Online blackjack

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Rule Authority

VIP Casino Blackjack is played and programmed according to Atlantic City Blackjack rules.

Authority: New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

Rule Exceptions: The cards are shuffled after each hand, pairs may not be re-split, and players may not draw additional cards on split Aces.

Premise

In Blackjack, you and the dealer (the computer) are dealt two cards to start. The objective of Blackjack is to accumulate cards that add up closer to 21 than that of the dealer's cards, without going over 21. Cards are worth their face value with the exception of Kings, Queens, and Jacks which are each worth 10 and Aces which are worth either 1 or 11. If the value of your hand is closer to 21 than that of the dealer you win. If the value of the dealer's hand is higher than yours you lose. If the hands are of equal value the deal is a push and your money is returned. If you have a total of 22 or higher (a busted hand), you lose regardless of whether the dealer also busts.

Summary of Rules

1. 8 52-card decks are used
2. The deck is re-shuffled after each hand
3. Dealer stands on all 17's
4. Doubling after splitting allowed
5. No re-splitting of cards allowed
6. No surrender
7. Only one additional card allowed on each ace when splitting a pair of aces

How to Play

VIP Casino Blackjack is played with eight fifty-two card decks. After each game has been played, the used cards are shuffled back into the deck. All face cards are valued at ten and the cards from 2-10 are valued as indicated. Aces can be valued at either one or eleven; if counting the ace as eleven would put the hand over twenty-one, the ace is automatically counted as one instead. You do not need to specify which value the Ace has as it's always assumed to have the value that makes the best hand. The value of a hand is the sum of the values of the individual cards. For example, a hand containing a Jack, 3, and 4 has a value of 17.

Your chips are stacked by denomination ($1, $5, $25, $100, $500) at the bottom of the screen. Select the amount you would like to wager on a given hand by clicking on the chip of that denomination. The amount wagered per hand may be increased or decreased by placing the mouse on the stack that you wish to add or subtract to your bet. Each time you click the left mouse button you will add a chip from that pile to your planned wager amount. Likewise by clicking on the right mouse button you can decrease your planned wager amount. You may repeat your last bet by simply hitting the "0" button of your numeric keyboard. Other keyboard shortcuts are summarized below.

Hit:

Requests another card. You can request a hit as many times as you like, but if your total goes over twenty-one, you will Bust and lose the hand.

Stand:

Requests that you receive no more cards. The hand as it currently stands will be judged against the dealers.

Split:

If you have two cards of the same denomination, a Split button will appear. You can split your cards into two hands and play each hand separately. Your original bet will be duplicated for the new hand. Each hand will be played out as usual except when splitting aces, where only one additional card per hand is dealt. A pointing finger will appear over each hand indicating which hand is active. The split option can only be used once per hand -- you cannot split part of a split hand. Any winning 21 obtained after splitting a pair is paid 1 to 1.

Double Down:

If you select this option, two things will happen: you will get exactly one more card, your turn will end, and your bet will be doubled.

Insurance:

Whenever the dealer's up-card is an ace, the player has an option of taking insurance. The player may opt to take insurance by clicking on the "Insurance" button. If you do not wish to take insurance, you simply click on the "Pass" button to proceed with the rest of the hand. If the player believes that the dealer's down-card is a 10 ranking card, then the player is permitted to place a side bet of half the original wager as insurance. If the dealer does have a 10 ranking card, the player is immediately paid 2-to-1 on the insurance bet, but the original wager is lost unless the player too has a blackjack and pushes with the dealer. Here the player is simply betting that the dealer's unseen card is a 10 valued card.

Note:

The Double Down and Split options will only be available immediately after you receive your first two cards. If the dealer has an ace showing, you will be offered a chance to buy Insurance for half of the amount you bet. When you buy insurance you are, in effect, making a second bet. You are betting that the dealer has a natural blackjack. If the dealer does have a natural blackjack (in other words, his down card is a ten or a face card), you will collect a payoff of 2 to 1 on your insurance. You will also lose your original wager, unless you have a natural blackjack too. If the dealer does not have a natural twenty-one, the rest of the hand is played out as usual and you will lose your insurance money.

