Introduction

The Blackjack is the most popular of the casino’s games that are played with playing-cards. The initial name of the game was “Twenty-one” (“21″), and it was first appeared in the French casinos around 1700 a.C. where it was called “vingt-et-un” that is “twenty-one”.

The name blackj ack came at the beginning of the 20th century, when in the game came the rule according to which every player who had a total of 21 points in his first two cards and these cards were Ace Club (A § ) and “Black” Jack (Blackjack), that is Jack Club (J § ) or Jack Stick (J ª) , then he would get paid his bet not 1 to 1 (1:1) but 3 to 2 (3:2). Ever since, it remained and was established for the game the name Blackjack with the difference that nowadays, by saying “hand” “blackjack”, we mean a total of 21 points that is formed with the two first cards, the one of which is Ace and the other any other Picture-card or Ten. Of course, as it is natural, the game wasn’t always played in the way it is played nowadays. Initially the casinos used for the game one pack of cards. In time, however, the casinos ascertained that the game Blackjack was damaging, since the experienced and skillful players had the capacity to which numbers handed out in the previous rounds and formed their bets with progressive fluctuations which had very small risk. Initially they bet restrainedly while afterwards they raised their bet since they knew more or less (or exactly) which cards were left, and were in the position to estimate the profit probabilities for them. Apart from the players’ mnemonic capability, it was evolved during the decade of the 50s a number of rules by a group of mathematicians which was named “Basic Strategy”, while in parallel, the card counting methods were also evolved with first teacher the mathematician Edward Thorp and his book “Beat the Dealer”. The application of the card counting techniques from the players, who were in the position to estimate the proportion of high in value cards in relation to the low in value cards that had remained in the playing-cards, finally gave an advantage to the players and a disadvantage to the casino. The casinos reacted with various defense measures and changes in the game’s terms, until the rules of the game were formed in the way they are valid today. At this point we have to point out that the game Blackjack isn’t played by the same rules in all the casinos. There are certain differences and declinations as far as the game’s transaction rules are concerned. In the followings we shall refer to the rules which are valid in most Greek Casinos.

The game Blackjack

The game’s goal

In the game Blackjack every player plays against the “banca” which is represented by the dealer. The player’s goal in the game Blackjack, is to aim at winning the dealer’s “hand” without exceeding the 21 marks. From now on, by the sense “hand” in the game Blackjack we shall mean the final total (sum) of marks that the cards of every player or of the dealer have in every round of a game.

So, goal in the game Blackjack is for the dealer’s hand to be beaten. In order for this to happen, either the player has to have a bigger “hand” than the dealer’s “hand” without the player’s “hand” exceeding the 21 marks, or, the dealer to exceed the 21 marks (“to be burned). * As it initially becomes realized and as it will become obvious in the followings, the player owes to administrate his “hand” properly in order to achieve his goal. Indeed, the Blackjack is the only one of all the casino’s “table” games where the player can, by participating actively, to determining , and up to a point, to modulate the result of the outcome of the game’s every round. So, we owe to point out from the beginning that the Blackjack is a complex game that calls for skilled handling, strategy application, initiative, optimum knowledge of the rules and very good memory.

As far as the transaction way of the game Blackjack is concerned, there are certain similarities to our familiar new-year games “Thirty-one” and “Twenty-one”, since all the players play against the “banca”. In the new-year games every player, when his turn comes and he wishes so, becomes “banca” (“mother”, “case”), and the rest of the players play against him. In the casinos there is a permanent “banca” which is represented by the dealer.

The table of the game Blackjack

The procedure of the bets’ placement

The table of the game Blackjack appears in the following draft 6-1.

Draft 6-1  . The table of the game Blackjack

Another form of the table of the game Blackjack is presented in the following draft.

Draft 6 - 2  .  Another table form of the game Blackjack .

As we easily ascertain from the drafts above, the Blackjack is played in semicircular table, the layout of which is covered by green or blue felt. The maximum number of sitting players in a Blackjack table is seven, because this is also the number of the rectangular boxes on the layout of the Blackjack’s table, in front of every player. These boxes are bets’ positions and the players can place on them their bets. However, the game’s regulations usually allow the placement of up to three bets from three different players on the same box. The over all height of these bets, isn’t usually allowed to exceed the maximum allowed limit of the specific table. In the past, the placement of up to three different bets on the same box is allowed only provided there have been placed bets on all the bets’ positions, that is on all the seven boxes. The above depend on the regulations which are valid every time and which are instituted by the casino for the game Blackjack. Anyway, in the Blackjack every player is in the position to bet on more than one bet positions, that is on more than one boxes, which means that he can play more than one “hands” in every round of the game if he wishes so, since it is allowed to bet on boxes (therefore for “hands”) of his playmates too. In the game Blackjack it is important how many in every round of the game are active (“open”), that is on how many there is a bet placed, and not the number of the players. That is, even only one player can place bets on all the seven boxes. Also, bets can placed on the boxes by players standing up, next to or behind the sitting players. In this case, however, first in the handling of the cards (of the “hand”) comes the sitting player to whom the specific box “belongs”. Of course, the two players who have a bet on a common box are allowed to communicate for the decision they shall take about the handling of their cards.

On the Blackjack table, apart from the seven bet positions which are printed on the felt of the table’s layout, there are also printed the bet positions “Over-13″, “Under-13″ as well as the following phrases: “Blackjack Pays 3 to 2″, “Dealer Must draw to 16 And Stand On All 17″, “Insurance Pays 2 to 1″. The sense of each phrase is related to the regulations of the game Blackjack, and will be explained during the analysis of the transaction procedure of the game.

On the Blackjack’s table and in front of the dealer, who stands in the middle of the back side of the table, lays the “banca”, that is a box that contains the chips (chip tray). ** Also, on the right of the dealer there is the slot in which the dealer places the banknotes that are given to him by the players in order to take chips (money drop slot). A little more on the right there is a special position (discard tray) where the “used” cards are placed, that is the cards that have appeared (played) in a previous round. On the left of the dealer there is the “shoe”, a wooden or plastic case in which are placed, after being mixed, the six or eight packs of cards in which is (usually) played the game Blackjack. From the “shoe” the dealer draws and gives out the cards. The “shoe” appears in the following draft 6-3.

Draft 6-3  .  The shoe or sabot.

Moreover, on the Blackjack table there is an indicating sign which informs the player for the minimum and maximum bet limits that are valid for the specific table. The minimum limit may differ from table to table and, for example, be 1.000 or 2.000 or 5.000 Drs. The counterpart maximum limit is usually 50 times higher (50 times more) than the minimum limit. So, in our example, the counterpart maximum limit shall be 50.000, 100.000, 250.000 Drs. The form of the sign that informs the players for the height of the minimum and the maximum allowed bet limit is as follows:

Panel 6-1  Indicating bet limit sign for the Blackjack game.

Finally, on the Blackjack table we can discern the box’s rift where the dealer places the tips of the players, as well as a money counter that the players give in order to take chips.

All the bets in Blackjack are placed against the “banca”, which is permanently represented by the dealer. The dealer exchanges the players’ money into chips, gives out the cards, gathers the losing bets and pays the winning bets. The dealers change places with each other in regular time periods.