Blackjack, also known as twenty-one, is a card game of skill and luck. The goal of the game is to draw cards that will come as close as possible to 21, without going over. All Slots Casino offers more than thirty different online blackjack games.
Blackjack originated in 17-th century France as vingt-et-un (French for "twenty-one"). One of the special features of vingt-et-un was a bonus ten-to-one payout for a hand consisting of an ace and a jack of spades. The ten-to-one payout no longer exists, but the name Black Jack survives as an eternal reminder of a now-defunct rule.
Over time, blackjack migrated from France to casinos around the world. The game really took off after Professor Edward Thorp published the first card-counting strategy in 1962. Using sophisticated mathematics and probability theory, Professor Thorp showed how a blackjack player could turn the odds in his favor by counting the cards that had already been dealt from the deck, and adjusting his bets accordingly. The popularity of blackjack skyrocketed as thousands of readers flocked to the casino to count cards and make money. Blackjack received a further boost in the 1970s when the flamboyant Ken Uston published books of his own exploits and tips on how to win at blackjack.
The years since then have witnessed a fascinating struggle between blackjack players and the casinos. Academic researchers and professional gamblers developed ever more sophisticated and accurate card-counting systems, while the casinos employed both legal and illegal methods to keep the card-counters out. The two main results of the long-running battle have been (a) the popularity of casino blackjack has gone up and up and up, and (b) the casinos have made millions of dollars as the would-be and wannabe card counters vastly outnumbered the successful ones.
Since the 1990s, the best blackjack has moved from Las Vegas and Atlantic City to your living room. We're referring, of course, to online blackjack. In online blackjack, you're actually allowed to win; no burly security guards will escort you to the door just because you're winning at blackjack. And even if you don't win, you're sure to have a good time. When you play blackjack online, you are playing in your own comfortable environment, at your own pace, with all the time you need to think about your strategy.
How to Play Blackjack
In blackjack, cards 2 through 10 are worth their face value, face cards are worth 10, and an ace is worth either 1 or 11. The object of the game is to draw a hand whose value is higher than that of the dealer's hand, but without going over 21.
Before the game starts, you must place your bet. The dealer then deals two cards to you and two to himself. One of the dealer's cards is face-up, the other, known as the "hole card," is face-down. After examining your two cards and the dealer's face-up card, you have the following options to play your hand:
Stand: Take no more cards.
Hit: Take another card.
Double down: Double your bet, take one (and only one) more card, and then stand.
Split: If you have two cards of the same value, you may double your bet, split your hand, and have each card count as the first card of a new hand.
Surrender: Give up the hand and lose half your bet.
If the value of your cards goes over twenty-one, you "bust" and lose the game. Otherwise, if you stand without busting, the dealer then plays his hand by standing or hitting. If the dealer busts, you win the game. If neither player busts, the higher hand wins.
Blackjack Strategy
Blackjack strategy is based on probability. Depending on the cards in your hand and on the dealer's face-up card, you can figure the probability that you can take another card without busting and the probability that the dealer can beat you without his busting. Some players like to follow their gut intuitions on how to play their hands. Other players abide strictly by the "blackjack basic strategy." The basic strategy is based on a blackjack strategy card which charts the players hand against the dealers up card and tells you whether to stand, hit, double down, split, or surrender.
There are some blackjack techniques that might work at a land-based blackjack casino but are not adaptable to internet blackjack. For example, James Grosjean was able to win at blackjack by perfecting the art of "hole carding," which means taking a sneak peek at the dealer's hole card.
Online Blackjack at All Slots Casino
All Slots Casino offers more than thirty types of blackjack, including Atlantic City blackjack and Vegas blackjack. Some have slightly different blackjack rules on details such as when doubling down is permitted. Other blackjack games use multiple decks of cards or allow you to play multiple hands. The Triple 7's online blackjack game features a progressive jackpot that can reach hundreds of thousands of dollars.
No matter which game you pick, you're sure to enjoy playing blackjack at All-Slots. Our games are built with Microgaming's state-of-the-art Viper Technology, insuring that your online blackjack play is fast, enjoyable, and impressive. You can play free blackjack to try out all the different games and work on your blackjack strategy, and you can play blackjack online for real money. For players who prefer not to download blackjack software, we have a Flash Blackjack, which is just as fun, exciting, and pleasing to play as our downloadable online blackjack. So come to All Slots for the best internet blackjack.
