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For the Advanced Player

A bit of the game’s terminology so that you can feel more comfortable at the table

To hit means to take another card from the dealer

If you want to stay with your card value and match that against the dealer’s, you opt to stand.

Doubling your wager and taking exactly one more card and standing is what’s called doubling down.

On the condition that you were dealt two cards with the same value, you have the option of splitting.  This means that you double your wager and have each card be the first card in a new hand.

A surrender, where the player forfeits half the bet and gives up the hand, is no longer available at most casinos.

Of the dealer’s initial hand of two cards, the one that is turned down and concealed from the rest of the players is the hole card.

Another name for the two-card hand of 21 (“blackjack”) is a natural.

Both player and dealer showing the same hand value at the end of play is called a push, and in such a case neither one wins the hand. 

A Soft hand is one in which the player's ace card can be given an 11 value without going over 21.  It is always possible to draw another card on a soft hand without busting.


Insurance in Gambling?

Yes, even in gambling there is the opportunity of purchasing insurance.  This, as would be expected in gambling, carries with it a risk just as well.  Taking insurance is possible when the dealer’s top card shows an Ace.  An insurance bet can be in the sum of up to half of the player’s original bet and must be placed before the dealer checks his hole card.  So, what is it?  Placing this type of bet (in addition to your original bet) means that you are expecting the dealer’s hole card to be a 10-value card (10, Jack, Queen, or King).  Insurance also plays a part in "card counting" (see next section), where a player believes he has a better chance to correctly predict a 10.