Blackjack is also known as Pontoon. It is the most popular as well as the most widely played casino game anywhere in the world. The basic rules of the game remain the same everywhere. It begins with dealing out two initial cards. The value of these two cards is to be added in the initial hand in the hope of getting a value of twenty-one. Now there can be three separate cases here. The player may get a value of less than twenty-one. Then the player may opt to be dealt single cards until he is able to reach a value of twenty one. Or he may reach value that is more than twenty-one. The winner holds a hand with a value of, or nearest to, twenty-one without exceeding it. This game has many variations. Different casinos may offer different table rules. It is basically because of these variations that blackjack is so popular. Much of Blackjack’s popularity is also due to the eclectic mix of chance & skill which is associated with this game of blackjack. In casino blackjack, the dealer stands behind a kidney-shaped table. He faces one to seven players. The player has to place a bet in the “betting box” at the beginning of each round. Each player has to play against the dealer. Each player is handed out an initial hand which comprises of two cards. The objective here is to get a higher card total than what the dealer has. But the objective is not to go over 21. In case the total goes over 21, it is called “busting”, or many other terms.
First the player goes and then plays his hand. He may also take additional cards in case he wants. But in case he busts, he will lose. Next is the turn of the dealer. He has to play his hand. In case the dealer busts, he will be losing to all the remaining players who are sitting on the other side of the kidney shaped table. In case none of them bust, the person who has the higher hand total will win. There may be a tie too. In this situation, no one wins. At this time, all bets will be returned. It is possible that in the same round, the dealer may lose to some players but still be able to beat some other players.
There are three ways to deal cards. They can be dealt from the hand held decks. Else, they can be dealt from a shoe. This is a box which contains four to eight decks. The third option is to do so from a shuffling machine. The player’s two cards which are given initially are face-down & the dealer gets one face up card.