Blackjack is one of the most classic casino games there are, and this traditional style of play has been part of gaming culture for centuries. Blackjack is a game which is found throughout every casino on land and online. For this casino games guide, we are focusing on how blackjack is played online. You can use this guide to help you play both virtual blackjack games and live dealer ones. You will also have enough knowledge to play some of the variants that blackjack offers, to give you further gaming options from within the best casinos online.
Why play blackjack games online?
So, why opt for the online experience? Well, playing online and within a land-based casino doesn’t change how the game is physically played, the rules are the same, along with the actual odds of the game. The only differences are found within the number of games made available, integrated into this are the mix of variants also, plus, with casino games online, your option to play is far more instant, given the nature of online services.
Online gameplay will also serve you with casino bonuses that can allow for cash credit to be used, thus helping you win real money from gifted allowances. This is something that would never happen inside a land-based casino.
Popularity of Blackjack
The blackjack card game is seen as one of the most popular features within a casino, why is this? To explain the special nature of the card game, we talked with Eija Virtanen, Editor-in-Chief at NettiCasino, a comparison site for players in Norway, who specialize in Norwegian casino reviews, exclusive bonuses and free games, where you’ll be able to play free blackjack.
“In Norway blackjack is a very popular game. It has maintained its longevity as the top card game because of the simple fact that blackjack offers players the fairest gaming experience of all casino games. All casino games come with a house edge; this is the advantage a casino has over the player in a game before the game is even played. With roulette is can be 5.25% in favour of the casino, slots are roughly 8 to 15%, and games like keno give the house up to 40% edge over the player. With blackjack, the house edge is only a mere 1.48%. This makes blackjack a near 50/50 equal game, so for players, it’s the best casino game to play.”
So, your chances of winning in blackjack are far greater than in any other game.
How to play blackjack online
Let us now teach you how to play this card game.
Blackjack is very simple, it can be played with a single deck or with multiple decks. The rules on winning are that you have to achieve a total as close to the sum of 21, without going over, or as it is known – ‘bust’. Your score or total must beat that of the dealers, in order to win the payout. This the same across all blackjack games, whether you play live or through digital games, and across all variants of blackjack, 21 is the target for success.
Blackjack is played on a table, the dealer has a shoe containing the card decks and if there is a multi-player game available, they’ll be involved also.
Now, let’s talk you through the steps of playing:
- First, you have your casino chips, choose the amount you wish to wager on the game.
- You press deal, and the dealer will issue you with two cards and themselves with two cards.
- From the two cards you try to get near 21 but not more than.
- You can opt to make some blackjack moves to boost your card count.
- When satisfied, it’s the dealer’s turn to reveal their cards.
- The winner is the person closest to 21.
Blackjack moves
Now, unless you reveal a ten, jack, queen, or king card along with an Ace from your first two dealt cards which would make a total of 21, you’ll need to potentially add more cards to your hand to get close to the 21 target.
Cards are scored by their face value:
| Cards | |
|---|---|
| 2 to 9 | Face Value of the Card |
| 10, King, Jack, and Queen | 10 |
| Ace | 1 or 11 |
The suits of the card have no barring on the game, this is all about the numbers, so focus on this when building your hand.
So, what are the moves?
Well, there are four prime moves in Blackjack that alter the hand and how the game is played. Here is each move and what it means you can do within each one.
Hit: To call a HIT or say HIT ME to the dealer will action a move whereby the dealer will in turn, upon each HIT, give you an extra free card. Once you are happy with the total you have, you then STAND to end your move in the game.
Stand: To make a STAND is to basically notify the dealer you either do not wish to make a move or you’re stopping any moves as you are happy with the hand you have. This denotes that the dealer can now end the game with the reveal of their cards.
Doubling/Double Down: To DOUBLE means to place an increase of your wagered bet for the return of just one card. So, your potential payout will double, should your extra one card help you win the round.
Split/Splitting: The act of SPLITTING the hand you have; means you can form an extra hand to play against the dealer’s one. Calling SPLIT, the dealer will issue you two new cards to help form the new hands of each card you separated. Relative to the variant you play, the rules change to what cards can and cannot be split. Also, relative to the variant, once a hand is split you can enact further splits and double down on the new hands.
Variants of blackjack
The game of blackjack is not one single feature, there are a number of blackjack games which can be played, more so online than in land casinos. The list of variants each retain a certain percentage of the basic rules with only minor tweaks in how the game is played, but reaching number 21 is still the goal for players to win.
Here are some variants to look out for when playing online:
- Blackjack Switch
- Free Bet Blackjack
- European Blackjack
- Spanish 21
- Vegas Strip Blackjack
- Atlantic City Blackjack
Live dealer blackjack
Blackjack is not confined to digitalized games. The biggest card and table platform is the Live Casino platform. This hosts live streaming content of real games that are watched by you and played by dealers in real-time. You can take part in the games and even chat with the dealer to broaden the immersive experience of play.
The live matrix of gaming also introduces its own variants that, again, broaden the spectrum of play despite having the same end goal of trying to score better than the dealer, but not going over 21.
Here are some live blackjack variants that can be found online:
- VIP Blackjack
- Speed Blackjack
- Blackjack Party
- Salon Privé
- Power Blackjack
- Infinite Blackjack
Blackjack bonuses to help you play
Unlike land casinos, the operators online understand the essential marketing technique of bonuses. Yes, they are merely there to entice you in and to keep you there, but ultimately, bonuses provide players with an opportunity to play blackjack with free cash credit. There are also some online promotional deals that reward players with a cash prize should they land a streak of blackjacks.
Look out for casino bonuses that make blackjack and eligible options because you just might win yourself some free money, by making a small deposit of funds into your casino account which to play with.
