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Blackjack (single player)
Rule
Authority:
InterCasino 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:
- 8 52-card decks are used
- The deck is re-shuffled after each hand
- 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:
InterCasino 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.
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.
To
start: You begin a hand of blackjack by
placing a bet on the table as described above. You
will then receive two cards face up. The dealer
will receive one card face up and one face down.
Once you have been dealt your two cards (and based
on the nature of these cards) you can do the
following by clicking with the left mouse button
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 active
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:
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. This option will only be
active immediately after you receive your first
two cards.
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.
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.
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:
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 |
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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