If you win the hand, you will get back your original bet plus the same amount in profit. A hand that consists of an Ace and any ten value card is called a natural twenty-one, or a natural blackjack. If you win with a natural blackjack, you will be paid off at three-to-two, which means you get your original bet back plus 150% profit. (So if you bet $50 and win with a natural twenty-one, you get $50 (your bet) plus $75 (your bet plus half of your bet), which totals to $125.

Payoffs

Result	Payoff
Winning Hand	1 to 1
Blackjack	3 to 2
Insurance	2 to 1

Betting Limits

$5 minimum initial ante
$500 maximum bet.

You may also set your table bet limit below the maximum specified limit by selecting Bet Options from the Game Menu. The Modify Table Bet Limit window will appear on the screen. To reduce your maximum table bet limit type in the new limit in the appropriate box and confirm it by typing your PIN in the box below. Click on the OK button to complete the update. Please be aware that you can modify your table bet limit no more than once per week (Friday 12:00 AM EST) and that using the Modify Table Bet Limit function affects the bet limit for all games and not just the game that you are currently playing.

Basic Blackjack Strategy Table

Basic blackjack strategy is defined as the proper play of cards knowing only your hand and the dealer's exposed card. It does not involve card counting (an advantage lost in playing VIP Casino with 8 decks reshuffled after each hand) or remembering which cards were played previously. The basic blackjack strategy is created through intensive computer simulations which perform a complete combinatorial analysis. In this method, the computer "plays" tens of thousands of hands for each BlackJack situation possible and statistically decides which decision best favours the player.

Basic strategy is usually printed as tables with the dealer's up card the first row and your two card combination the first column. The other entries in the table tell you what to do (Stand, Hit, Double-Down, Split) with the different combinations of dealer and player's hands. Basic blackjack strategy tables for VIP Casino rules (8 decks, dealer stands on 17, double-down on any two cards, double after split allowed, no re-splitting of cards allowed, no surrender) are shown below for hard totals, soft totals, and pairs along with a legend.

Legend:

• S - Stand
• H - Hit
• D - Double
• Y - Yes, split
• N - No, don't split

Hard Totals:

	Dealer's Upcard
Your Cards	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
17	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
9	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H

Soft Totals:

	Dealer's Upcard
Your Cards	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
(A,9)	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
(A,8)	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
(A,7)	S	D	D	D	D	S	S	H	H	H
(A,6)	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,5)	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,4)	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,3)	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,2)	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H

Pairs:

	Dealer's Upcard
Your Cards	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
(A,A)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
(10,10)	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
(9,9)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y
(8,8)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
(7,7)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N
(6,6)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N
(5,5)	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
(4,4)	N	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N
(3,3)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N
(2,2)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N

Numeric Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard Entry	Action
0	Repeat last bet
Enter	Deal, Stand
+	Hit
-	Take Insurance
*	Double Down
/	Split
1	Pass, Refuse Insurance
Up Arrow	Increase bet by $1
Down Arrow	Decrease bet by $1
Shift + Up Arrow	Increase bet by $10
Shift + Down Arrow	Decrease bet by $10

For keyboards without keypads, you must use the "Fn" key plus the shortcuts above (e.g. Fn + Enter).

Note:

You may turn on/off the Sound, Voice and Animation during the game by clicking on the Settings button located in the lower left-hand area of the console. The setting is turned on when the checkbox is checked and it is turned off when the checkbox is unchecked.

References

For further information on blackjack, please consult the following references:

Carlson, Bryce. Blackjack for Blood, Compustar Press, 1992.

Humble, Lance and Cooper, Carl. The World's Greatest Blackjack Book, Doubleday, 1987.

Scoblete, Frank. Best Blackjack, Bonus Books, 1996.

Tamburin, Henry. Reference Guide to Casino Gambling, Research Services Unlimited, 1993.

Uston, Ken. Million Dollar Blackjack, Carol Publishing Group, 1994.