How to play blackjack

Blackjack is a casino table game that is played with one or more people and a dealer. In blackjack, the dealer represents the house. The game of blackjack is played with anywhere from one to eight standard decks of playing cards that are contained in a shoe. In the game of blackjack, it is important to remember that each player plays against the dealer, not one another.
In blackjack, cards hold their face value, meaning that each numbered card represents the same number of points that the card displays (I.e. – 8 of hearts equals eight points, while a ten of diamonds equals ten points towards the card count). Face cards are counted as tens, while aces count as either one or eleven. The object of blackjack is to come closer to 21 than the dealer is without busting (exceeding a card count of 21)
Play begins with the bet. Players are required to place a bet that falls in between the table limits that are set up on the blackjack table. Once every player wagers, they each receive two cards face up, while the dealer receives a card face up and one face down. Play moves from right to left, with each player faced with the following basic decisions:

Stand: The player is happy with their hand‘s count, relative to what the dealer is showing. Consequently, they take no more cards.

Hit: The player asks for an additional card. This card is dealt face up and is added to the existing card count.

In addition to the basic decisions, players are often able to make more complicated decisions, such as the following:

Double Down: Players can double down off their first two cards. Doubling down is the act of doubling one’s bet and accepting only one more card.

Splitting: If a player is dealt a pair (I.e. – pair of fours), they may split their pair by asking for a split. Consequently, players splitting their hand must back each part of the split with a bet and the hands play independent of one another.

Insurance: If the dealer shows an ace as their up card, players have the opportunity to insure against a blackjack by purchasing insurance, which allows a player to break even if the dealer does have blackjack, while the premium is lost if the dealer does not have blackjack.