Live Blackjack
The object of the game is to achieve a higher card count than the dealer without exceeding 21.
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The Cards
Aces may be considered 1 or 11. Picture cards have a value of 10 and all other cards are counted as their face value.
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The Deal
A card is dealt face up to the player followed by one to the dealer. A second card is then dealt face up to the player, and a second card face down to the dealer. At this point, the player may choose to stand or draw one or more cards to improve their hand total. The dealer takes additional cards only after the player has completed his or her hand(s), following specific rules. The player's hand is completed when the player:
- Draws Blackjack (a natural 21 consisting of an Ace and a 10 or picture card)
- Chooses to stand
- Busts (the hand count exceeds 21).
- The winner is determined by which hand's total is closest to 21. A Blackjack beats all other hands totalling 21 (this applies to the dealer as well). If both the dealer and player draw, it is considered a push (tie) and neither hand wins.
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Player Options
The player is initially dealt two cards.
Bet - To place a bet, the Player must click on the chip value they wish to wager.
Hit - Player requests another card to be dealt. The Player may take a hit at any time before standing.
Stand - Player chooses to keep dealt hand. The game will automatically stand when the Player has 21 or after doubling down.
Split - If the Player's first two cards are of the same value (i.e. 7, 7, or Q, K) they may be split into 2 separate hands by placing a second wager of equal value. The Player then proceeds to draw cards as usual, with these exceptions:
If a Player splits two aces, only one additional card is dealt for each hand. A hand totalling 21 after splitting aces is considered 21, not Blackjack.
Double - When a Player has been dealt the first two cards and believes that the third card will give them a position to beat the Dealer's hand, they can "double down." The wager is doubled, and one additional card is dealt to the Player. The hand is automatically stood, and the Dealer then completes their hand comparing it to the Players' total.
Insurance - Gives you a chance to protect yourself when you believe the Dealer may have Blackjack. If the Dealer's first card is an ace, and the Player believes the Dealer's hole card (face down) value is 10, the Player may purchase insurance against Dealer Blackjack at the price of half their initial bet. If the Dealer does have Blackjack, the insurance pays 2 to 1, which corresponds to the amount of the initial bet. If the Player has bought insurance and the Dealer does not have Blackjack, the Player loses his insurance. The Player's initial bet is then settled by comparing his cards with the Dealer's. If the Dealer and the Player both have Blackjack, the game results in a push with the Player profiting by the amount won by taking insurance.
Blackjack - Is achieved when first two cards total 21. Blackjack beats a score of 21 consisting of 3 or more cards.
Bust - Is achieved when total value of cards for either the Dealer or the Player exceeds 21. If the Player busts the wager is lost, if the Dealer busts the Player automatically wins the wager.
Push - Is achieved when the value of the Dealer's cards (from 17 to 21) and the Player's cards are equal resulting in neither winning. It also results in the return of the Player's wager.
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Dealer Strategy
The dealer must:
- Hit on a count of 16 or less
- Stand on Soft 17
- Stand on a Hard 17 or more
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Chatting
To begin chatting, click on the white bar in the chat box. You may chat with others at the table by typing a message in the white bar and pressing send.
Your message and the messages of others will appear in the top part of the game window. Please refrain from using any language or discussing topics that others may deem offensive. Failure to comply with this rule may result in your account being blocked by our support team. If you feel that someone is abusing this rule, please send an e-mail to our support and we will look into it.
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General Definitions and Rules
Burn
The act of removing one or more cards from the shoe and placing them face downward in the discard rack.
Deal
The distribution of the playing cards to the players and the dealer.
Pit boss
The person responsible for the supervision of the operation of the game.
Dealer
A person responsible for the operation of the game.
Dealing shoe
A device from which cards are dealt.
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Definitions and Rules of Blackjack
- Definitions and Specifications
- 1.1 Definitions
- Blackjack
An ace and an additional card with a point value of ten, dealt as the initial two cards to a player or the dealer.
