Blackjack – A casino entertainment!

Casinos are places of entertainment (and also gambling for the addict!!) I quite enjoy a visit to the casino once in a while and my favorite game in the casino is Blackjack (BJ). Amongst most other games offered in a casino, Blackjack is one game where intelligent playing can help you in getting the house edge down to a minimum. Roulette, Baccarrat, Poker and slot machines are totally dependent on luck while luck, no doubt plays a major role in BJ, still one can win in BJ.

What exactly is Blackjack? In BJ the dealer will deal cards to the player and also to him/herself. The objective of the game is to reach 21 or as close to it without getting over 21. The dealer must pull cards till he or she reaches 17. A blackjack is a combination of an Ace and either 10, jack, queen or king. Jack, queen and king count as 10. While for many players it is an entertainment there are serious gamblers who adopt strategies like basic strategy and card counting. While basic strategy is easy to master, card counting is quite complicated.

The basic strategy tells the player when to stop pulling cards, when to pull cards, when to double the bet and when to split pairs. A simple strategy is that when the player is on a number between 12 and 16 and if the dealer is between 3 and 6, it is best not to pull any cards. If the player is on 11 (after 2 cards dealt) then he or she has to double his bet. Similarly if the player is on a 10, it is good to double the bet if the dealer is between 2 and 9. If the player is on a 9 it is good to double if the dealer is between 6 and 9. It is never good to split a pair of 10s. If the player gets a blackjack the payout is 3:2 and all other wins are paid 1:1.

Blackjack is a good form of entertainment and can keep one busy for a couple of hours at the casino.