Player's Guide

First things First

Playing Blackjack here is straightforward. First off, before you begin play, enter your name, or even your nickname in the box labeled "Your name", using up to 20 characters. Should you get a high score, this is the name that will show up on the high score listing. You can use letters, numbers, underscores ("_"), hyphens ("-"), at signs ("@"), and dots "."). If you type anything else in the name field, your high score will appear as "Anonymous".

Since this is a tutorial, by default the total value of your hand is not shown to you. After all, quickly adding up your cards is part of the game, and those totalling up your cards for you may be wrong, too. So, it is best to get the feel of it. Of course, if you would like to ask the dealer to count them out for you, simply click the checkbox labeled "Show Card Totals" and a running total will be given for you.

If you want to use "hints", make sure the checkbox labeled "Show Hints" is checked. During play, the "correct" move according to Basic Strategy will appear. It's important to note that the "correct" move doesn't guarantee a win; it merely provides the best chance for a win on that hand. You can toggle this box at any time during play.

When you are done playing, press the "Quit" button to quit. If you have a high score, and you don't press quit, your high score will be discarded into the wilds of the Internet. In other words, you should always press "Quit."

Playing your hand

Now you're ready to play. Your current total bankroll appears in the box labeled "Bank", and represents how much money you have left over. You always start with $500.00, so spend wisely!

Determine how much you're willing to bet for this hand, and enter it in the "Your Bet" box. You can only bet in $1 increments. Of course, you can't bet a negative number, nor can you bet more than you have in the bank. When you've made your bet, press the "Deal" icon in the middle of the playing field.

Special Note: In this simulation, you can only bet up to twice the amount of your previous bet. This is to provide some small control over the betting process, and to prevent one or two lucky hands from capturing the high scores. So, to get a high score, you really do have to play for a bit.

The cards will be dealt: two face up to you, and two to the dealer, one face up and the other face down. The "current hand" is marked by three triangles to the left side of the hand. When you press a play icon, this is the hand that it applies to. If you have hints turned on, the "correct" action appears in addition to the triangles. (Note: "Stand" is abbreviated to "STND", "Double Down is abbreviated "DBLE", "Split" is abbreviated as "SPLT" and "Surrender" is abbreviated to "SURR")

Select your action from the lit up icons: only the icons that are lit can be selected. You can stand, hit, double down, split, or surrender. You must select one of the lit options. Continue to press Hit or Stand as appropriate until the your hand is finished (that is, you either want to stand, or you bust). The dealer will play out their hand, then the results will be decided. Once the results of the hand are known, either the "Win", "Lose", "Bust", or "Push" indicator will light up next to the hand. Your bank account will be adjusted accordingly.

At this point, the "Deal" icon is again lit up. Adjust your bet if you want to, and press "Deal" to start a new hand.

There are two special cases that need discussion. If you or the dealer happen to have a natural Blackjack, play stops immediately, just as it would if you were in Las Vegas. If you choose to split your hand, a new hand will be dealt to you just underneath your current hand. You play out your current hand, then go on to play out the split hand. If you split, the third hand will be displayed under the second hand, and you play out the second hand. Finally, if you split the third hand, you get a fourth hand. Once all the hands are played out, the dealer plays their hand, then the results are tallied. When splitting, you must put up another amount equal to your original bet. If you don't happen to have this much in the bank, you aren't allowed to split.

When you are done with Blackjack, press the "Quit" button to exit the program.

Play Blackjack!