Blackjack is a great casino game because it involves an element of skill as well as luck, and this means that the better you play, the more chance you will have of walking away from the Blackjack table with the profit. In Blackjack the player’s only opponent is the dealer, so the skill of other players that may be present (at a multi-player Blackjack table, for example) is irrelevant.
The game of Blackjack begins with the player deciding how much they want to stake on a hand. Two cards are then dealt to the player and the dealer, with one of the dealer’s cards being dealt face up. The aim of the game is for the player to try and get his hand to total as close to 21 as possible without going over that figure (referred to as busting). Picture cards count as a 10 value, an Ace counts as 1 or 11, and number cards count at face value. If the player gets a higher total than the dealer without busting, they win the hand and are paid out at odds of even money, unless they get a Blackjack (a 10 card and an Ace) in which case odds of 3/2 are normally given.
If the dealer’s up-card is an Ace then the player is often given the option of taking out Insurance against the dealer having Blackjack. This is essentially a side bet costing half of your original stake. If the dealer does have Blackjack, the Insurance bet is paid out at odds of 2/1. If the dealer does not have Blackjack, the Insurance bet is lost.