How to Play Black Jack

Go into any casino and you'll find the black jack game tables crowded with folks who love this fun and simple classic casino game. And it's not just the casinos anymore. More and more people are adding black jack game tables to their home game rooms because of its widespread popularity. Black jack is the most recognized casino card game in the world. Most people have heard of it, but there are still many who have never played, so let's take a minute to review. The Black Jack Game Table Black jack is played at a semicircular black jack game table. In order to play black jack, you will need at least one regular deck of 52 cards. Some casinos use just one deck, though this is rare. Most use multiple decks at each black jack game table and employ automatic card shuffling machines to continuously shuffle the cards. Objective and Card Values The objective of black jack is to beat the dealer's hand with your own. Both the dealer and the player try to get the value of their hands to total as close to 21 as possible without going over, with 21 being the highest possible hand. In black jack, cards from 2-10 are counted as face value. The Jack, Queen, and King, or face cards, each have a value of 10. An ace is worth either 1 or 11, whichever the player decides is best for that hand. Anyone who goes over 21, including the dealer, suffers what is called a "bust," which results in an immediate and automatic loss at every black jack game table.

Getting Started
Once the players are seated or standing near the black jack game table, the dealer will deal two cards to each player and two cards to her or himself. One of the dealer's cards will be facing up on the black jack game table. The players look at their hands and then decide how to play to proceed with the game based on their hand and what the dealer is showing.

Game Play
Here's What You Can Do at the Black Jack Table
Ask for a Hit - This is when the player asks for additional cards to improve his hand. The player can continue to ask the dealer to "hit" his or her hand with additional cards until either the hand goes over 21 and "busts" or the player decides to "stand. "

Declare to Stand
The player can choose to "stand" at any time. This is when player decides that this is as good as his hand will get and doesn't ask for any additional cards. Cards remain face down on the black jack game table, except for the "hit" cards, which remain face up. Other players continue to get hits until they decide to "stand." Once all players have decided to stand, the dealer will finish his hand, which is done differently.

Dealer's Rules
It is now the dealer's turn to turn his/her hand upright on the black jack game table. The dealer continues to hit until either reaching a total of or between 17 and 21, or busting. In other words, the dealer must accept a hit if his or her hand totals 16 or less. If the dealer busts, all the players at the black jack table, who did not bust while playing their hand, win.

Winning and Losing
If dealer does not bust, all player hand totals are compared to the dealer's hand total. If any player's hand total is greater than the dealer's, without going over 21, that player is a winner. If the dealer's total is higher, the dealer wins. If totals are equal the hand is considered a push. Rules for pushes vary, and are set by the house.