Basic blackjack terms

Balanced count: A balanced card counting system. In this system, the plus and minus cards are in balance. That means that if you were to sum up the values of all the cards in a pack, the result would be 0.

Blackjack: The strongest possible combination of cards in the game. This consists of an ace and any card with a value of 10 (i.e., 10, J, Q and K).

Bust: A loss caused by the value of the cards in your hand being higher than 21.

Double/Double down: Doubling your bet. If a player has good cards in his/her hand, he can double his/her bet. The croupier then hands one last card to the player, and after that the game ends.

Draw: This means the situation of the player receiving his/her first additional card (i.e., after the first two).

Even money: If a player gets a blackjack and the croupier draws an ace as his/her first card, he/she will offer “even money” to the player. The player can then choose to get a 1:1 payout (usually, you win 2:1). This allows the player to avoid a draw and losing his/her money.

Hard hand: A situation where the player isn’t holding an ace and is in danger of a bust on the next hit.

Hit: This is the term used by players to ask for another card.

Insurance: This is an option that can be used when the dealer draws an ace as his/her first card and hence when his/her next draw could lead to a blackjack. In this case, the player can place one half of his/her original bet on the side. If the dealer then draws a blackjack, the player will receive a payback of the insurance with a ratio of 2:1. On the other hand, if the dealer does not draw a blackjack then the player will lose his/her insurance.

Soft hand: This refers to the situation where the player is holding an ace.

Split: If a player has two cards with the same value in hand, he can split them and play with each of them separately. He/she can then bet on both hands, thus doubling his/her bet.

Stand: This refers to the situation where the player does not wish to receive new cards.

Stand off: A draw. This refers to the situation where both the player and the dealer are holding cards with the same value. In this case, there is no winner and the dealer returns the bet to the player.

Unbalanced count: An unbalanced card counting system. This refers to systems where after summing up the values of all the cards in a pack results in a number different than 0.

Other blackjack terms can be found in the blackjack termbase at blackjackonlinegame.eu. Before playing, it is necessary to master the rules of game. Otherwise, you’ll never be able to fully enjoy the game and instead you might get frustrated due to not winning.