Everything You Need to know about Classic Online Blackjack

The experience of going to the casino is still magical, there is something about the feel of bricks and mortar locations that is intoxicating. However, these days we can enjoy the games we love from the comfort of our own homes, or even on the commute to work. Developers are getting increasingly sophisticated at developing casino games that get close to the real thing.

Online casino games have become hugely popular, even amongst casual gamers who don’t usually gamble. From roulette to poker, or craps to blackjack, there games deliver dazzling visual flair with consistently exciting gameplay. One of the most popular online casino games is blackjack, which comes in numerous variants. Still, by far the most popular is classic blackjack, which is sometimes called single deck blackjack.

When you are casino gambling online, what to know about blackjack is important. That’s where we come in, so read on to learn everything about classic blackjack.

Blackjack is one of the classic casino games, a staple that players love coming back to time and time again. If you choose a game from a leading online casino developer you will find that classic blackjack looks amazing, complete with Full HD graphics. Companies can get away with that with cinematic online slots, but in terms of poker, roulette, and blackjack the core games should speak for themselves.

With that in mind, developers don’t usually deviate far from the traditional style… classic blackjack games are not the place for innovation. Everything should work smoothly and the high definition graphics deliver amazing colors and animations. You may be forgiven for forgetting you are on a device and believing you are in a real casino.

Gameplay

Before getting into what classic blackjack is, we should probably discuss what the base game of blackjack is and how it is played. This casino classic is among the most beloved games in the world and it is one of the few casino games where employing a strategy can really swing the house edge more in your favor.

Some players (depending location) may know blackjack as twenty-one, a game played between several players against a dealer. This is important to remember, you are playing against the dealer and not the other players (who don’t exist in the online version anyway). Each round of blackjack begins when two cards are dealt to each player from a standard 52 card deck.

The basic point of blackjack is to get to 21 in the most efficient way:

Get 21 points on the player's first two cards (called a "blackjack" or "natural"), without a dealer blackjack;
Reach a final score higher than the dealer without exceeding 21; or
Let the dealer draw additional cards until their hand exceeds 21.

Cards valued from 2 to 10 count as their number towards reaching 21. Face cards (King, Queen, and Jack) are limited to the value of ten but are more important than an actual 10 card. Aces can be one 1 or 11 at the player’s discretion.

Single Deck Blackjack

It is important to know that the fewest amount of decks in a blackjack game, the better chance the player has of winning. When blackjack first gained popularity, players were frankly winning too much for the tastes of casinos. To combat this, casinos developer multi-deck blackjack, which became a standard (and is also the most common variant for online games).

Modern physical casinos usually have between six and eight decks. Each additional deck adds to the house edge, as the table below shows: