Blackjack Rules Dealer Must Hit
Blackjack usually means you win 1.5 the amount of your bet. Depends on the casino. Dealer will hit until his/her cards total 17 or higher. Doubling is like a hit, only.
I like to assume that anyone reading one of my posts is starting at zero. I’m not doing exactly that here, because I’m not explaining in detail all the rules of casino blackjack.
But I do want to draw the distinction between hard hands and soft hands.
The dealer must hit if the value of the hand is lower than 17, otherwise the dealer will stand. Whether or not the dealer must hit on a soft 17 (a hand of 17 containing an ace being counted as 11) differs from casino to casino. There might even be blackjack tables with different rules within the same casino. You must remember that blackjack is a mathematical game. It operates on a specific set of mathematical principles that cannot be violated. Even the basic rules of the game dictate specific actions by the dealer. The dealer must always hit on 16 or less and stand on 17 or more.
Blackjack is a simple comparing game where the player and dealer each start with a two-card hand. The one with the higher total points for their hand wins the bet, but only if they keep theirtotal to 21 or below. A total of 22 or higher is an automatic loss.
The cards have points based on their rank. The numbered cards have the same number of points as their numbers: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. The face cards (jack, queen, and king) are alsoworth 10 points each.
The only exception is the ace. No one would blame you for thinking that an ace is worth 1 point. It is, in fact, in many situations, worth a single point.
But it’s also worth 11 points.
When you have a hand with no aces in it, you have a hard total. This means that the total is what the total is.
For example, if you have a jack and a 3, you have a hard total of 13. There’s no wiggle room there. That’s the total.
But if you have an ace and a 3, you have a soft total. That’s because the ace counts as 11, but if you get a card that would otherwise give you a total of 22, you can count it as a 1 instead.
With an ace and a 3, you have a soft 14. If you hit that hand and get a 10, you have a hard 14. (Any hand where the ace must be considered 1 point to avoid busting is also considered a hardhand.)
The strategy for a player with a soft hand as opposed to a hard hand is significantly different. Since you have that added layer of protection from busting, the right move is often to play a softtotal more aggressively.
But when we talk about a soft 17 “rule” in blackjack, we’re talking about how the dealer plays his hand.
Real Time Gaming launched as an online casino software company in 1998. There are dozens of licensed Real Time Gaming casinos. Real Time Gaming software offers over 200 casino games in its software suite. This includes a variety of slot machines, video poker games, and table games. There are seven blackjack games offered. All blackjack games have a minimum bet of $1, and a maximum bet of $200. Casino management has the ability to change the bet limits so it will vary from one casino to the next. High rollers may request a bet limit increase. Real Time Gaming casino owners will approve higher limits for qualified players.
Each Real Time Gaming blackjack game will reshuffle after every hand. Players can also check a complete hand history right at the table. Each blackjack table has a tab for the table rules, as well as a help link with a full explanation of the blackjack rules for the table that is open in the software.
RTG does not disclose the number of decks in their blackjack games. For the purpose of our house advantage, we used four decks. Our research shows that this is most likely the number of decks used for Real Time Gaming blackjack.
Standard Blackjack (99.46%)
There is a basic version of blackjack offered by Real Time Gaming. In this version, players may play one or two hands at the same time. The Standard Blackjack game is the only Real Time Gaming blackjack game that allows a player to play more than one hand at a time. The rules are:
- Dealer hits soft 17
- Double down any two cards
- Double down after any split except on aces
- Split pairs other than aces to a total of three hands
- One card only on aces
Perfect Pairs Side Bet (99.46%)
Perfect Pairs is the exact game as the standard blackjack game with two exceptions. The first exception is that players may only play one hand. There is also a Perfect Pair side bet. This side bet has the following payouts:
- Suited Pair – 25-1
- Same Colored Pair – 12-1
- Different Colored Pair – 6-1
European Blackjack (99.43%)
European Blackjack is different from American Blackjack in one way. The dealer does not take their down card until after the player has acted. This means that players can lose double their bet if they split or double, and the dealer ends up with a natural blackjack. The dealer does not know if they have a blackjack until all players have acted and they draw their second card.
