Blackjack Scoring
Scoring Blackjack Hands Each card in blackjack is worth a different number of points. Numbered cards – those of ranks between two and ten – are worth a number of points equal to their printed rank. For instance, a seven is worth seven points.
- Blackjack is played with 1 to 9 decks of 52 cards each. The values of the cards correspond to their numerical value from 2-10. All face cards (Jack, Queen, King) count 10 and the Ace either 1 or 11, as the holders desires. A score with an ace valued as 11 is named soft-hand.
- Blackjack Ace and Ten Cards. The most powerful combination of cards are the aces and tens. A 'blackjack' is a term used when a player scores the highest possible points using only two cards, which would be a ten and an ace. This is why blackjack is sometimes known as the game 'twenty one (21)'. An ace can either be worth 1 point or 11 points.
- Welcome to the Blackjack Tournament System for Kings of War. The initial driver for the system was the scoring mechanisms, but the system has developed into so much more since that inception. Current tournament scoring systems either do not provide enough distinction between matches (W/L/D), or feature swings that are perhaps too wild (20-0.
- Aces may have a value of 1 or 11 based on the player's hand. If the player has three cards and one ace, then if the sum of the cards is.
Welcome, Dear Readers, to the latest edition of my long-running Modeling Practice series!
The newest game for this series is now available on my sister site BlazorGames.net, and it's a casino favorite: Blackjack!
Blackjack has been a staple of casinos and other gambling parlors since at least 1768, and it remains one of the most popular games today. This is at least partly due to the fact that it is easy to play, can have a considerable amount of strategy, and may even be more winnable than other casino-style games.
Let's model Blackjack as a C# and Blazor WebAssembly program! In the process, we'll discuss how to model complicated real-world scenarios such as this one, what kinds of decisions we need to make, and what sort of compromises we might encounter when trying to make the real world into a computer program.
Rules of Blackjack
If you already know how to play Blackjack, skip to the 'Modeling the Game' section below.
Blackjack is a casino-style card game in which the player(s) attempt to beat a dealer's score while getting as close to 21 points as possible, without going over. It is played with a standard four-suit, 52-card deck. Players do not compete against each other.
In order to know how to model a real-world problem as a program, we need to know the rules and boundaries of the problem. Lucky for us, Blackjack has a well-defined set of rules and regulations, and it all starts with betting.
Betting
Each player makes a bet before the initial deal. The bet can be any amount up to the amount of money they brought with them to the Blackjack table. This bet is lost if the player loses the hand.
The Initial Deal
After bets are made, the dealer then deals two cards to each player (this is called the initial deal) where each card is worth a certain number of points:
- 2-9 cards are worth the amount shown.
- Ten, Jack, Queen, and King cards are worth 10 points, and are collectively referred to as 'ten-cards'.
- Aces are worth either 1 or 11 points, at the player's discretion.
The dealer also receives two cards, the first face-down and the second face-up.
Hit, Stand, and Bust
After each player has two cards, each player may choose to either stand or hit. If the player stands, the dealer will not deal them any more cards; the score they have is now their final score for this hand.
If the player chooses to hit, the dealer deals them another card face-up. The player can keep hitting until they decide to stand or they bust, meaning their cards have a value of more than 21. If the player busts, they lose their bet.
Dealer Behavior
The dealer's turn occurs after all players have had their turns. On the dealer's turn, they flip over their face-down card, and then either hit or stand based on the score of their cards.
The dealer will always behave in the same manner. They must hit on all scores of 16 or less, and stand on all scores of 17 or more.
Naturals AKA Blackjack
A 'natural', AKA a 'blackjack', is an Ace and a ten-card. If a player is dealt a blackjack, it is an automatic win for the player (unless the dealer also has a blackjack) and they receive one-and-a-half times the amount of their bet. So, if the player has bet $20 and is dealt a blackjack, they get their $20 bet back, plus $30 in winnings.
Payouts
After the dealer has had their turn, the dealer will pay out any players that won their hands, and collect the bets of the players that lost their hands. The payouts and collections are calculated according to these rules:
- As mentioned above, if the player has a blackjack and the dealer does not, the player receives one-and-a-half times their bet.
- If the dealer has a blackjack and the player does not, the player has gone bust, or the dealer's score is higher than the player's score, the player loses their bet.
- If the dealer has gone bust, or the player has a higher score, the player wins their bet (so a bet of $20 returns the bet and gets an additional $20).
- If the dealer and the player have the same score, no money changes hands. This is referred to as a push.
