Blackjack’s Origins — One of the World’s Oldest Gambling Games
It’s thought that Blackjack goes way back to 17th century Spain, when it was first referred to as Twenty-One in a book by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes.
The game then travelled to the United States, where Twenty-One became Blackjack.
These days, the snap of a deck of cards, the rush when the dealer deals you in and the tension of the decision to stick or twist are common in casinos across the globe
If you’d like to learn about this easy-to-pick-up game and how to play Blackjack online with BetVictor, read on for our step-by-step guide to this iconic strategic card game.
How to Play
Blackjack is played with different rules at home or in a casino — but here we’ll focus on the rules you’ll find when playing Live Blackjack in the BetVictor online casino.
Casino Blackjack is generally played with six to eight decks of standard 52 deck playing cards, excluding jokers, with the six-deck game (312 cards) being the most popular.
You might also see a blank card in the pack. This gives no reason to worry as it simply tells the dealer when it is time for the deck of cards to be reshuffled.
Once you have taken a seat at a table — either in a casino or online — the dealer will deal two cards to each player (between a minimum of two and maximum of seven players) and themselves.
Objective of the Game
The aim of Blackjack is to have a hand of exactly 21, or a hand of closer value to 21 than the dealer’s hand. Players can also win if the dealer’s hand goes over 21 — known as going ‘bust’.
Blackjack Card Values:
- 1 to 10 — Take each card’s value as it is.
- Picture Card (Jacks, Queens, Kings) —
- Ace — Valued at 1 or 11 depending on which will give the player the best chance of winning.
How the Game Plays Out
Once all the players are sitting at the table, the dealer will deal each player with two cards, and one for themselves, face down. Then it is time for the game to begin. Here’s how Blackjack plays out from start to finish.
Responding to the Dealer
The player clockwise from the dealer goes first and each player has the following options when it is their turn:
Stand
The player wishes to take no further action on their hand.
Hit
The option to take another card to improve a hand, which can be done multiple times.
Double
Double the amount of the stake on the hand and take another card.
Split
If the first two cards of a hand are the same the player can take two more cards and split them into two separate hands, giving them two hands to play.
If a player splits Aces they are only dealt one more card to each hand and cannot hit for more. Hitting 21 after splitting is not Blackjack because the cards aren’t the first two dealt, therefore only paying 1 to 1. Hands cannot be split more than once.
What Happens Next?
Taking On The Dealer
Once all the players around the table have had their turn the dealer turns their face-down card over, and deals themselves another card face up. If their cards are valued 16 or below they must take cards until their hand is valued at 17 or higher.
When the dealer has a hand valued between 17 and 21, they pay all players with a hand closer to 21 than their own. If the player’s hand is the same value as the dealer’s, the hand is a push or a tie, and the player keeps their stake. If the dealer’s hand busts, all remaining players will be paid.
Insurance
If the dealer’s face-up card is an ace, all players around the table are offered an insurance bet which is valued at half the player’s stake.
If the dealer has Blackjack this bet will pay at 2 to 1, but if the dealer does not have a Blackjack, the bet is lost and the hands play out as they would normally.
How Blackjack Is Won
The aim of the game is to beat the dealer by getting a hand valued closer to 21 then they do, or by beating them if they go bust.
To win at Blackjack a player must walk away from a table with more chips than what they joined with, as the game will continue until the casino decides to close the table.
Playing Blackjack Online
Once BetVictor Live Blackjack has loaded, players must choose a seat at the table, which are numbered from one to seven, before clicking the ‘SIT HERE’ sign to join the game.
Placing bets is easy — simply select your chip value from the ‘BANK’ window and then click directly on the table to bet. The game progresses as described above until completion.
You can play Live Blackjack online with a number of different options at BetVictor including BetVictor Blackjack, Free Bet Blackjack, Infinite Blackjack, Platinum VIP and Blackjack VIP — each option has a live dealer who players can chat with during play.
Our Live Blackjack table limits range from £1 to £10,000 across thirty live tables.