Blackjack Basics

BlackJack, be it free or for real money, it is a game of chance and skill, with a little skill and a lot of practice, you can actually wind up winning more often than not when you play a game of blackjack. It's one casino game in which your ability to understand the rules and make the right playing decisions almost ensures that over time, you can become a winner.

Casino blackjack is a game played with 52 cards in a standard deck. Played with between one to seven players against a dealer. Each player including the dealer is dealt two cards, one up and one down. The object of the game of Blackjack is to beat the dealers hand by getting closer to 21 without going over, or holding a low hand when the dealers hand goes over 21.All face cards are worth ten points, an ace is worth either eleven or one, depending on how you want to use it in your hand and the remaining cards are face value. The object of blackjack is to get 21 or closer to 21 than the dealer without going over because if you do, you lose.

In Free Blackjack, If the dealer starts with an ace as an up card, players choose if they would like to take insurance, which is a bet that the dealer has a natural 21 consisting of an ace which is eleven points and a face card which is ten which equals 21. A player takes insurance by putting up a side bet of half the players original bet.

If the dealer has a natural 21, the player loses his original bet and gets paid two to one which results in breaking even for the player. If the dealer does not have 21, the player loses his insurance bet and the game continues. If you are fortunate enough to have been dealt an ace and face card, turn up both cards to let the dealer know you have one. In most online casinos, you are paid one and a half times your bet. If the dealer also has a natural 21, it becomes a push and no one wins,but this is highly unlikely to occur considering the odds. Most of the time, neither you or the dealer has a natural so the game continues with making decisions based on basic strategy which you will learn about below.

Free Blackjack Strategy

In an Online Blackjack game, the average player makes mistakes about fifteen percent of the time which costs them dearly. If the dealer's up card for example is a seven and you have 16, do you hit or stay? You should hit because chances are the dealer has a face card hidden and more likely than not, the dealer will have 17. If the dealer for examble is showing a four as an up card, more likely that not he will have fourteen so he is obliged to take another card and possibly go over 21.

The dealer must follow casino rules and hit on anything under 17 and stay at 17 or over. This gives the player a good advantage because if the dealer has 4, 5 or 6 as an up card, more often than not, he goes over 21 so make the decision to hit or stay based on what the dealer is showing.

If the dealer has an ace or face card, chances are he will have 20 or blackjack so don't stop at 16 or 17 because most likely you will lose. Before moving to Online Gambling Blackjack, be sure to play a few Free Blackjack games to be sure you understand the concept of blackjack.

Taking insurance when the dealer has an ace showing is a bad decision because the dealer will not have a natural often enough to make insurance look like a smart purchase. If you are lucky enough to have a natural, taking even money is the same as taking insurance because you have the possibilities of winning three to two or pushing.

The best advice we can give you in the game of blackjack is to practice, practice, practice, before gambling for real money because practice makes perfect and you will understand the game much better when you have had the chance to play a few free games and see for yourself the outcome of different results.