Blackjack Instructions

Game play overview

Blackjack is one of the most popular card games in the casinos for a good reason.
The action is fast and furious and you can win or lose a fortune in a hurry.
The Blind Adrenaline card room offers two types of blackjack, single and multi player also known as burnout games.
In single player, you are simply trying to beat the dealer by getting closer to a total score of 21 than he does.
If you manage to do this,you win whatever amount of money you bet that hand.
In burnout mode, you are still comparing your hand with the dealer cards but with a significant twist, because you are playing against up to 5 other human opponents.
At the end of a pre determined time limit, the player with the least amount of money is out of the burnout game.
This makes for some very interesting money management strategies as the clock is winding down.
Do you play it safe and hope that guy in last place doesn't catch up to you? Or do you go for it and hope to catch a blackjack?
The basic game play for each version is the same however.
You will be dealt two cards face up, the dealer will get two cards, one face up and one face down.
You can increase your score by taking a hit to your cards, which means you get another card, or you can stand and go with what you have.
If your score is closer to 21 than the dealer, you win, if not, or if you go over 21 by taking too large a hit, you lose.
After you decide you are close enough to beat the dealer and you stand, the dealer reveals his face down card. If his total is less than 17, he takes a hit, otherwise he stands.
You also have the option of doubling down or splitting.
A double down is when you double the amount you bet and you receive one and only one card.
Generally, you want to do this if you have an advantage over the dealer, such as 9, 10, or 11 to a lesser face up card.
Splitting is when you have two matching cards, and you split them into two hands, basically doubling the amount you are risking. For instance, if you are dealt two aces you would want to split those. If you have never played blackjack before, don't worry, it is a very easy game to get the hang of, you'll be a pro in no time.

Some definitions

In blackjack, all cards are counted at face value, with face cards all counting as 10 .
For example, if you have a queen and a 7, you have a total of 17.
The ace can count as either 1 or 11, whichever benefits you the most.
For example, if you are dealt an ace and a 4, you can count that as either 5 or 15, so if you take a hit and get a 9, you would then have a total of 14, not 24, the ace value changes to make your best possible hand.
The game is called blackjack because if you receive a total of 21 in two cards, an ace plus a ten or face card, you just made blackjack, and you win automatically unless the dealer also has blackjack.
Not only that, but you win at a ratio of 3 to 2, so if you bet $200 and get blackjack, you win $300, nice eh?
Doubling down is when you take one card for double your bet.
Splitting is when you get two identical cards, for example two eights, you can split with teh shift s key, and then you are basically playing two hands on each card.

The game interface and keyboard commands

At the beginning of each hand, each player in turn will put in their bet by typing in the amount they wish to bet and hitting enter
Once everyone has bet, each player in turn decides if they are going to hit or stand.
When it is your turn, you play your hand out, then on to the next player.
Here are the available commands:
H or X will hit
S stands
Shift D will double down. Remember, you get one and only one card when you do this.
Shift S will split
D reads the dealer's face up card
C reads your cards
A tells you how much money you have
Control A will tell you how much money you have total in your account.
B will enter your previous bet amount, you have to hit enter to confirm.
Shift B will let it ride, placing your previous winnings up for your bet.
M will put you all in, careful with this one kids.
Feeling frustrated by a dealer hitting 21 on you all the time? Try the j k and l keys for a little stress relief.
V reads how much time is left in the current round in burnout games
Z tells you who is in last place and by how much in burnouts.
F1 through F5 reads the other players money and cards
The q through t keys are the same as the function keys, just without all the hand stretching, hehehe.
Spacebar puts you in chat mode , press twice to emote, such as John smacks Kate upside the head.
Tab reads who's turn it is
To start a burnout game, press shift M
If you have clicked on the listen link, and are in the observation room, you can join a game in progress if there is an ope seat by pressing control J.
Notice you cannot join a burnout game in progress, but you can wait until the game is over and join from the observation room if a seat is open.
If someone is being abusive or going over the line with x rated chat, you can send a report to the developer with the alt plus control r command.

