Blackjack Win 2 to 1

Blackjack Dealer's Actions

After all the players have played out their hands, whether in single or multiple deck games, the dealer then turns his attention to his own two cards. He turns over the face-down card, known as his hole cards, for all the players to see. Let's assume he showed a 7 as his upcard and turned over a 9 as his hole card, for a 9-7 total of 16. By the rules of the game he must hit this total. Let's say he hits and gets a 2 for a total of 18. He must now stand.

Now, starting with the first baseman, he turns over each player's cards to see their totals. In some casinos, he may first turn over the third baseman's cards. This is immaterial, but the dealer will always deal first to the first baseman, who will always act first on his hand. Of course in multiple deck games, the dealer need not turn over the players cards since he sees their totals.

Let's assume that the first baseman has busted, so the second seated player's cards are turned over. He has a 19 and is paid off at even-money. The next player holds a 16 and loses his bet. His chips go into the rack. The fourth player holds 10-10 and wins his bet at even-money. The last player holds 10-8 and thus ties the dealer. It's a push, and there is a standoff, with no one winning.

After making payoffs and collecting losing bets, the dealer now deals another round of cards. After a few rounds, when the cards are nearly depleted in a single deck game, the dealer gathers the discards with the remaining cards in his hand and reshuffles the deck. Then the same procedure is followed, with the cards being cut, restocked the players making bets and the cards being dealt out again. In a multiple deck game with so many more cards to be dealt, the dealer shuffles much more infrequently.

In all casinos, if the dealer's upcard is other than a 10-value card or an ace, he won't peek at the hole card, but will immediately be involved with the players' actions on their hands. For example, if the upcard is an 8, the dealer will look to the first baseman for his play.

However, should the dealer hold a 10-value card as his upcard, in many single deck and multiple deck casinos, he'll peek at the hole card before allowing the players to make their plays. This is done to see if he has a blackjack, an immediate winner for the dealer, which will negate the player's moves.

It used to be a universal move on the part of the dealer to peek at his hole card if he had a 10 showing, but more and more casinos make him play out the game with the players before turning over his hole card.

In some casinos he only has an upcard and gets the hole card after all the players have acted on their hands. This rule is in force to prevent collusion between the dealer and players, so that the players don't find out what the hole card is, an enormous advantage for them. Or even if there isn't collusion, sharp players can get information about the dealer's hole card from the way he peeks at it, or the way he might replace the cards after he has peeked. To give an example. If the dealer has a10 as his upcard and sees a king of spades underneath as his hole card, he only has to see the border of that king to know he doesn't have an ace for a blackjack, so this move can be accomplished rather quickly.

But should he have a 4 of diamonds in the hole, the dealer might have to take a long look, since the 4 most resembles the ace. A discerning player can spot the difference in time devoted to peeking and act on his hand accordingly.

When a dealer holds an ace as his upcard, in most casinos he must immediately peek at the hole card after asking the players if they want insurance. If the dealer has a blackjack then the play stops and the dealer either collects losing bets or declares a push if any player also holds a blackjack.

However, in games where the hole card is not examined by the dealer, the players act on their hands without knowing if the dealer has a blackjack. If the dealer subsequently finds he has a blackjack, he collects from all players who do not have a blackjack. For those players who took insurance, the bet is a push.