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Blackjack (multiplayer)
Rule
Authority:
InterCasino Blackjack is
played and programmed according to Atlantic City
Blackjack rules.
Authority: New Jersey
Casino Control Commission.
Rule Exceptions: The deck is re-shuffled after
approximately one-third of the shoe (the 8 decks
of cards) has been dealt, 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:
- 8 52-card decks are used
- The deck is re-shuffled after approximately
one-third of the shoe (the 8 decks of cards) has
been dealt.
- Dealer stands on all 17's
- Doubling after splitting allowed
- No re-splitting of cards allowed
- No surrender
- Only one additional card allowed on each Ace
when splitting a pair of Aces
How to
play:
Card Values: InterCasino
Blackjack is played with eight fifty-two card
decks. The deck is re-shuffled after approximately
one-third of the shoe (the 8 decks of cards) has
been dealt. 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 need not specify which value the
Ace has. It's always assumed to have the value
that makes the best hand. The value of a hand is
simply the sum of the values of the individual
cards. For example, a hand containing a Jack, 3,
and 4 has a value of 17.
Betting:
Your chips are stacked by denomination ($1, $5,
$25, $100, $500) at the bottom of the screen above
your User label. Select the amount you would like
to wager on a given hand by clicking the left
mouse button 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. If you place a
wager that is lower than the minimum table bet
limit, your bet amount will be automatically
adjusted to the minimum bet amount.
Multi-player rules: In the
multi-player version of Blackjack, each table can
accommodate five players and the dealer. Your spot
on the table will be noted by a bright white light. You may change your position on the table
by clicking on the desired spot between hands.
Each player begins a hand by placing a bet on the
table as described above. Once you have placed a
bet on the table, you may choose to skip the given
deal (before your first card is dealt) by clicking
on the "Pass" button or to proceed with the bet by
pressing "Deal". If you do not bet or pass within
15 seconds from the beginning of your turn (marked
by a light shining on your white circle), you will
be automatically excluded from that particular
hand. Note that if you join a table in the middle
of a hand, you must wait until the round is over
and after that you will be able to bet on the next
hand. Each player will then receive two cards face up. The dealer will receive one card face up and
one face down.
When it is your appropriate
turn (marked by a light shining on your white
circle), and based on the cards you hold and the
one visible from the dealer's hand, you can do the
following by left clicking on the appropriate
button:
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. This option will only be
available immediately after you receive your first
two cards.
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 white box displaying your card
total 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:
This option will only be available
immediately after you receive your first two cards. If you select this
option, three 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 the
option of taking insurance for half the amount of
the bet.
If you wish to take insurance,
click 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.
When you buy insurance, you are
effectively betting on the fact that the dealer's
down card is a ten or face card, ie. a natural
blackjack.
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. If the
dealer does not have a natural blackjack, the rest
of the hand is played out as usual, and you lose
your insurance money.
If you eventually
win the hand, you will get back your original bet
plus the same amount in profit.
If you win
with a natural blackjack, you will be paid off at
3-to-2 odds, 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.
NB: In Multi-player
mode, you may select your next move while you are
waiting for the other players to complete their
play. A dialogue box will appear on the lower half
of the screen. You will be invited to select your
next move (Hit, Stand, Double Down or Split). You
may select your choice by clicking on the checkbox
to the left of your choice.
Alternatively,
you may wait until the light shines on your white
circle to make your next move.
Payoffs:
| Result |
Payoff |
| Winning Hand |
1 to 1 |
| Blackjack |
3 to 2 |
| Insurance |
2 to
1 |
Betting
Limits:
$5 minimum initial ante
$300 maximum bet.
Individual tables
may have a higher minimum bet and a lower maximum
bet. There are two ways to determine the table bet
limit for a specific table. You can place your
mouse pointer over a specific table. After 2 or 3
seconds a box will appear identifying the table
number and the minimum and maximum bet.
Alternatively, you can click on a specific table.
A new window will open displaying the minimum and
maximum bet.
Setting your table bet
limit:
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
InterCasino 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 InterCasino 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
|
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 |
Y |
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 |
Chatting:
You may chat with others at the table by
typing in a message at the bottom of the chat
window and pressing Send. If you prefer not to
chat, you may close the chat window by clicking on
the "x" button in the top right hand corner of the
chat window. You may reopen the chat window at any
time by clicking on "Chat" in the top menu bar.
Please refrain from using any language or
discussing topics that others may deem offensive.
Failure to comply with this rule may result in
your removal from InterCasino. If you feel that
someone is abusing this rule, please send an e-mail
to our support team and we will look into it.
Note:
You may turn
on/off the Sound, Voice and Animation during the
game by clicking on the Options 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. You must exit and re-enter the game to
activate the Animation feature.
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.
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