Blackjack

Goal

Beat the dealer by getting a hand worth more than the dealer's without going over 21. Going over 21 is a bust and loses at once.

Card values

• Number cards are worth their number.
• Jack, Queen and King are worth 10.
• An Ace is worth 11, or 1 if 11 would make you bust. A hand where an Ace still counts as 11 is a soft hand (for example Ace and 6 is a soft 17).

How a round goes

• You choose your bet with the chips, then press Deal.
• You get two cards face up. The dealer gets two, one face up and one face down.
• If you have an Ace and a 10-value card you have a blackjack and the round ends at once.
• The dealer can have a blackjack too. If the two dealer cards are an Ace and a 10-value card, the face-down card is turned over at once and the round ends.
• Otherwise you play your hand, then the dealer plays and the cards are compared.

Your moves

• Hit: take one more card. You can hit as many times as you like until you stand or bust.
• Stand: keep your hand as it is and let the dealer play.
• Double down: you double your bet and get exactly one more card. After that card your hand is finished, you cannot hit again. You can only do it on your first two cards, and you need enough chips for the extra bet. Use it when your hand is strong and one card will likely make it stronger, such as 11 against a dealer 6.
• Split: when your first two cards have the same value (two 8s, or a King and a Queen), you can split them into two hands. You place a second bet equal to the first, each hand gets a new card, and each is played on its own, one after the other. You can split again up to four hands, and double on a split hand.

The dealer

The dealer has no choices. The dealer draws until reaching 17 or more and then stands. At this table the dealer also stands on a soft 17.

Payouts

• Win: you get your bet back plus the same amount (1 to 1).
• Blackjack: you get your bet back plus one and a half times the bet (3 to 2). If both you and the dealer have a blackjack, it is a push.
• Push (a tie): your bet is returned.
• Lose or bust: you lose your bet.

Bets

The smallest bet is 5. You can bet any amount up to your bankroll. The table remembers your last bet. When your bankroll is below 5 the game is over and you can start again.

High scores

When your bankroll runs out, the most money you held during the run is your score. The five best scores are kept on this device, with your name. Ties go to the run with fewer rounds.

Keyboard

• Betting: 1, 2, 3, 4 add a 5, 10, 25 or 50 chip, C clears the bet, A bets all your chips, Enter deals.
• Playing: H hit, S stand, D double, P split.
• After a round: Enter or Space deals the same bet again, B goes back to change the bet.
• The key for each chip is shown on it.

This table

• One deck, shuffled before every round.
• Dealer stands on soft 17.
• Blackjack pays 3 to 2. A 21 made on two cards after a split is just 21, not a blackjack.
• Split aces get one card each and cannot be split again.
• If every hand busts, the dealer does not draw.