Options for a Blackjack Game

Taking insurance
Insurance gives you the possibility to protect yourself when you think that the dealer might have a Blackjack. You place half of your initial bet by pressing the ‘Insurance’ Button. If the has got a Blackjack, you are paid 2 to 1 on your insurance bet. If the dealer does not have a Blackjack, the insurance bet is lost.

Splitting
If your opening cards have the same point value, you may split them into two separate hands by placing a second bet of the same size as the original bet. You then proceed to draw cards a usual. You can draw as many cards as you like on each of the two hands, unless you split two aces. In these cases you receive only one additional card for each ace. If you split two aces and one of your hands totals 21, it is counted as 21 and not a Blackjack. Any two ten value cards can be split, for example a jack and a king. In general the casino will also allow you to re-split after the original split. For example, if you split two sevens and get another seven as the second card of one of those two hands you can split this hand again play on with three hands. Keep in mind that some casinos have limits on re-splitting aces.

Doubling/Doubling down
When you are dealt two cards, and think that one more card will be enough to beat the dealer, you can increase your bet by an amount up to your original bet or double your bet. This play is called doubling or doubling down. Once you decide to double you must hit once more; you can’t stand and you are not allowed to take more than one more card. For example, you may be dealt a 6 and a 5 for a total of 11. You can now choose to double down, hoping to get a 10 value card (the most frequent value card in a fresh deck). The casino house rules for doubling down vary. In some casinos you’re only allowed to double down on 10 and 11 totals while others allow doubling down on any two-card total. Some casinos allow it only on original hands and not split hands, while others allow doubling down after splitting as well.

    * Winning payouts in Blackjack A winning hand pays 1 to 1     
    * Insurance pays 2 to 1     
    * Blackjack pays 3 to 2