Be a Blackjack Winner

Do you know how to become a blackjack winner? The trick is to obtain a blackjack hand as close to the total of 21 as possible without going bust. If you can make a better hand than the dealer can, you win your bet.

The easiest way to learn blackjack is to play a shoe game in which all cards are dealt face up. These are counted at their face value with the following exceptions. Ten, Jack, Queen and King are all valued at ten. An Ace is either one or eleven depending on whether it is part of a soft or a hard blackjack hand. To be a blackjack winner, it is important to know the difference between these hands.

A soft hand is where an Ace is counted as eleven. It is done so because it does not push the total of the hand over 21. So if you have a soft blackjack hand of three, four and Ace, you have a total of soft 18. A hard hand is when the Ace is counted as one such as in the example of nine, seven and Ace so that it does not go bust. A blackjack winner will know how to play hard and soft hands to his advantage and double on both.

It is easier to become a blackjack winner when you consider that the dealer's course of play is dictated by the house. He must stand on all 17's and continue to hit until he has 17 in his hand. This is the most common rule, however some casinos stipulate that the dealer must hit on soft 17 and stand once he has done so. When this second rule is played, the casino increases its advantage over the player.