Rules
In blackjack, the players bet against the house dealer rather than against each other. The goal of each player is to have a higher point total than the dealer without going over 21. The values of the cards in each hand are added with 2 through 10 having face value, Ace having value 1 or 11 (player's choice), and King, Jack, and Queen cards having the value 10. If the player's and the dealer's hands have the same point value, this is known as a "push", and neither player wins the hand.

After initial bets are placed, the dealer deals the cards (either from one or two hand-held decks of cards, or more commonly from a shoe containing four or more decks): two cards to each player, including himself. One of the dealer's two cards is visible, the other hidden (the hidden card is known as the "hole card"; in European blackjack, the hole card is not actually dealt until the players all play their hands). The cards of the players are dealt either face up or face down, depending on local casino practice; face up is the most common. At this point, if any player has a "natural" 21 (an Ace with any 10-count card), often called a "Blackjack", he is immediately paid 3:2 (most of the time: see Basic Strategy below) for his bet, unless the dealer also has a natural, which is a push. If the dealer has a natural, all players without a natural lose immediately; they do not get a chance to further improve their hands.

If the dealer does not have a natural, then one by one the dealer gives each player the option of asking for more cards (called "taking a hit") or staying with his current total (called "standing" or "holding"). The player may continue to ask for more cards, one by one, until he has either gone over 21 ("a bust"), or he is satisfied with the cards that he has (a total of 21 always stands). In addition, depending on what cards the player holds, and depending on the rules in effect at the table, the player may have the option of performing certain special plays (described below). If the player busts (takes a hit that put him over 21), he immediately loses the bet.

After all the players have finished making their decisions, the dealer then reveals the hidden "hole" card and may or may not draw additional cards. The decision of whether to draw more cards is not up to the dealer; it depends only on the point total that the dealer holds. If the dealer has fewer than 17, he draws another card, and continues to draw more cards until reaching a value equal to or greater than 17. If the dealer busts, then all remaining players win. Bets are normally paid out at the odds of 1:1. Casino rules vary on whether the dealer takes a hit when holding a "soft" 17 (that is, a hand such as an Ace with a six, which can be counted as either 7 or 17). In Atlantic City, all dealers will stand on a soft 17. In other areas, this is up to the individual casino.

Special plays
Casinos often offer variations on the rules, which add to the player's gambling opportunities during the course of play. The most common of these are:

Pair splitting. If the player has two identical cards, he or she may place an additional bet of equal value and play two hands instead of one, using each of the two cards as the start of a hand. Any two 10-count cards are considered a pair, and so may be split. In most casinos, if one splits a pair of Aces, one receives a second card to each but can make no further plays on either hand.
Doubling down. The player can double his or her bet and receive just one more card (forfeiting the opportunity to hit further). Some casinos allow players to double down only if their initial point total is 11 or 10 (or, in some cases, 9). A few casinos allow double-after-split, where a player who has split a pair into two hands and has received a second card to each may then choose to double down on those two cards.
Surrender. Some casinos allow a player who has a bad hand to give up the hand and get half his or her bet back. If the player is allowed to surrender before the dealer checks for blackjack, this is called early surrender.
Insurance. If the dealer has, as his up-card, an Ace, the players are offered the option of Insurance before the dealer views the hole card. This is a wager that pays back 2:1, the Insurance wager needs to be exactly half the amount of one or more of your wagers. If the dealer has a natural, you win on the Insurance bet. This is considered a very poor option for the player; consequently, almost every casino offers it as an option.

Basic strategy
As in all casino games, the house has a statistical advantage over the players that will play itself out in the long run. But because blackjack, unlike other games, has an element of player choice, players can actually reduce the casino advantage to a small percentage by playing what is known as basic strategy. This strategy determines when to hit and when to stand, and also determines when doubling down or splitting is the correct action. Basic strategy is based on the player's point total and the dealer's visible card. There are slight variations in basic strategy depending on the exact house rules and the number of decks used. Under the most favorable conditions (single deck, downtown Las Vegas rules), the house advantage over a basic strategy player can be as low as 0.16%. Indeed, casinos offering special rules like surrender and double-after-split may actually be offering a positive expectation to basic strategy players; they are counting on players making mistakes to make money.

The following rules are beneficial to the skilled player:

Doubles are permitted on any two-card hand except a blackjack.
Doubles are permitted after splitting.
Early surrender; the ability to forfeit half your wager against a face or ace before the dealer checks for blackjack.
Normal (aka "late") surrender.
Resplitting Aces.
Drawing more than one card against a split Ace.
Five or more cards with the total still no more than 21 as an automatic win ("Charlies")
The following rules are detrimental to the skilled player:

Less than 3:2 payout on blackjacks (as is the case with Las Vegas Strip single-deck blackjack, paying out 6:5)
Splitting a maximum of once (to two hands)
Double down restricted to certain totals, such as 9-11 or 10,11
Aces may not be resplit
No-Peek (European) blackjack—player loses splits and doubles to a dealer blackjack
Player losing ties

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Blackjack".