorable clumps of cards and cutting them into play and tracking unfavorable clumps of cards and cutting them out of play. The player can also gain an advantage by identifying cards from distinctive wear markings on their backs, or by hole carding observing during the dealing process the front of a card dealt face-down.

These methods are generally legal although their status in particular jurisdictions may vary. Many blackjack tables offer side bets on various outcomes including: [28]. The side wager is typically placed in a designated area next to the box for the main wager. A player wishing to wager on a side bet usually must place a wager on blackjack.

Some games require that the blackjack wager should equal or exceed any side bet wager. A non-controlling player of a blackjack hand is usually permitted to place a side bet regardless of whether the controlling player does so.