How to Play Blackjack Online: A Beginner’s Guide
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Best suited for players who like the thrill of a challenge, live blackjack requires some number crunching! Although intimidating at first, you can quickly learn how to play live blackjack with our easy step-by-step guide. So if you want to learn the basics of playing this live casino game, jump straight into our beginner’s guide to blackjack online.
What Is the Objective in Blackjack
Most players starting to learn how to play blackjack online think that the aim is to beat the hands of the others playing at the table. However, this is not the case!
Your ultimate objective in blackjack is to get a better hand than the dealer (known as “beat the dealer”). Each person sitting at the table plays against the dealer and not against the others.
There’s more than one way of beating the dealer. For starters, you can get a better hand value. In this game, a natural blackjack - which is a hand value of 21 - is the best scoring hand. However, if both you and the dealer have a natural, you tie the game and retrieve your stake. Another way to win at blackjack is to bust the dealer. This happens when the dealer’s hand has a total of exceeding 21 before your own hand draws. The dealer goes bust and the whole table is paid out their winnings.
Did you know? Blackjack is commonly mistaken for the game 21 (also known as “Pontoon”). Although the objective of the game is uncanny, 21 is played with different table rules than those found in blackjack.
What is the Role of the Blackjack Live Dealer
The dealer has multiple roles in blackjack. One of them is to deal the cards for all players and to announce the bets and the outcomes. Unlike in land-based casinos, live blackjack dealers will not handle chips and payouts. Your wins will get automatically to your balance. Since all the participants play against the dealers, they are also players themselves. The only difference is that the dealer is restricted by a strict set of rules specific to each table.
Last but not least, the dealer is also in charge of creating a nice experience. Although the dealer is your rival in this game, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the kind nature of our dealers. Committed to delivering the greatest gaming experience, our dealers enjoy nothing more than a light-hearted conversation, so don’t shy away from writing to them using the Chat feature.
Above all, our dealers are experts in their field - boasting years of experience in land-based casinos and dedicated academies. As you can see, we hold our dealers to very high standards in order to ensure that your experience in our live casino is nothing short of perfect.
How Is the Blackjack Table Split Up
Please, take a seat, we’re just about to get the game started. But first, it’s very important that we discuss the blackjack table layout! Click the ‘SIT HERE’ button to take a seat. In front of you, you’ll notice a translucent patch. This is where you’ll place your chips throughout the course of the game. Around it, you’ll see space to place two additional side bets: Perfect Pairs and 21+3. At the centre of the table, you’ll also notice a few basic blackjack rules. These being:
- Blackjack pays 3 to 2
- Dealer must stand on 17 and must draw to 16
- Insurance pays 2 to 1
A standard online blackjack table holds seven players at a time. So you might be wondering what happens if the table is occupied. Our live blackjack tables also offer the Bet Behind feature which allows you to bet on another player’s hand as well as your own. Although this feature is most common among players who are waiting for a seat at the table, you can also Bet Behind while playing your own hand.
What’s more is that Bet Behind bets are usually cheaper. It’s for this reason that Bet Behind is a good place to get started when you’re still learning how to play blackjack online! As you bet smaller amounts of money on the game, you’ll also be able to pick up some pointers from more experienced players. You may even ask the dealer to recommend a hand to bet on although we can’t guarantee this will result in a winning bet.
Having said that, Bet Behind isn’t restricted to beginners. In fact, Bet Behind is also appreciated by professional players who may want to occupy a wider spread of the table, therefore choosing to bet on all seven seats at a time. But don’t worry! If, for some reason, you don’t want other players to bet on your hand, you can opt out of the feature before the start of each round.
Did you know? Although live blackjack tables typically seat seven players at a time, Infinite Blackjack, and Free Bet Blackjack all offer unlimited seats.
Blackjack Is Played With How Many Decks
In the 17th century, Miguel de Cervantes’ blackjack was played with a single deck of 52 cards. Since then, numerous variants have come along, some of which are played with up to 8 decks of cards. While single-deck variants make for a cleaner game, multiple decks allow for more possibilities to split your hand.