The strategy changes a bit from American Blackjack as a player should never double down or split against an ace showing unless the player is splitting aces. Against a ten, players should only split aces and double on 11. All other splits and double downs become a hit. No hands should be split against a ten value card. The rules for Real Time Gaming European Blackjack are as follows:
- Dealer stays on all 17s
- Double down only on hard 9-11
- Double down after split only on hard 9-11
- Split pairs other than aces up to a total of three hands
- One card only on split aces
Face Up 21 (99.25%)
Face Up 21 is dealt without down cards. The player can see the both of the dealer’s up cards when deciding what action to take. The player must beat the dealer, as the dealer will win any push. The exception is that the player automatically wins on a blackjack, even if the dealer also has one. This means that if you do not have more than the dealer does, you must hit, otherwise you will lose. The rules are:
- Blackjack pays even money
- Dealer hits soft 17
- Double down on 9-11 only
- Double down after split on 9-11 only
- Split pairs other than aces up to a total of three hands
Match Play 21 (99.27%)
Match Play 21 is similar to Spanish 21 that can be found in brick and mortar casinos. There are no tens in the Match Play 21 decks but there are jacks, queens and kings. The fewer ten value cards give the dealer an advantage. To offset that advantage, a player has several special payouts:
- Match Play 21 (Suited 777 that matches suit of dealer’s 7 up card) – 40-1
- 777 Spades – 3-1
- 678 Spades – 3-1
- 7+ card 21 – 3-1
- 777 Suited (except spades) – 2-1
- 678 Suited (except spades) – 2-1
- Six card 21 – 2-1
- Any 777 (not suited) – 3-2
- Any 678 (not suited) – 3-2
- Five card 21 – 3-2
The rules in dealing Match Play 21 are as follows:
- Dealer hits soft 17
- Player automatically wins natural blackjack
- Player automatically wins with 21
- Double down on any number of cards
- Double down on any number of cards after splitting
- Late Surrender after dealer checks for blackjack
- Surrender after doubling down
- Split all pairs up to three times
Blackjack Rules Dealer Must Hit Farther
Pontoon (99.35%)
Pontoon is an unusual blackjack variation typically found in Australian brick and mortar casinos. In Pontoon, both of the dealer’s cards are dealt face down. A player must draw blindly to beat the dealer. To make up for this player disadvantage, a player gets paid 2-1 on a Pontoon. A Pontoon is a natural blackjack hand containing an ace and a ten value card. The second best hand is a “Five Card Trick”. A Five Card Trick is a five card hand that did not bust. The dealer wins all ties. If a player splits aces and receives a face card, the split hand is considered a Pontoon. A player must hit until they have at least 15, or a Five Card Trick. The rules are:
- Dealer hits soft 17
- Double down on 2, 3, or 4 cards
- If a double down hand is less than 15 another card must be drawn
- Hit after double down
- Split pairs other than aces up to a total of three hands
- Double down after split
- Dealer wins all ties
Super 21 (98.94%)
Blackjack Rules Dealer Must Hit
Super 21 is a blackjack variation with many fun rules, but one unfriendly player rule to offset it. The unfriendly player rule is that all blackjacks pay even money, except for a diamond blackjack, which pay 2-1. The player automatically wins on blackjack. A player with a six card charlie, meaning six cards that do not bust, automatically wins too. A player that makes a total of 21 in five or six cards will receive a 2-1 payout. The game rules are:
- Dealer hits soft 17
- Double down at any time, even after drawing
- Double down after split
- Surrender
- Surrender after doubling down
- Surrender after splitting
- Surrender after hitting
- Split pairs other than aces up to a total of three hands
Suit ’em Up (97.3%)
Suit ’em Up is a blackjack variation that plays like a standard game, but features a side bet that can pay off handsomely. The game is played with 2, 6, or 8 decks depending on the version you play, and pays 3-2. The game payouts are:
- Suited aces pays 60-1
- Suited blackjack pays 10-1
- Suited pair pays 5-1
- Suited eleven pays 3-1
- Any other suited pair pays 2-1