After the payouts and collections are complete, a new hand can begin.
Special Plays
In addition to the 'normal' gameplay of Blackjack, there are a few special plays the player can make in certain situations.
Double Down
If the player, after the initial deal, has 9, 10, or 11 points showing in their hand, they can choose to 'double down'. This doubles their original bet, and the player receives one additional card. After this, the player is forced to stand.
If the player wins the hand, they get their doubled bet back, plus the doubled bet again. In other words, if the original bet was $20 and the player chooses to double down, their bet increases to $40. If the player wins the hand, they get the $40 bet back, plus an additional $40.
The dealer does not have the option to double down.
Insurance
If the dealer's face-up card is an Ace after the initial deal, the player may choose to make an insurance bet. This bet is up to half the amount of the original bet, and is placed separately of it.
If the player makes an insurance bet, the dealer looks at the face-down card. If it is a ten-card (meaning the dealer has a blackjack), the dealer flips it over, pays the player twice the insurance bet, and (if the player does not also have a blackjack), collects the player's original bet. In this way, the player is 'protected' from the dealer having a blackjack.
To model this, say the original bet was $20 and the dealer is showing an ace. The player can bet up to $10 as an insurance bet. If the dealer has a blackjack, the player 'loses' their $20 bet but gains $20 from the insurance bet. In effect, the player loses no money.
However, if the dealer does not have a blackjack when the player makes an insurance bet, the player immediately loses the insurance bet amount, and play continues normally.
Modeling the Game
Before we can begin creating the C# classes and Blazor components necessary to model Blackjack, we must think about the different parts of the game that we need to model.
There are two ways to do this: top-down, and bottom-up. In the top-down method, we would look at the game as a whole and divide it into pieces, which would then be divided into more pieces, until we couldn't make a meaningful division anymore. This method is useful for situations in which you do not already understand or know about each piece.
This entire series will use the bottom-up method. In this method, we look for objects that do not have any dependencies, model them, and them model the classes that rely on them, so on up the chain until we have modeled each object.
Assumptions
Prior to modeling this game in earnest, we must discuss any assumptions that we are making in order to have an implementable and not-too-complex model.
First, we will assume that we only need to model a single player and a dealer. Since the players do not compete against each other, modeling multiple players would model the real-world more accurately, but make the implementation much more complex.
Ace In Blackjack
Second, we will assume that our game will only use a single deck of cards, and will reshuffle that deck when needed. In the real world, casinos use many decks of cards shuffled together to prevent card counting, but since this is not the real world, we will conveniently ignore that fact.
With the assumptions made, we can continue with our bottom-up modeling method. In Blackjack, the smallest object with no dependencies is the playing card, so we will start by modeling the cards and the deck they're drawn from.
Cards and the Deck
We must consider the kinds of attributes each playing card will have in order to model them.
Individual cards will each have a suit (e.g. Clubs, Diamonds, etc.) and a value (e.g. Queen, Jack, Six, etc.). For the purposes of Blackjack, the suit doesn't actually matter, but we will include it because looking at a playing card with no suit makes very little sense. Given that there are a known and limited number of suits and values, we will make both the suit and the value into enumerations.
Per the rules of Blackjack, each card has a score. This is different from the value because of ten-cards; a card's value may be a Queen, but its score is still ten points.
In short, the card object will need:
- A suit
- A value
- A score
Now let us consider the deck, which we will treat as a fully separate object and not just a collection.
The deck will need an underlying collection of some kind that keeps all the cards currently in the deck; this could be an array or something more complex. The deck will also need to be able to instantiate itself (i.e. create all the cards it needs and add them to the deck) and shuffle itself.
The dealer will need to interact with the deck, primarily to draw cards from it; we will need a method for that. Since the deck must be able to create and store the cards on instantiation, we'll need a method to add cards to the deck as well.
Therefore, the card deck will need:
- The ability to create all the necessary cards and add them to the deck.
- The ability to shuffle.
- Methods to add cards to and draw cards from the deck.
Dealer and Player Commonalities
One of the ways in which I ask programmers to better understand the problem they are trying to model is to consider two objects and find their commonalities, the things they both need to do.
In this spirit, let's consider the player and the dealer. In many ways, they are the same; they each need a set of cards for their hand, they each need to know and show their score, and they each need to know if they are busted.
