Blackjack Poker

Blackjack originated in France and is known the world over as vinget-et-un, 21, pontoon, California Aces or as we Americans call it, Blackjack . Today"s casinos offer slight variations to the game depending on the city, state or casino you play in. Casino blackjack is a card game played with a standard 52 card deck. One to seven players sitting at a semi-circular table play against a dealer. The dealer handles all transactions including exchanging cash for chips, dealing the cards and playing the houses hand. The goal in Blackjack is to beat the dealers hand by either of two ways: 1. Draw cards until your hand scores higher than the dealers without going over 21. 2. Do not draw cards and have the dealer bust, or exceed 21. The Blackjack Table A typical blackjack table is semi-circular and seats between five and seven players. Several tables grouped together within the casino are known as the blackjack pit. The personnel assigned to supervise the pit area are called pit bosses. The "rules" for a particular table are always written on its surface. For instance, what the house pays for a natural 21, whether or not the dealer must hit a soft seventeen and whether or not insurance is available. Under the "rules", there are between five and seven betting circles which correspond to a particular seat around the table. The first seat to the dealers left is commonly known as first base and the seat to the dealers farthest right is commonly known as third base. In front of the dealer lies the chip rack. The dealer will exchange these chips for cash and pay all winnings with chips from this rack. A placard should be visible showing the tables minimum and maximum bets that can be wagered on a single hand. Table limits can be changed at any time by replacing the placard sign with a new one. A wooden or plastic box for holding multiple decks of cards known as a shoe, indicates that a multi-deck game is being played at this particular table. If a shoe is not located on the table, a single or double deck game is being played. The Card Values Face cards (Jacks, Queens and Kings) are worth 10 points. An Ace can be worth either one or 11 points. All remaining cards are worth their face value. The card"s suits have no meaning in blackjack.