To beat the dealer's hand without exceeding a count
of 21 in order to win as much money from the dealer (the
casino) as you can.
Strategy
If your cards total 16 or 15- stand if the dealers
face card is a 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2
If your card is anything else then you should hit until
your total is 17 or higher
What if your total is only 12?
You should stand if the dealers first card was a 4, 5
or 6. But if the dealers first card is a 2 or 3, take a
hit and stop at a total of 13 or more.
When the dealers first card is a 7 or higher
(including Ace) take cards until your total is 17 or
more.
Basic Strategy
The total of the cards in your hand are displayed
beside the hand. This is appropriate since in a real
casino the dealer will usually call out the total of the
players hand. This is the important part of the hand.
Remember that the object of the game is to "beat the
dealer" even it means letting the dealer bust. A bust
occurs when the value of cards in your hand exceeds 21.
The dealer must play by specific rules, primarily the
dealer must stand on a value of 17 or greater. That is,
if the dealer has less than 17 he must take another
card. The most common card in the deck is a 10 (Ten,
Jack, Queen or King) therefore by looking at the
dealer's up card you can make a good guess about the
value of their hand. If the up card is a 7 then you can
safely assume that the down card is a ten so the value
of their hand has a good probability of being 17. This
is called Basic Strategy and is a way of enjoying a game
of blackjack without losing your shirt.
"Always assume the down card is a ten."
By playing according to this simple rule you can
usually break even and sometimes come out ahead. Most
casinos will supply blackjack cheat cards that you can
refer to at the table to assist you in your game.
Strategy- Odds of Busting
What are the chances of the dealer busting when their
first card up is an:
Ace 11%
Ten 21%
Eight 24%
Six 42%
Five 43%
Four 40%
Two 35%
The odds of the dealer busting are greatest when
their face card is a five or six. For other face cards
your odds are best for standing when your cards total 17
or more. When your first two cards total 17 or more,
always stand. On a total of 16 you will bust more often
than when your hand total is less.
21st Century
Blackjack has cheat cards built in for
your convenience. They tell you when to hit and when to
stand based on the basic strategy rule. The green blocks
mean you should hit, the red blocks mean you should
stand. The blinking circle indicates what you should do.
The colors on the strategy cards match the play buttons
on the tool bar.
There are also similar cards for Doubling Down and
Splitting. as well as versions for soft hands. Soft
hands are hands that contain at least one Ace. An Ace
can have a value of 1 or 11, you decide based on the
other cards in your hand.
On a double down the dealer will give you just one
more additional card. If a casino allows double down,
you should do it if you have a card total between 9 and
11, with the following exceptions. The dealers card is
an Ace and your total is 11. When your total is 10,
double down unless the dealer has an Ace or Ten. For a
total of 9, double down if the dealer has a three, four,
five or six. If you do not play a double down take a hit
and follow the information above.
If your first two cards are the same, a majority of
casinos will allow you to split your hand and play the
cards as two separate hands. Always split aces and
eights, but do not split fives and tens. If you can
double down after splitting then split twos, threes or
sevens if the dealers face card is a 2,3,4,5,6 or 7.
If you can not double down do not split twos or
threes if dealer has two or three. Only split a 4 if the
dealer has a five or six, but do not split if you can
not double down. As for sixes split if the dealer has a
seven, ten or ace. If you can not double down only split
sixes if dealer has three, four, five or six.
Splitting Pairs
When you are dealt a pair you can choose to Split
Pairs. Splitting pairs means separating the two cards
into two hands, matching the bet for the new hand and
playing both hands against the dealer. The blue squares
on the Split Pairs strategy chart will indicate to you
when you should split pairs.
Soft Hands
A soft hand is any hand with an ace. Soft hands
totaling 19 should always stay. If your soft hand total
is eighteen and the dealer shows a two, seven or eight
you should stay, but if the dealer shows a three, four,
five or six you should double down. If you can not
double down, then stay.
A hard hand is any hand without an ace.
The Layout
When you start a new game of 21st Century Blackjack
the computer sets up a Blackjack table for you. The
computer plays the part of the dealer at a Casino style
blackjack table. You are sitting at the bottom of the
screen with your chips in front of you. The other seats
at the table are empty. This is a game of one-on-one
blackjack; you against the dealer. The deck is displayed
at the top right of the screen. Initially you start with
six decks, the yellow card at the back of the deck
indicates the shuffle point. When the yellow card is
exposed the deck is shuffled. The card counting
statistics are displayed for you at the bottom right of
the screen. The bottom of the screen contains the tool
bar which gives you quick access to the most common
operations and information about your game.
Placing a Bet
To get started you must place a bet. The tool bar
buttons at the left make it easy to place a bet. The
left most button will place the minimum bet, $5, the
next will place double the minimum and so on up to the
maximum bet, $100. Single, double, triple and quadruple
bets are common in blackjack hence these buttons are
made available for you. The $ value next to the bet
buttons is the value of your pile of chips. The '$'
button will display your current standings including
money you may have borrowed from the house. Next to that
is the value of your current bet followed by the play
buttons.
You can also select individual chips to bet by
pointing at the denomination on the screen an clicking
the left mouse button. Continue to click on chips until
you have placed your desired bet the click the 'check'
button to place the bet (i.e. deal the hands) or click
the 'X' button to cancel your bet.
The Payoff
If you win the hand the dealer pays you an amount
equal to your bet. If you lose the dealer takes your
bet.
Blackjack
If you are dealt a ten card and an Ace you have a
Blackjack (21) and automatically win the hand unless the
dealer also has a Blackjack. The dealer will pay you an
amount equal to one and a half times your bet.
Source: Steve Bourie, editor,(1998) American Casino Guide, Casino Vacations,
Dania, FL
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