So, there will be a common object that both player and dealer can inherit from. We'll call that object Person, and it will need the following abilities:
- Keep a hand of cards
- Use the hand to calculate a score
- Use the hand to determine if they are busted
True Score vs Visible Score
There is one thing that might trip us up here: the dealer's true score (i.e. the combined score of all their cards) and their visible score (the combined score of all face-up cards) are different, and the player can only know about the latter. The true score is a commonality, but the visible score is not. We'll need to deal with that in some way.
Dealer Object
We already know that the Dealer object will inherit from the Person object we discussed in the last section. The dealer will need some attributes that are unique to him/her, including:
- The ability to deal cards to themselves and any player.
- The ability to flip over their face-down cards.
We now need to consider the special play called Insurance. In that play, they player can make a special bet if and only if the dealer is showing an Ace face-up. So, the dealer needs one additional property:
- Check if they have an Ace showing face-up.
The game area (which we will discuss later) can check that property to see if the player is allowed to use the Insurance play.
Player Object
The player, like the dealer, will inherit from the Person object and gain their attributes. They will also have certain attributes unique to them, and first and foremost among these is funds.
Funds
Our simulation will assume that each player sits at the Blackjack table with a limited amount of 'starter' funds. These funds allow the player to make bets, and are added to or subtracted from when the player wins or loses.
Bets
Each player has a bet that is unique to him/her that they make at the start of each hand. The player object must track these bets, as well as the special Insurance bet.
Change Amount
In our simulation, a 'bet' is money that has not yet left the Player's funds. It is instead being 'risked'. So our player will need to track how their funds will change after the current hand, based on whether they win, lose, or push. We will call this the change amount.
At the end of each hand, the player object uses the change amount to determine what their new funds amount is.
Standing
Players have the option to 'stand', which means they stop drawing more cards. We'll need a property to identify if a player has decided to stand, because at that point it becomes the dealer's turn.
Summary
In short, the player object must store:
- Their bets, including Insurance and Double Down bets.
- Their remaining funds.
- The change amount, the amount by which the player's funds will change after the current hand is complete.
- Whether or not the player has stood.
The Game Area
In a real-world game of blackjack, blackjack is played at a specialized table. Here, the dealer is in charge of everything, including whether or not players can use one of the special plays.
In our implementation, we don't want to make the Dealer object in charge of notifying the Player about whether or not they can make a special play, because doing so would require a kind of messaging system between the two objects, and that is too complex for this sort of modeling.
Instead, we will introduce a Game Area object that manages situations such as these. The Game Area will need to know
- What the player's and dealer's scores are.
- What part of the game is currently happening (betting, dealing, hit/stand, etc.).
- What special plays are currently available to the player, if any.
Because getting a Blackjack is a big deal in this game, we will want to output a special message to the display when a Blackjack occurs. Therefore the Game Area will want to know:
- Whether the player or the dealer (or both) has a Blackjack.
Game Status
In Blackjack, certain things can only happen at certain times. For example, if a player has stood, they are not allowed to hit again on the same hand.
To keep track of the game and what state it is currently in, we will need an enumeration of the possible states. As we code up the C# model, we will determine what game states are needed and define them as members of this enumeration.
What I'm Leaving Out: Splitting
In a real-world game of blackjack, if the player is dealt two cards with the same value (e.g. two sixes, two eights, two Aces, etc.) they can choose to 'split' the hand and copy their original bet for the second hand. The two hands are then treated independently, and a player can hit or stand or use special plays on each of them. Payouts are also dealt with separately.
I am leaving this out because modeling this tended to break my design in ways I couldn't resolve nicely. I'm still working on how to model this efficiently and in a way that I can explain simply, which doesn't involve duplicating all the affected attributes and properties or making a collection of collections. If I do get to that point, there will be another blog post about it.
Summary
The model for our Blazor implementation of Blackjack is complete, and here are the objects we need to code:
Card, including suits and valuesCardDeckPersonDealerPlayer- The game status
- The game area
The objects for the last two items are not clearly defined yet. As we build our C# model, we will determine how best to implement those two objects.
Did I miss something? Is there a better way of modeling Blackjack in C# and Blazor? Or can you make my implementation better? I want to know about all these things! Sound off in the comments below.
In the next part of this series, we will code up the C# model for Blackjack, including each of the objects above and how they interact. Card counters, get ready for some action!
Happy Coding!
Table Of Contents
This is everything you ever wanted to know about how to play Blackjack like a pro but were too ashamed to ask.
Bryce Carlson, Edward O. Thorp, Arnold Snyder, Russ Hamilton, Don Johnson.
