BlackJack is a card game where you weigh the odds and place your bets. It is played on absolute luck.
The poker world added an interesting twist by combining BlackJack with Texas Hold’em. It’s called BlackJack Hold’em. This game gives you the thrill of BlackJack combined with the skill of poker, and the winnings are distributed among the players, not given to the house.
How to play BlackJack Hold’em
The Card Values of this variant remain the same as in BlackJack. From 2 to 10, it’s the face value of the card. The Jack, Queen, and King are a value of ten and the Ace is either 1 or 11, the player gets to choose. The hand value is the sum of the value of all cards in hand.
Hands Rankings in BlackJack Hold’em
The best hand is when a player has 7 cards without going over a total of 21, called the 7 Card Charlie.
The next best are the sums, 21, 20, etc.
When all the hands are over 21, the hand closest to 21 wins.
All the players with a total sum of 21 have an equal hand.
Blinds
The player sitting to the left of the dealer posts the small blind.
The player to the left of the small blind posts the big blind.
Betting
There are four betting rounds, two before the Stand-Hit and two after.
1st Round: Players are dealt one card face down. The player to the left of the BB starts. He can fold, call or raise. This continues in a clockwise direction until equal bets have been placed on a table.
2nd Round: The next card dealt is face up for everyone to see. The second round starts with the player who posted the small blind.
3rd Round: The small blind starts the action. The players still playing can choose hit or stand. The can go for a hit if they need more cards to total 21 or stand if they are near or at 21. If they select hit, they get a card face down. A player may have a total of more than 21 and still be in the game. You can draw max seven cards.
Showdown
Like Texas Hold’em, as soon as players finish betting, the game goes to showdown. The player closest to or at 21 wins the pot. If two players have the same sum like 17 or 20, then they split the pot. If both or all players cross 21, then the one closet to 21 wins.
BlackJack Hold’em combines luck with math, skill, and strategy. It is great fun to play. Many online poker websites offer this variant of Texas Hold’em. It is good entertainment on a rainy day.
