BLACKJACK DIRECT

The world's quickest rundown on blackjack, said to be the casino's most popular table game (and certainly no. 1 at the online casino as well): The object for the player is to get a card total higher than the dealer's but without surpassing 21 in value, a.k.a. “busting.” Face cards and 10s are worth ten points, 2s through 9s are worth the value shown, and aces may be used as 1 or 11 points.

After receiving two cards face up from the virtual dealer, the internet blackjack player can decide totake a card (“hit”); stay with the cards he/she was dealt (“stand”); draw a third card to supplement the hand but with a doubling of wager (“double down”);make two hands from a single hand of two identical cards, also necessarily with doubling of wager (“split”); or lessen your losses by giving up at half the wager (“surrender”).

The online casino milieu offers online blackjack players quite a few more variations than are possible to host in a real-life location. Common variations include European blackjack, pontoon and Atlantic City-style blackjack games, but the differences are only in the subtleties. Check for special-paying hands (triple 7s get nice payouts in Spanish blackjack, whereas five cards is a top hand in pontoon) or changes to rules regarding splits and insurance.

Essential for any online player of blackjack, too, is a strategy card. While toting such a weapon into a real-life casino might be frowned upon, there's absolutely no reason you can't have one right there while playing from the comfort of your own home…