Casino Blackjack

Which keys to use

Cursor Up/Down = Increase/Decrease bet by minimum stake.

Cursor Right/Left = Increase/Decrease bet by £100.

M = Bet Maximum

Enter = Make Bet

H = Hit

S = Stand

P = sPlit

D = Double

Delete = Surrender

Logging your game

There are two ways of playing Blackjack. If from the menu you select "Start non logged game", you will not be able to save your game. Alternatively select "Start/Continue logged game", the first time you do this, you will start a game as normal, when you then exit Blackjack or select "Start non logged game", the amount of money you have is stored. When you subsequently select "Start/Continue logged game" you will continue play with that amount.

Options

Pressing Menu will display a list of options as follows:-

NUMBER OF PACKS - this sets the number of packs of cards used, most Casino's use 6 or 8. The number in brackets shows the number of packs currently selected.

CHANGE TABLE - There are 3 tables, each with different minimum and maximum bets, as your winnings build, move to a higher stakes table.

SET DEFAULT BET - Makes the default bet the amount currently selected to bet.

AUTO DEAL - When on, you will autoatically bet the default bet.

INSURANCE - When off, insurance will not be available.

EVEN MONEY - When off, even money will not be offered.

How to play

You decide how much you want to bet before the hand begins. You receive 2 cards & the dealer 1, all face up, then decide whether to Stand (the dealer then takes cards until reaching 17+ or Busting (getting more than 21), Hit (receive another card), Double (when you have 2 cards & they total 9,10 or 11 and you don't have an ace, you can double your bet & receive 1 more card, then Stand), Split (if your 1st 2 cards are the same regardless of suit, you may play each as a new hand, betting on each, Blackjack then counts as 21, split aces get 1 more card then stand) you take cards until you Bust or Stand.

The aim is to get as close to 21 as possible without going over 21 in which case you lose. With an Ace & a Ten, Jack, Queen, or King you have Blackjack & automatically win at 6/4 unless the dealer has Blackjack, in which case you lose.

Score more than the dealer, & you win the amount you bet, & Vice Versa, if you both have the same score it's a Stand Off & you keep your bet.

Aces count as 1 or 11, you choose. If the dealers first card is an ace and you don't have Blackjack you will be offered insurance, if you accept it will cost half your current bet, if the dealer then gets Blackjack, you get your bet and insurance back, otherwise you lose the insurance money and win or lose the hand as normal, insuring loses you the chance to split or double.

If you get Blackjack and the dealer has an ace you can choose to accept an even money win or keep playing and risk the dealer getting Blackjack.

If after your first 2 cards you think that you little chance of winning, you can surrender (end the hand) and get back half your bet.

See if you can win £50000 and find out what happens.

Advanced guide

Remember that there are 4 times as many tenth cards (10,J,Q,K) as any other card in a pack.

When choosing whether to Hit or Stand, look at the dealers cards as well as your own, for example if you had 15 and the dealer had a tenth card the dealer has a good chance of having a good hand, and will probably beat you if you Stand. Whereas if the dealer had a 6, he would have a good chance of busting, so it would be best to Stand. Try to weigh up the odds of you busting or improving your hand, and whether the dealer is likely to bust or get a good hand, this should help you decide when to Hit, and when to Stand.

Before starting a new game, you are able to select the number of packs to be used (most casino's use 6 or 8), these packs are placed in a "shoe" from which they are dealt.

When 66% of the shoe has been dealt, play continues to the end of the current hand, the cards are reshuffled, placed back in the shoe, and play continues.

As cards are removed from play, they are placed in a discard tray, which is on the far right hand side of the screen. Each mark on the discard tray represents 66% of a pack. As cards are placed in the tray, a line will work it's way to the top of the tray, when the line reaches the top of the tray the cards will be reshuffled. This is useful for keeping track of what percentage of 6's and Tenth cards remain in the shoe. If there is a greater than usual percentage of 6's, your chances of having a winning hand are decreased, so it is a good time to decrease your bets, if there is a greater than usual percentage of tenth cards, your chances of having a winning hand are increased, so it is a good time to increase your bets.

Imagine you are playing with 8 packs. There are approximately 21 six's in 66% of 8 packs, if the discard tray shows that 66% of 4 packs have been dealt, and you have counted 13 six's dealt, you know that there is less than the normal percentage of six's remaining in the shoe, and it is probably a good time to increase your bet, this has to be balanced against the percentage of tenth cards remaining, which can be calculated in the same manner, but bearing in mind that there are 4 times as many tenth cards.

This is a simplified version of card counting that some professional Black Jack players use, it may sound incredibly difficult to do, and it is, but otherwise too many people would do it and Casino's would change the way Black Jack is played.

Disclaimer

The aim of this program is not to encourage gambling, but to educate and entertain. If you play Blackjack perfectly the odds will still be slightly in the casino's favour, by skilfully card counting you can put the odds in you favour. When playing for real, even if you do everything right you can still lose if you are unlucky, so only bet with what you can afford to lose. I accept no responsibility for any losses incurred from real gambling, or loss of sleep to this game.