Blackjack

The cards

Cards 2 to 10 count their number, Jacks, Queens and Kings count 10, and an ace counts 11 while that keeps the hand at 21 or under, else 1 (a hand counting an ace as 11 is soft, as in Soft 17). The shoe holds one deck or six, picked under Decks, and is shuffled again before a deal once less than a quarter of it is left.

The deal

Deal gives you two cards and the dealer two, one face up and one face down. With an ace or a ten-card face up, the dealer checks for blackjack (an ace and a ten-card) before you play. A blackjack on either side ends the hand at once, and two blackjacks push. There is no insurance and no surrender.

Your turn

Hit takes a card and Stand keeps your total. Double takes one more card and ends the hand, which then counts twice: on any first two cards, also after a split. Split makes two hands of two cards of the same value (a 10 and a King too), up to four hands; split aces get one card each, and 21 on a split hand is not a blackjack. A hand that reaches 21 stands by itself.

The dealer

When your hands are done, the dealer turns the face-down card and draws until it has 17 or more; on a soft 17 it stands or hits, as Dealer on soft 17 says (Stands to start). If all your hands are bust, the dealer draws nothing. A bust hand loses even if the dealer busts too; otherwise a dealer’s bust or a higher total wins, a lower one loses and the same total pushes.

Points

Controls

Tap or click Deal, then Hit, Stand, Double or Split; with a keyboard, H hits, S stands, D doubles, P splits and Enter deals. Hints: On rings the button of the textbook move (from the basic strategy chart) and names it under the buttons. Decks and Dealer on soft 17 can change at any time; during a hand they are for the next one.