

Do I stay or play 1 and hit again? What about double-downing on this hand? I’ve seen others do. 11? I’m typically always confused when looking for the value on a soft 18. How do you know all the combinations when playing the 1 vs. Until it comes to that pesky Ace, which can be a 1 or a 11. Therefore, blackjack is blackjack – regardless of the suit.

A standard blackjack deck includes 4 suits – clubs, hearts, spades, and diamonds. The point is to get 21 or less and beat the dealer. Now I know a little about cards, I am not completely in the dark, I know Jack, Queen and King = 10 and the rest of the cards are at their face value. I stumbled on this website during our drive to Sin City, and it became clear this time was going to be different, thanks to Blackjack Card Values Explained. I was determined to stick it out this time and not be stuck for hours on a slot. Being knowledgeable is important, I was afraid that if I sat down at the blackjack table I will not be able to adjust and perform through these silent unwritten rules, it would be dreadful to interrupt the flow of the game and look like a fool.

There is an adequate timing for exchanging cash for chips. Also the prohibition on touching the cards, which make sense but if you don’t know it, it gets embarrassing. There are strange hand motions that go along with the game that make the croupier look like a performer. I mean each game has its own specific rules, in blackjack for example you need to figure out when to hit, stand or double down, there are also rules that books don’t help you with, those set of silent rules and rituals that people do while playing this game. So many cards, so many values, so much going on. It can be an overwhelming experience especially at the beginning. Maybe that is because there is so much to do, or maybe it was from my sheer terror of sitting down at a table, not fully confident in what I am doing.

I’ve been to Vegas a handful of times in the past 10 years, but always found myself playing slow paced slots.
