River Belle Blackjack Is A Hit

Blackjack is a wildly popular card game found in every casino in Canada. Also known as Twenty-One, Canadians love to play Blackjack for good reason. For a start, the rules are simple enough for anyone to learn. Then, the gameplay keeps players interested at all times. Also, unlike many games that are based purely on chance, Blackjack has an element of skill. It’s one of the few games where the house doesn’t hold all the odds. Scientifically, even casual players who play reasonably well have mathematically better odds of potentially winning than in many other games. For all these reasons, Blackjack is one of the most interesting casino games, and what better way to learn it than to play online Blackjack at River Belle?

Best online Blackjack – how to play

Simply stated, the aim of the game is to beat the dealer by getting cards that add up to as close to 21 as possible, without going over 21. Players then place their bets and the dealer gives every player one card face up and deals one card face up to themselves. The dealer then deals another card face up to each player, but this time the dealer’s card is face down. Another round of cards is then dealt face up to each player, but the dealer takes the second card face down. Thus, each player except the dealer receives two cards face up, and the dealer receives one card face up and one card face down. Then the game begins.

The player to the dealer’s left goes first. The choices are to "stand" and not ask for another card or "hit" – ask for another card in hopes of hitting 21! You can stand on your original hand or hit one card at a time until you decide to stand. If you go over 21, you are “bust” and the dealer collects your bet.

When all the players have stood or bust, the dealer turns their card face up. If the cards total 17 or more, the dealer must stand but if they are 16 or less, the dealer must take a card until the total is 17 or more.

If your first two cards are the same – say, two aces or two fives – you can treat them as two separate hands. Your original bet goes on one card and an equal bet on the other. Stand or hit with the left hand first, then play the hand on the right. This is called splitting a hand.

If your first two cards total 9, 10 or 11 you have the option to double down by placing a bet equal to the original bet on your turn. The dealer gives you one card face down. When the bets are settled at the end of the hand, the card is revealed.

There’s a lot more to learn about Blackjack, but that’s plenty information to get you started with the best Blackjack online Canada has to offer in our mobile casino! 

Convenient tournaments

At River Belle, we have many different variations of casino Blackjack and you can play them all on your desktop or mobile device. A great feature for Blackjack fans is that by registering you automatically gain access to Blackjack tournaments – a terrific way to hone your skills against other players. Games are held at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. Daily Freeroll Tournaments, inexpensive Buy-in Tournaments and guaranteed prize money all add to the experience. What’s more, unlike other casinos, River Belle welcomes card-counting! If you’re up to the challenge, you can potentially win the pot.

Fun facts

You might be wondering exactly why the game is called Blackjack. As it happens, the name only stuck in the 21^st century. Because poker was by far the more popular game, gambling halls and casinos needed a way to promote Twenty-One. Their solution was to offer bonus payouts. One of them paid extra if a player was dealt a Jack of Spades or Clubs – a Black Jack in both cases – was (a jack of spades or clubs) together with an Ace of Spades. The bonus payouts faded out as the game grew in popularity but the name stuck.