- Hard total or hard point count total
The total point count of a hand which contains no aces or which contains aces that are each counted as one in value. Hole card
- A card dealt face down to the dealer which remains face down until all the players other than the dealer have received all the cards they have requested. Layout or table layout
- The felt, cloth, or other material covering the playing surface of a blackjack table.
- Soft total or soft point count total
The total point count of a hand containing one or more aces when one ace is counted as eleven in value.
- 1.2 Physical characteristics of the black jack table(s)
- 1.2.1
Blackjack shall be played on a standard 1450x800mm round cut table having with places for up to and no more than seven players on the one side and a place for the dealer on the other.
- 1.2.2
A blackjack table must have a discard rack. Tables are not equipped with a 'no peek' device. Card scanners can be used as an alternative to 'no peek' devices. If more than one black jack table is in play, tables must have an identifying number, assigned by the casino, on the surface of the table or a table accessory.
- 1.2.3
The following notices shall appear either on the table layout or on table signage clearly visible to every player at the table:
- One of these statements, in substantially this form: "dealer must draw to 16 and stand on all 17's," or alternatively, "dealer must draw to soft 17."
"Blackjack pays 3 to 2" (substitute higher odds according to fact); and "Insurance pays 2 to 1," (substitute higher odds and restrictions on insurance according to fact).
- 1.3 The rules of the game must set forth:
- Minimum and maximum table betting limits, and if applicable, minimum and maximum table betting limits for special circumstances.
If applicable, any restrictions on doubling down.
If applicable, any restrictions on splitting aces or the number of cards which can be drawn to split aces.
If applicable, any special payment schedule or payoff odds
- 1.5 Dealing shoes
- A dealing shoe must be designed and constructed to maintain the integrity of the game. Dealing shoes and discard racks must be inspected each gaming day before cards are placed in them to ensure that the shoe or other device is not damaged, is operating properly, and has not been compromised in any manner which might affect the integrity of the game.
- 1.6 Cards
- The values of the cards contained in a deck of cards are as follows:
- A card from 2 to 10 has its face value;
- A jack, queen, or king has a value of 10; and An ace may have a value of either 1 or 11 unless a value of 11 would give a player or the dealer a score in excess of 21, in which case it has a value of one.
A standard blackjack deck shall contain 52 cards in four suits (hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades) with each suit consisting of numerical cards from 2 to 10 and a jack, a queen, a king, and an ace.
- WAGERS
- 2.1 General Rules
- 2.1.1
Before the first card is dealt for a round of play, a player must make a wager. Wagers must be paid as winning wagers if any of the following events occur:The sum of the values of the player's cards is 21 or less and the sum of the values of the dealer's cards is more than 21;
The sum of the values of the player's cards exceeds the sum of the values of the dealer's cards, and the sum of the values of neither the player's cards nor the dealer's cards exceed 21; or
The player has blackjack and the dealer does not.
Wagers will be lost whenever the player does not hold a winning hand, except when the value of the player's hand is equal to the value of the dealer's hand. The dealer will collect all losing wagers, 8 except in the case of irregularities.
2.1.2
Except when splitting pairs, doubling down, or making an insurance wager, no wager may be increased, decreased, or withdrawn after the first card of a round has been dealt. All wagers at blackjack must be made in accordance with the gaming software from the player's available funds.
- 2.1.3
No wager shall be accepted by the system, increased or cancelled after the timer of the system has beeped indicating that the time for placing bets is over. At this stage the dealer calling the game shall announce "No More Bets". "No More Bets" shall be announced prior to the first card being drawn from the shoe.
- 2.1.4
After the last card is scanned and the result of the round is announced by the Dealer, the system automatically takes care for the wagers on the table the system shall collect all losing wagers and pay all winning wagers.
A minimum and maximum wager permitted is shown on the screen of the game.
Each player shall be responsible for the correct placement of their wager or wagers.
A wager may be rejected by the system prior to the cards being dealt due to it not placed on time, not meeting the minimum or maximum requirements or a failure to communicate with the gaming server.