If these names don't ring any bells, then you're probably here to pick a trick or two before your next beer-and-Blackjack session with the guys.
Though gambling is not necessarily your passion in life, you certainly deserve to see their baffled faces as you show them how to play Blackjack.
And who knows?
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Blackjack 101
Since this is a guide on demand – made especially for rookies without any real experience or proper Blackjack skills – I'll start by introducing the game.
Blackjack might not the easiest way to spend your free time, but it is a good choice when you play Casino games.
Personally, I think it's the best game on the Casino floor.
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Play NowOf course, you can always host a Blackjack party at your home - if your friends share your passion. Some Casinos chips and a few decks of French playing cards are all you need to get the game going.
Whatever your choice is, you'll need a solid knowledge the basics of Blackjack, of the rules, and of the best strategy to play and to increase your winning odds.
Which One Is the Spade Again?
Like you can not learn a language before you studied its alphabet, you need to start from the basics if you really want to learn how to play Blackjack.
That's why this Blackjack guide starts from the A-B-C of the game.
I'm going to call this 'first lesson' How to Play Blackjack and What the Cards Mean.
This may be the last chance for you to clear any confusion surrounding card symbols and to finally learn to read them right.
Don't miss it.
Let's start from a classic deck of French cards because that's what you need to play Blackjack.
Yes, these are the same cards your grandfather use to play Slapjack, Crazy Eights, and Three-Card Poker.
In total, the deck features 52 cards divided into four different suits:
- Clubs (♧)
- Diamonds (♢)
- Hearts (♥)
- Spades (♤)
Spades and clubs are coloured in black while diamonds and hearts are coloured in red.
But since we are on PokerNews, I'm assuming you knew that already.
A traditional deck has 13 ranks and each suite has one card per each rank.
The first card is the ace (A), but it's not exactly the equivalent of a 1. In fact, this card can be the highest-ranking card of the deck.
The following ten cards form a string from two (2) to ten (10/T), while the last three are the Jack (J), Queen (Q), and King (K).
These last three cards are called the face cards.
Oh Wait, How Much Did I Just Score?
But 'I just want to learn how to play Blackjack', you say?
'I don't need you to remind me of my grandpa and his dusty old cards!'
I hear you, but be patient.
I'll get to that in less than a minute.
The reason I needed to dust off your grandfather's old deck of cards is that Blackjack has some restrictions when it comes to using suits.
In fact, suits are of value only in some variants of this game.
Since this is a Blackjack for dummies guide, you are free to ignore them now.
What's Really Important Here Is Getting to Know Your Ranks.
Since there are four suits, and each suit has one card of each rank, the math says that there are only four cards of each rank in the deck, right?
Scoring in Blackjack depends on the ranks a player holds in his or her hand, and his or her ability to count them according to the rules:
- Each ace is worth either 1 or 11 points.
- For all cards that belong to the two-to-ten string, the rule is the same – their rank equals their point value. If you hold a 5, for example, you hold exactly 5 points.
- Every face card, be it a Jack, a Queen, or a King, is worth 10 points.
So - let's see now how much did you just score.
Translate the ranks of cards you hold to their point value and add it all up.
That's really as easy as that. Your score in Blackjack is the sum of the value of your cards - not one point less than that.
And Now for the Easy Blackjack Rules (Finally).
When you play a game of Blackjack, you always play against the dealer.
Don't think about the other players at the table. Regardless of how many of you sit to play at the same time, there are always only two hands in play – the player's hand versus the dealer's hand.
And the winning hand in Blackjack is, you guessed it, the higher hand. Which, if you are lucky enough to get it, is also the one that gives its name to the game: a Blackjack.
A Blackjack is a hand 2-card hand that totals 21 points.
This is not an easy one to get, be sure of that. But it is also the one you'll be always hoping to receive. Every. Single. Time. You play.
But What about the Losing Hand?
The losing hand, the dead hand, or the bust, is every hand with a total sum of 22 or higher.
That's because as soon as you geo over the 21-point limit, you are out of the game. Regardless of the dealer's score.
Unfortunately, that's not the only losing hand in Blackjack. Because each hand that is one point short compared to the dealer's score…it's a losing one.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how to play Blackjack for dummies.
Blackjack 102
Your typical casino Blackjack table has enough space for seven players plus a dealer and includes the following phrases and/or signs:
- Blackjack plays x to y
- Dealer must draw to 16 and stand on all 17s
- Pays 2 to 1
- The table limits (min / max bet allowed)
What's That Nonsense on the Table?