Did you know that: While most online blackjack tables are played with 6-8 decks, you can get a better idea of how many decks are being used in the information menu located in-game.
What Are the Blackjack Card Values
Just like your typical card game, live blackjack is played with:
- 13 Clubs
- 13 Diamonds
- 13 Hearts
- 13 Spades
Each suit has an Ace, a King, a Queen, a Jack, and cards ranked 2 to 10. Typically, at the start of each round, the dealer deals every person on the table, as well as themself, two cards. Both your cards are dealt face-up while the dealer keeps one of their cards face down until all the players at the table have played their first move. These cards represent the hand of each player. The value of a hand is calculated as follows:
- Ace - 1 or 11 (As determined by the player)
- King, Queen, and Jack - 10
- 2 - 10 - Face value
Therefore, if your hand is made up of a Ten of Spades (10) and an Ace (which in this case can count as an 11), you have a natural. But more often than not - you won’t get so lucky - and you’ll need to play some additional moves to win the round.
Did you know that: A deck of cards is oftentimes compared to a calendar. That’s because each deck has 52 cards, just like the number of weeks in a year. While the 4 suits represent spring, summer, autumn and winter.
What Moves Can You Make in Blackjack
If your hand isn’t a natural, then you’ve still got some way to go. Taking into account your hand as well as the dealer’s you must decide whether to: Stand, Hit, Split or Double Down. But what does this all mean and how do you make the right decision?
Stand - If your hand value is very high or you’re concerned about busting, you should probably stand. When you stand, the dealer skips your turn and doesn’t deal you a new card.
Hit - As we’ve mentioned before, you can win at blackjack if your hand value is better than the dealer’s. For this reason you want to get as close to 21 as possible. When you hit, the dealer draws another card which is added to your hand value.
Split - If you have two cards of the same value or two identical cards, you can choose to split your hand. In order to do so, you’ll first have to match your stake. The dealer then hands you two additional cards, one for each hand. This creates two new hands, allowing you to win on both.
Double Down - Think you’ve got something good going on? At any point in the round, you can choose to double your stake and receive one new card. This is called doubling down and is most common on hand values of 9, 10, and 11. In case of a win, this move pays double the initial stake. But careful! Once you double down, you cannot pull a new card for the rest of the game round.
As we’ve explained previously, blackjack is a game of strategy, therefore there’s no need to make your decision at random! In fact, every seasoned player will consult the blackjack basic strategy before making their move.
Blackjack Basic Strategy
The blackjack basic strategy is a statistical model which uses theoretical mathematics to guide players to make the most optimal move in every situation - consider the player’s hand as well as the dealer’s. The basic strategy doesn’t guarantee a win but, over time, it lays a solid foundation to minimise your losses and maximise your winnings.
What’s the Value of Blackjack Chips
Before you can start placing any bets at the blackjack table, it’s important to learn how to use blackjack chips. Located at the centre of your screen, you’ll notice that each chip varies in colour. This will help you place your bets more quickly and efficiently once you’ve memorised which value is associated with which colour. Tread carefully though as chip values vary from one provider to another. Typically speaking though, the minimum bet at a live blackjack table is 1.
In LeoVegas Live Blackjack 2, chips are worth the following:
- Gray Chip: 1
- Red Chip: 5
- Blue Chip: 10
- Green Chip: 25
- Black Chip: 100
- Purple Chip: 500
When the betting window is open, the chips will appear on your screen. Click on the chip value of your choice and place the chip inside the translucent patch marking your seat. You may place more than one chip to accumulate your bet.
What Are the Blackjack Rules
You’ve proven to be a great student thus far! Now that you know the basics of how to play blackjack online, it’s time you learn the blackjack rules. You may remember some of these from the blackjack table layout.
Dealer Must Stand on 17 and Draw to 16
In blackjack, the dealer must also draw cards to their hand value by hitting or standing. The only difference is that the dealer’s moves are heavily restricted by the blackjack rules. When a table employs the Soft 17 rule, the dealer must hit so long as their hand value is less than 17. Once their hand surpasses 16, the dealer must stand until the end of the game round.