- 2.2 Push and Exceptions
A wager is void and returned to the player when the sum of the value of the player's cards is equal to the sum of the value of the dealer's cards or when both the dealer and the player have blackjacks. A player's wager is lost if the dealer has a blackjack and the sum of the value of the player's cards is 21 and not a blackjack. A player's wager is lost when the values of both the player's cards and the dealer's cards exceed 21.
- 2.3 Payout of wagers
Winning wagers will be paid at odds of at least one to one with the exception of blackjack, which will be paid at odds of at least three to two.
When both the dealer and player's hand totals are equal, it is called push; neither wins nor loses.
If the player's hand total exceeds 21, he or she busts and loses his or her bet.
- 2.4 Handling of wagers
After a wager on the insurance line, a wager to double down, or a wager to split pairs has been confirmed by the game software, no player may handle, remove, or alter the wagers until the player's hand has been settled by the software.
- 2.5 Insurance wagers
- 2.5.1
If the first card dealt to the dealer is an ace, a player may make an insurance bet which wins if the dealer's hole card is a king, queen, jack, or ten and loses if the dealer's hole card is an ace, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or nine. An insurance bet is made by placing a wager in an amount not more than half the amount staked on the player's initial wager. A player may bet an amount in excess of half the initial wager to the next unit that can be wagered, if because of the value of chip denominations, half the initial wager cannot be bet.
- 2.5.2
Insurance wagers must be placed immediately after the second card is dealt to each player, after the dealer's card is exposed, and before any additional cards, beyond the second card, are dealt to the dealer.
- 2.5.3
All winning insurance wagers must be paid at odds of two to one. All losing insurance wagers must be collected by the software immediately after the dealer checks the hole card for blackjack.
- 2.6 Doubling down
A casino may allow a player to double down on the player's hand, which is to make an additional wager, not exceeding the player's original wager, on the first two cards dealt to the player, or the first two cards of any split pair. One additional card only must be dealt to the hand on which the player has elected to double down. If a dealer obtains blackjack after a player doubles down, the dealer must collect only the amount of the original wager of the player and shall not collect the additional amount wagered in doubling down.
- 2.7 Splitting Pairs
If the first two cards dealt to a player are identical in value, the player may split the hand into two separate hands by making a wager on the second hand equal to the player's original wager. If a player splits pairs, the dealer must deal a second card to the first hand so formed and must complete the player's decisions on that hand before dealing cards to the second hand. After an additional card is dealt to a split pair, the player must stand, draw or double down. A player may not split pairs, including pairs of aces more than once. At the discretion of the casino, a player splitting aces may have only one card dealt to each ace. In the event of splitting aces where the player gets a second card with a value of 10, it will count as 21 and not Black Jack.
- CARD HANDLING AND MANIPULATION
- 3.1 Inspection and presentation of cards
- 3.1.1
After receiving the cards at the table, the dealer must sort and inspect the cards. The dealer must ensure that the decks are complete, and that no cards are flawed, scratched, or marked in any way.
- 3.1.2
The dealer must spread out the cards, faced upward on the table, by deck, according to suit, and in sequence, in such a manner that each individual card can be identified. The casino surveillance system shall video record this process.
- 3.1.3
The dealer must inspect, present, shuffle, and place the cards into a shoe, if a shoe is to be used, only at the blackjack table where the cards will be dealt.
- 3.1.4
Any time cards have been removed from the playing surface of a blackjack table and are subsequently returned to any table for play, the dealer must re-inspect and present the cards in the manner described above.
- 3.2 The shuffle and reshuffle
- 3.2.1
Following presentation and inspection of cards, the dealer must turn the cards face downward on the table, mix them thoroughly using a "wash" or similar technique, shuffle them, and then stack them.
- 3.2.2
After each stack of cards is dealt, the dealer must reshuffle the cards so that they are randomly intermixed. A reshuffle of the cards must take place at the conclusion of the hand during which the cutting card is reached.
- 3.2.3
At the discretion of the casino, the dealer may reshuffle the cards after the conclusion of any hand.
- 3.3 Cut
- 3.3.1
After the cards have been shuffled, the dealer must personally cut the cards. The person cutting the cards must cut the cards by placing the cutting card in the stack.