The multi player or Burnout game

We call the multi player games burnouts because genrally you burn through your money trying to stay in the game.
When you create a Burnout game, you have several options:
The entry fee is how much each player has to put in the pot to enter, the winner or winners will take this money
Round timer is how much time will pass for each round
Time limit is how much time each player has to take their turn
The split type determines how the pot will be split up, either top three finishers, top two or winner take all.
If this is set to top three, the pot is split 20, 30 50 percent for 3rd 2nd and first place respectively.
If it is set to top two, the top two splitt the pot 70 / 30
And of course if it is set to winner take all then the winner takes it all, hehehe
The mature language option is there for the folks that like an occasional four letter word in their chats.
Once the game is created, and everyone has joined and is ready to go, the table creator can start the game by pressing shift M
The first person to bet will rotate each hand, as there is a distinct advantage to knowing how your opponents bet, especially as the round draws to a close.
At the end of the round, the player with the lowest amount of money is out of the game. If two people tie for last, another hand will be played to determine the lowest player.
You will hear announcements as the round reaches the end, starting at two minutes left in the round.
Keep an ear on the round timer with the v key, so you don't get caught off guard by a round ending when you have the least amount of money, clock management is key in this game.

Some basic strategy

There are tons of web pages out there covering what is called blackjack basic strategy, so I'll go over some of the more general aspects of basic strategy here.
As you get deeper into the game, I highly recommend you check out google for finding out some of the more involved parts of basic strategy, such as what to do with soft hands against certain face cards.
The biggest mistake I see people make on the tables is not hitting with less than seventeen to a dealers 7 or higher.
This is just blackjack suicide.
Yes, it is true you will probably bust if you take that hit, but the problem is you have already most likely lost anyhow, might as well go down fighting. Here is why:
If you are sitting there with 15 or 16 and the dealer shows a ten for example, if his next card is a 7, 8 ,9, 10, jack, queen, or king, your toast right off the bat.
And even if his next card is a 6 or lower, he is gonna take another hit to try and beat you.
Remember, the breaking point is seventeen against a seven or higher, stand on seventeen or higher, hit anything lower, in the long run you will be glad you did.
Some folks are a bit confused about doubling down, here is a basic rule of thumb for this very important aspect of blackjack:
If you have 9, 10 or especially 11 against a dealer card that is lower, you should double down.
This is because there are so many face cards in the deck, your chances of drawing one are pretty good, and you want to get as much money on that possibility as you can.
Of course, you will lose some of these double downs, but in the long run they will pay off handsomely.
The double down is one of the moves in blackjack where you have the advantage over the dealer, don't let the opportunity slip by.
Likewise, take advantage of splits at the right time as well.
There are lists of which cards you should split versus certain up cards, you can get these from google as well if you like.
However, know that you should always split 8's and aces no matter what the dealer shows.
Never split 5's or a total of twenty.
Many players want to split 20, such as a pair of jacks, this is a horrible mistake.
By doing this, you are taking an almost unbeatable total of 20, and turning it into two potential losers.
Again, in the long run, keeping your 20 will pay off.
Splitting fives is a really bad move, because you are taking what could potentially be a double down hand and turning it into two potential losers.
Finally, if you get confused about what to do in blackjack and just aren't sure, assume the next card the dealer is going to turn over is a face and you won't go much wrong.
Some burnout strategy:
The name of the game with burnout is not to be caught in last place when the round is over
To that end, it is very important to pay attention to how your opponents are betting.
If you have a bunch of nuts betting over 20 percent of their stack each hand, just sit back, make small bets and let them knock themselves out.
Once things start getting a bit tighter, you may want to up your own bets to try to catch the leaders.
There are lots of ways to play burnout, some folks prefer to grab a big lead then cruise into the top 3, some folks choose to play conservatively and see how things develop.
Thats the cool thing about burnout, its all up to you how you play it.
It is important at all times to know about how much time is left in a round and where you are relative to last place.
Use the v key to find out the round time left, and z will tell you who is in last place and by how much.
If you are in last place, and the round is about to end, hit the z key, find out how much you are behind, and hope you are betting behind the person ahead of you,that way you know how much you will have to bet to catch them.
Lots of times, you are way behind,t and might as well bet it all to catch up, because you can't take it with you.

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