Double on Any 2 Cards
Although you have the option to double down, it’s important to know that, at our tables, doubling down is only allowed on the first two cards dealt to you. Once you double down, and receive your third card, you won’t be able to take any further cards in that hand. Unlike other casinos, we allow our players to double down on any two cards dealt at the beginning of the game round. If you choose to play by the basic strategy, though, you’ll be advised to only double down on cards which are theoretically more likely to increase your payout.
No Re-Split
In blackjack, you can choose to split your hand if you have two identical cards or two cards of the same value. This allows you to create two new hands from your initial one. In doing so, you can play two separate games within the same game round. Although most land-based casinos allow their players to re-split the same hand, in online casinos this is not allowed as the tables are smaller than average, allowing less room for players to manage multiple hands.
Split Aces
You may wish to split a hand of two Aces in the hope of drawing a 10-value card. The blackjack rules allow you to draw only one card on each split Ace. If the next card you draw happens to be a K, Q, J or 10, keep in mind that this doesn’t pay a blackjack because your initial hand was not a natural to start with. On the contrary, you’d have a hand value of 21 and this would pay even money.
No Double After Split
Another common blackjack rule is the No Double After Split. While most land-based casinos allow their players to double down after having split their hand, this is not very common in blackjack online.
No-Peek
There’s no one fixed way of playing the No-Peek rule in blackjack online. At some tables, you’ll find that a dealer only draws one card for themself at the beginning of each game round. Once everyone at the table has made their initial move, the dealer will draw another card. If the dealer’s hand is a natural, then all the players at the table will lose their stake.
You might also come across a live blackjack table, where the dealer draws one card face up and another one face down for themself. If the dealer’s face-up card is a 10-value card, you’ll be prompted to make your move before the second card is revealed. If, on the other hand, the face-up card is an Ace, the dealer offers everyone insurance before checking for a blackjack.
Unless you’re offered the insurance, you risk losing your entire stake. For this reason, it’s typically not recommended to split or double down when the dealer has a 10-value card or an Ace in hand. Instead, more often than not, the basic strategy suggests to hit.
Insurance Pays 2:1
If the dealer’s face up card is an Ace, you will be offered insurance in case the dealer draws a 10. This insures you from losing your entire stake in case the dealer has a blackjack. You need to pay half your initial stake for insurance but in the case that the dealer does draw a blackjack, you will be paid 2:1. If, on the other hand, the dealer doesn’t draw a ten-value card then the player loses their insurance bet and plays out the rest of the game round.
Blackjack pays 3:2
Standard wins in blackjack are paid 1:1, meaning that you get your stake paid back evenly. In the case that you land a blackjack though, our tables pay 3:2. This is so long as the dealer doesn’t also land a blackjack. In that case, you would get your stake back and win nothing above.
Why Play Blackjack Online
You might be wondering why you should choose to play blackjack in an online casino instead of heading to a land-based casino. We could go on about this forever but one main reason for choosing our online blackjack tables is the variety of extra features.
Live Chat
One of the most unique features in online blackjack is the ability to interact with the other participants at the table (including the dealers) thanks to the live chat feature. You will find it under a speech bubble icon at either edge of your screen. The live chat makes for a more enjoyable and animated casino experience.
Bet Behind
Bet Behind is ideal for new starters who wish to get a better idea of how the game is played. You can Bet Behind more seasoned players than yourself to pick up on their techniques. When you enter a table offering Bet Behind, you may notice a yellow star next to some player’s usernames. The star displays the strikes of winning hands for each player - helping you decide who would be best to place your bets on.
Pre-Decision
Another interesting feature in our online blackjack tables is the Pre-Decision feature which makes for a speedier and more engaging game. Pre-Decision lets players decide their move in advance, before their turn. The game is faster and more fluid - sparing little time to wait. So if you want to get more rounds in your limited spare time, be sure to check out the Pre-Decision option!
Play Blackjack In The LeoVegas Live Casino Lobby
Congratulations! You’ve finished our beginner’s guide to blackjack online. You’re now well on your way to landing a blackjack! Polish your newly-acquired skills on LeoVegas Blackjack then click the ‘GO LIVE’ button when you’re ready to try the real deal!