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In most casinos the blackjack laws are almost identical, with slight modifications to the basic blackjack rules, and all you have to do is ask the dealer to know what the modifications are. The same goes for online blackjack tournament sites, only here you don't ask anyone, but read the rulesand blackjack tips to see what has been modified.
When playing online blackjack tournaments, you get a few gaming options which the dealer doesn't have. Here is a listing and explanation of your options:
- Stand
When you think your first two cards are good enough and you don't want any additional cards, you stand. This means you have finished playing for this blackjack round, and all you can do is wait to see whether you won or lost the bet.
- Hit
If your two initial blackjack cards are not good enough and want to improve the total of your hand, you hit the deck for another card. You may hit more than once, until you choose to stand or until you exceed 21, which mean that you have gone "bust". A bust means you automatically lose the round, even if the dealer gets busted himself afterwards.
- Double Down
In case you get a total of 9-11 in your first two cards of the online blackjack round, you might find it in your advantage to double down your bet. When you double, you only get one card. You can't hit after a double down, nor can you split. Actually, after you double down, there's nothing more you can do. You will automatically stand, no matter what your total is as long as it doesn't exceed 21. Blackjack2002.com strongly recommends that you only double down when the odds are in your favor! When you double down, you can put in less than your original bet, but not more than it.
- Split
When you get a pair of any kind in your first two cards, they can be split into 2 independent and separate blackjack hands, on the condition that you place your original bet on each hand. What you do when splitting the cards is create two hands from one. You can hit, double down or even split (if the circumstances allow it) each hand, with one exception: When you split a pair of aces, they will get only one card each.
- Buy Insurance
The dealer deals himself two cards, one face-up and the other is facedown. If the card facing up is an ace, the players around the online blackjack table will be asked if they want to buy insurance. When you buy online blackjack insurance, you actually put half or less than your original bet total on the insurance line. What "insurance" means is you actually bet on the dealer to have a 10-value facedown card, which will win him a blackjack. After the players place (or don't place) their insurance bets, the dealer exposes his facedown card. If the dealer strikes a blackjack, you either "push" him if you get a natural blackjack yourself, or lose your original bet if you don't. In this case, had you insured yourself in time, you still save some of your bet as you win the insurance bet 2-1. If the dealer doesn't have a 10-value facedown card, you lose your insurance bet and the online blackjack tournament game continues as usual. Some consider the insurance bet a "sucker bet", since it's only in 1/3 of the times that the dealer really has a 10-value card when showing an ace.
You should only buy insurance in occasions such as stated below:
- You've noticed a lot of lower cards but not a lot of tens on the board, and you have a large bet.
- Your hand total is 20. This is an almost sure winner, and it's better to win half the bet than to risk losing it all for a natural blackjack by the dealer.
- Your cards are a pair of 9's, and the per-deck count is equal to or higher than +2 (for card counters.) On the 30% chance the dealer has a blackjack, you get to save your bet, and on the other 70% you might lose half the original bet, but you still have very good chances of winning with a split of the two 9's and multiplying your winnings.
- Surrender
This gaming option is the least known and understood, yet sometimes it proves very valuable. A wise use of the surrender option can be made when you get a lousy blackjack hand and the dealer, at the same time, gets an upcard of 9 or higher. When surrendering, you lose 1/2 of your bet, but it's much better than losing it all.
The dealer's turn takes place only after all players have made their moves.
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