Once the cutting card has been inserted, the dealer must take all cards in front of the cutting card and place them on the back of the stack.
If a shoe is used, the cutting card must be reinserted into the stack of cards and the cards must then be placed into the dealing shoe for the beginning of play.
The cutting card shall be placed four decks from the back of the shoe.
- 3.4 Procedure for Dealing Cards
Cards may be dealt from a dealing shoe specifically designed for the purpose and located on the table to the left of the dealer. A dealer must remove cards from the shoe or the deck and then place them on the appropriate area of the layout.
At the beginning of a round of play, the dealer must, starting with the first player to the dealer's left and continuing clockwise around the table, deal the cards in the following order:
One card face upward to each player who has made a wager;
One card face downward or upward to the dealer;
A second card, face upward to each player who has made a wager; and
A second card faces downward to the dealer.
- 3.5 Burn Procedure
At the discretion of the casino, the dealer may burn one or more cards. A new dealer who comes to the table may also burn one or more cards before the new dealer deals cards to the players. At the discretion of a casino, the burn cards may be disclosed upon request.
At the discretion of the house the dealer may burn one or more cards.
Cards will be burned in the following situations:
After each shuffle six cards are burned
Game errors, after Pitboss approval, three cards are burned
After each shuffle six cards are burned
- 3.6 The Play
After two cards have been dealt to each player and to the dealer, each player must double down, split pairs, stand, hit, or make an insurance wager.
A player must indicate their intention by selecting the appropriate action through the software controls for the game on the player's computer interface with the game.
The dealer must wait for a software signal of intention of the player before dealing additional cards to the player or before moving on to the next player, unless the player's card count is exactly twenty-one or exceeds twenty-one in which case the software will signal the dealer to move onto the next play. If there is no response from the player's side or the response time assigned to the player by the casino the dealer will be indicated by the software to move on to the next player without action on the earlier player's hand.
- 3.7 The Pickup
At the conclusion of a round of play, all cards on the layout must be picked up by the dealer so that they can be readily arranged to indicate each player's hand in case of question or dispute. Each dealer must consistently pick cards up in only one direction during any shift. The dealer must first pick up her cards and use them to pick up the players cards adding to the stack in her hand in opposite order of the initial deal direction or from right to left in such a manner that the dealer's cards will be located on the bottom of the discard stack when placed in the discard rack. After the pickup, all players' cards and the dealer's cards must be placed in the discard rack.
- 3.8 Dealer's Hole Card
The dealer may not look at, expose, nor permit the exposure of the face of the dealer's hole card until after all cards requested by the players have been dealt to them unless the dealer's face up card is an ace. If the dealer's face up card is an ace, the software will offer players the choice to buy insurance after the selected time for the operation is over the dealer will be signaled by the software to check if the hole card makes Blackjack.
- PROHIBITED ACTS
- 4.1
No casino or other person may remove, add, or alter any cards except as provided by this rule, and no dealer or other employee of the casino shall permit any person to engage in such activity.
- 4.2
The dealer shall not look at, nor expose to any person, the face of a card before it is dealt.
- 4.3
No dealer or pit boss shall advise a player about game strategy nor recommend the proper play of a hand whilst the player has a wager still pending on the outcome of the hand.
- 4.4
Drawing of additional cards by players and dealers
A player may elect to draw additional cards if the player's hard point count total is less than 21. A player with blackjack or a hard or soft point count total of 21 may not be offered additional cards by the software.
A dealer must draw additional cards to the dealer's hand as signaled by the software until the dealer has a hard total of 17 or a hard or soft total of 18, 19, 20, or 21.
At the discretion of the casino, the dealer shall either:
stand when the dealer has a soft total of 17; or
be required to draw additional cards when the dealer has a soft total of 17. Thereafter, no additional cards may be drawn.
A dealer may not draw additional cards to the dealer's hand, regardless of the point count, if decisions have been made on all players' hands and the point count of the dealer's hand will have no effect on the outcome.
- 4.5
It is only permitted for a player to wager on one hand per account.