In Blackjack the objective is to get a card hand that is closer to 21 (but not more than 21) than the card hand that the dealer gets. Remember that your objective is only to get a hand that beats the dealer, many players bust by trying to get as close to 21 as possible instead of stopping when they have a hand likely to beat the dealer.
Although there may be several players at the blackjack table, blackjack is not a group game the dealer only plays with one person at a time.
The game starts with the dealer dealing a card face up to every player at the table starting with the player to his/her left and finally one to himself. This is repeated with a second card being dealt to all the players in the same manner but with the dealer's card hidden by dealing it face down.
After all the players have two cards, the dealer starts playing each player in turn starting with the player to his/her left. When it's the players turn he/she has two options available; 1) drawing cards one at a time in an attempt to get a good hand until the player busts or 2) the player can decide to stand. Once all the players have played it's the dealers turn to play his hand. The dealer play must play his hand according to rules, printed on the table, that determine how to play the hand. Normally the rules are that a card is drawn when the dealer hand totals 16 or less, and stands when the dealer hand totals 17 or more.
Once the dealer has finished playing his/her hand the bets are settled. Any player with a better hand than the dealer is paid (when the dealer busts any remaining player, since players go first any who bust during their turn lose, wins), players with hands worse than the dealers lose, in the case of a tie the dealer neither pays out or collects bets (it's a "push").
All winning hands are paid at even money, while a winning blackjack hand pays 3 to 2. The bets must be made before the dealer starts to deal.
An Insurance bet is a side bet made available when the dealers face up card is an ace. This side bet and has no influence on the original bet. To win the insurance bet the dealer must have a face down card worth ten. The insurance bet wins when the dealer has a blackjack and thus on the initial bet the best a player can hope to do is tie the dealer with a blackjack of his/her own. Players can make an insurance bet up to the value of their original bet. Winning insurance bets pay 2 to 1.
Casinos are concerned with cheating and want fast games to maximize profits. To facilitate this they use six to eight decks of cards, the cards are dealt face up, and players are not to touch the cards or the bets on the table.
Surrendering is allowed in some casinos. If after looking at your first two cards you decide you can't make a hand that can beat the dealer's hand you announcing "surrender" and your turn ends. The dealer then takes half of your bet and play moves on to the next player. In some casinos you must announce your decision to surrender before the dealer starts dealing.
Splitting pairs is available when the first two cards dealt to the player are of equal value. You have the option of splitting the pair and playing each card as a separate hand if you wish (the one on the right is played first). When splitting aces some different rules apply; 1) normally you are allowed only one additional card to be played on each of the aces. 2) If your second card is a ten the hand will not be considered a blackjack but the total will be 21. 3) Any split hands that total 21 will beat a dealer hand that totals 21, but if the dealer deals a blackjack the hand loses. 4) In the event the players hand wins it pays even money. To indicate that he/she wishes to split a pair the player places a second equal bet on the table beside the original bet (but don't touch either the cards or the original bet).
Doubling down is done when a player has two cards that he/she feels will beat the dealers hand after drawing one more card. To indicate the intention to double down the player places a second bet of equal value on the table beside the original bet (but don't touch either the cards or the original bet). Casinos usually allow a player to double down any hand but some restrict doubling down to hands totaling 9, 10 or 11.