Remember how a Blackjack – which is a hand with 2 cards that total 21, and is higher than the dealer's – automatically wins the game?
Well, that's almost true.
If the dealer also holds a 21, then the result is a so-called Push, meaning that your initial bet is returned to you and you neither win nor lose.
Blackjack pays 3 to 2, or in some Casinos, Blackjack pays 6 to 5, refers to payoffs and odds.
If you win against the dealer's hand, your initial bet is paid off 3 to 2, or in some casinos, 6 to 5.
With Insurances pays 2 to 1, you're offered to put an additional bet on whether or not your dealer will get a Blackjack.
Your hand can lose against the dealer's hand, but then you might cover your lost bet with a win on an insurance bet. Word to the wise, you can drop them both.
$5 minimum, $500 maximum is simply a reminder of the smallest and the largest amount of money you can put on the table.
A good guide on how to play Blackjack online should always direct you to play your first games on websites where the minimum bet is small enough to be beginner-friendly.
That's why I want to give you two choices:
- You can use these demo games to practice Blackjack online
- Or you can play cheap Blackjack games here
Should I Hit or Should I Stand?
Blackjack begins after all players have exchanged their money for chips and placed them on the designated spot on the table as their bets.
The dealer then deals the cards – two of them for each player, including himself.
The cards can be dealt either face down or face up, apart from the dealer's own two cards, of which one is always dealt face up and another face down.
The dealer then peaks to check if he's been dealt a Blackjack.
If not, the players are invited to hit or stand, though there are three more options to choose from – splitting, doubling down, or surrendering.
How you play your hand depends on the cards both you and the dealer have.
When you go for hitting, you're dealt one additional card.
If you choose to stand instead, you're keeping the cards you have.
To qualify for splitting, you need to have two cards of the same rank.
You'll receive two cards more, one for each of the cards you've originally been dealt, pay a side bet, and then start playing with two independent hands.
Both their bets and their payoffs are independent too.
When you double down, you need to place an additional bet, after which you'll receive one card more to add to your original hand.
The rules for surrendering vary from one casino to another, in a sense that some offer an early surrender option – to drop out of the hand before the dealer checks his cards for a Blackjack – and others a later surrender option, in which you must wait until after he's done that.
Either way, you agree to give up a half of the bet and are free to walk away with the rest.
How Do I Choose to Play a Hand?
The basic Blackjack strategy for beginners relies on knowing how to discern a hard hand from a soft one. The simplest way? Look for the aces!
If there's no an ace in it, or if that ace counts not as 11, but as 1, then you've got yourself a hard one, and you don't have much wiggle room.
Hard hands cannot count on aces to lower the total down and can be dangerously close to surpassing the limit of 22, which automatically makes them bust. Hitting is here quite a risk.
In a soft hand, however, you can count an ace either as a 1 or 11. It means that if another card is, say, a 9, you have either a total of 10, which makes you eligible for hitting or a total of 20, which could make your hand a bust if you choose to hit and receive anything but another ace.
But wait, there's more.
All this would be of little value if you were to leave without these Blackjack tips for beginners:
Always check the dealer's face up card before you take action.
If it's anything between 2 and 6, there's a good chance the dealer's hand will go bust, so don't take unnecessary risks. If it's 7 through ace, take your chances and play the hand aggressively.
Skip placing the side bet for insurance pays 2 to 1.
Experts calculate that this bet gives the house the advantage of almost 6% over the player. It's dumb because even if you score a Blackjack, your hand will pay off only the original bet.
Be smart enough to take your time and don't get burned.
The dealer might be rushing, so avoid the first base chair. Also, start small and give yourself a moment to assess the situation. Blackjack is only fun if you know how and when to move on.
Oh, and take a primer from a Blackjack expert.
When asked how to play Blackjack for beginners, gambling expert John Marchell spilt the following pearls of wisdom:
'When your hand is 12-16 and the dealer shows 2-6, stand. In the same situation, hit only if the dealer has 7-ace. Always split aces and 8s and double 11 versus the dealer's 2-10, and hit or double aces-6.
Also, blow off the guy who claims to be a Blackjack expert.'
Blackjack Points
That's how Bryce Carlson, Edward O. Thorp, Arnold Snyder, Russ Hamilton, and Don Johnson began counting their cards, after all.
Memorize this, try it on your friends, and stop if you're losing.
And though it won't save you if you're bad at math, we wish you good luck.
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