 |
Premise
|
In Blackjack, you and the dealer (the computer) are dealt two cards to start. The
objective of Blackjack is to accumulate cards that add up closer to 21
than that of the dealer's cards, without going over 21. Cards are worth
their face value with the exception of Kings, Queens, and Jacks which
are each worth 10 and Aces which are worth either 1 or 11. If the value
of your hand is closer to 21 than that of the dealer you win. If the
value of the dealer's hand is higher than yours you lose. If the hands
are of equal value the deal is a push and your money is returned. If you
have a total of 22 or higher (a busted hand), you lose regardless of
whether the dealer also busts.
Summary
of Rules
|
- 8 52-card decks are used
- The deck is re-shuffled after each hand
- Dealer stands on all 17's
- Doubling after splitting allowed
- No re-splitting of cards allowed
- No surrender
- Only one additional card allowed on each Ace when splitting a pair
of Aces
How
to Play
|
Poker-Flush Blackjack is played with eight fifty-two card decks. After each game has
been played, the used cards are shuffled back into the deck. All face
cards are valued at ten and the cards from 2-10 are valued as indicated.
Aces can be valued at either one or eleven; if counting the Ace as
eleven would put the hand over twenty-one, the Ace is automatically
counted as one instead. You do not need to specify which value the Ace
has as it's always assumed to have the value that makes the best hand.
The value of a hand is the sum of the values of the individual cards.
For example, a hand containing a Jack, 3, and 4 has a value of 17.
Your chips are stacked by denomination ($1, $5, $25, $100, $500) at
the bottom of the screen below your Sign In Name. Select the amount you
would like to wager on a given hand by clicking the left mouse button on
the chip of that denomination. The amount wagered per hand may be
increased or decreased by placing the mouse on the stack that you wish
to add or subtract to your bet. Each time you click the left mouse
button you will add a chip from that pile to your planned wager amount.
Likewise by clicking on the right mouse button you can decrease your
planned wager amount. If you place a wager that is lower than the
minimum table bet limit, your bet amount will be automatically adjusted
to the minimum bet amount.
You begin a hand of blackjack by placing a bet on the table as
described above. You will then receive two cards face up. The dealer
will receive one card face up and one face down. Once you have been
dealt your two cards (and based on the nature of these cards) you can do
the following by clicking with the left mouse button on the appropriate
button:
Hit:
Requests another card. You can request a hit as many times as you like,
but if your total goes over twenty-one, you will "bust" and
lose the hand.
Stand:
Requests that you receive no more cards. The hand as it currently stands
will be judged against the dealers.
Split:
If you have two cards of the same denomination, a Split button will
appear. You can split your cards into two hands and play each hand
separately. Your original bet will be duplicated for the new hand. Each
hand will be played out as usual except when splitting Aces, where only
one additional card per hand is dealt. A white box displaying your card
total will appear over each hand indicating which hand is active. The
split option can only be used once per hand -- you cannot split part of
a split hand. Any winning 21 obtained after splitting a pair is paid
1-to-1.
Double Down:
If you select this option, three things will happen: you will get
exactly one more card, your turn will end, and your bet will be doubled.
Insurance:
Whenever the dealer's up-card is an Ace, the player has an option of
taking insurance. The player may opt to take insurance by clicking on
the "Insurance" button. If you do not wish to take insurance,
you simply click on the "Pass" button to proceed with the rest
of the hand. If the player believes that the dealer's down-card is a 10
ranking card, then the player is permitted to place a side bet of half
the original wager as insurance. If the dealer does have a 10 ranking
card, the player is immediately paid 2-to-1 on the insurance bet, but
the original wager is lost unless the player too has a blackjack and
pushes with the dealer. Here the player is simply betting that the
dealer's unseen card is a 10 valued card.
Note:
The Double Down and Split options will only be active immediately after
you receive your first two cards. If the dealer has an Ace showing, you
will be offered a chance to buy Insurance for half of the amount you
bet. When you buy insurance you are, in effect, making a second bet. You
are betting that the dealer has a natural blackjack. If the dealer does
have a natural blackjack (in other words, his down card is a ten or a
face card), you will collect a payoff of 2 to 1 on your insurance. You
will also lose your original wager, unless you have a natural blackjack
too. If the dealer does not have a natural twenty-one, the rest of the
hand is played out as usual and you will lose your insurance money.
If you win the hand, you will get back your original bet plus the
same amount in profit. A hand that consists of an Ace and any ten value
card is called a natural twenty-one, or a natural blackjack (except in
the case of a Split hand - see details above). If you win with a natural
blackjack, you will be paid off at three-to-two odds, which means you
get your original bet back plus 150% profit. (So if you bet $50 and win
with a natural twenty-one, you get $50 (your bet) plus $75 (your bet
plus half of your bet), which totals to $125.
Payoffs
|
| Result |
Payoff |
| Winning Hand |
1 to 1 |
| Blackjack |
3 to 2 |
| Insurance |
2 to 1 |
Betting
Limits
|
| |
|
$2 minimum initial ante |
| |
|
$1000 maximum bet. |
Basic
Blackjack Strategy
|
Basic
blackjack strategy is defined as the proper play of cards knowing only
your hand and the dealer's exposed card. It does not involve card
counting (an advantage lost in playing Poker-Flush with 8 decks
reshuffled after each hand) or remembering which cards were played
previously. The basic blackjack strategy is created through intensive
computer simulations which perform a complete combinatorial analysis. In
this method, the computer "plays" tens of thousands of hands
for each Blackjack situation possible and statistically decides which
decision best favours the player.
Basic strategy is usually printed as tables with the dealer's up card
the first row and your two card combination the first column. The other
entries in the table tell you what to do (Stand, Hit, Double-Down,
Split) with the different combinations of dealer and player's hands.
Basic blackjack strategy tables for Poker-Flush rules (8 decks, dealer
stands on 17, double-down on any two cards, double after split allowed,
no re-splitting of cards allowed, no surrender) are shown below for hard
totals, soft totals, and pairs along with a legend.
Legend:
- S - Stand
- H - Hit
- D - Double
- Y - Yes, split
- N - No, don't split
Hard Totals:
| |
Dealer's
Upcard |
| Your Cards |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
A |
| 17 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
| 16 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
| 15 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
| 14 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
| 13 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
| 12 |
H |
H |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
| 11 |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
H |
| 10 |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
| 9 |
H |
D |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
| 8 |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
Soft Totals:
| |
Dealer's
Upcard |
| Your Cards |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
A |
| (A,9) |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
| (A,8) |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
| (A,7) |
S |
D |
D |
D |
D |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
| (A,6) |
H |
D |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
| (A,5) |
H |
H |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
| (A,4) |
H |
H |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
| (A,3) |
H |
H |
H |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
| (A,2) |
H |
H |
H |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
Pairs:
| |
Dealer's
Upcard |
| Your Cards |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
A |
| (A,A) |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| (10,10) |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
| (9,9) |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| (8,8) |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| (7,7) |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
| (6,6) |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
| (5,5) |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
| (4,4) |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
| (3,3) |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
| (2,2) |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
|
