Euro Blackjack
How to play
1. Select your stake by clicking on a chip with a suitable value upon it from the bottom of the screen. The chip will rise and the edge of the chip will rotate, indicating that it has been selected for betting. Click on the table betting area (highlighted circle) to place a bet at the value of the chip selected. If desired, each additional click will add one unit of the chip value selected to the bet.
Click on a different chip at the bottom of the screen to change the chip value for betting. It is possible to mix chip values on the same bet. The total currency value will be displayed alongside the chip/s on the table. Use the Clear button to remove all chips from the table. Select Deal.
2. A currency value will be displayed alongside the chips you have chosen. Click the Clear button if you wish to change your stake at this stage and select a new chip value. Click Deal.
3. The cards are dealt from the shoe on the right of the screen. Two cards will be dealt to each hand you are playing and one card to the dealer. The dealer's card is placed face up (the 'upcard'), showing its value. If the dealer's upcard is an ace, you have the option of taking insurance for each hand - this is explained in further detail later. Your cards are placed face up. Each of your hands is played one at time from the right. A green indicator shows which hand is being played.
4. The value of your first hand will appear alongside the cards. If you have Blackjack (21) on your first hand, the game will automatically stick that hand and move directly to your next hand.
5. If you do not have Blackjack on your first two cards, you can either take more cards ('hit') or remain at your current total (a 'stay'). You may also be offered options to DOUBLE or SPLIT your hand - these are covered in more detail later. You may then continue to take more cards, one by one, by clicking the HIT button, until you have either gone over 21 ('bust') or you are satisfied with your card total and call a STAY. For example, you may choose to stay at 19 or 20.
6. This process is repeated for each of your hands, in turn, until you have either called a stay or bust on each hand.
7. The dealer will then receive a second card (the 'hole' card). Whether the dealer can now draw any more cards depends on the total of their hand:
8. If the dealer has fewer than 17, they must draw another card and continue to draw cards until reaching a value equal to or greater than 17.
9. If the dealer's hand equals 17 or over, they may not draw any more cards. This also applies if the dealer has a soft 17 (an ace card and a six).
10. Once the dealer has played their hand, if any of your hands show Blackjack (but the dealers does not) you will be paid 3:2 on your stake. However, if the dealer's hand is also Blackjack, your original stake is returned to you and the game ends (a 'push').
11. If neither you nor the dealer has Blackjack, each of your hands is compared against the dealer and the highest value hand (without going over 21) wins the game.
Winning or losing the game
· If the dealer busts, you win the game.
· If any of your hands bust, a message will be displayed alongside that hand and you immediately lose the bet for that hand.
· If any of your hands are higher than the dealers, without going over 21, you win the bet for that hand.
· If the dealer's hand is higher than any of yours, without going over 21, the dealer wins
· If both your hand and the dealer's hand are the same (a 'push'), your stake is returned to you and the game ends.
· If your winning hand is a split hand, you win evens on your original stake. Blackjack cannot be called on a winning hand.
Rebetting
Click NEW GAME then the REBET button to stake the same amount as your previous bet. Click BET X2 or BET X3 to double or treble your previous stake, or choose a new stake using the chips at the bottom of the table.
Special plays
Special plays will appear as buttons during the course of the game, when you have the option to play them on any of your hands. Three special plays are featured in Orbis Multi Hand Blackjack:
Insurance
If the dealer's upcard is an ace, you are given the option of Insurance. You will be offered an option to accept or reject insurance for the the first hand, and an option to apply your decision to all hands. If you choose not to apply the decision to all hands you will be given the option to accept or reject insurance for each hand in turn.
Insurance is effectively a side-bet of half the amount of your original stake, paid at 2:1. This means that if the dealer has a natural 21 or Blackjack, you lose your original bet (plus any double or split bet stakes), but win back half your original bet value - the insurance bet - thereby limiting your loss to just the stakes placed to double or split your hand. The insurance bet is resolved and paid at the end of the game, in accordance with the no-peek rule.
Note: No Insurance will be offered if you have Blackjack
Split
If your first two cards are of identical value, you may split them and place an additional bet (equal to your original bet) to play two hands instead of one. Each of the cards then becomes the start of a new hand. Splitting is only allowed once for each hand at the start of the game. No further split (resplitting) can be carried out.
If either of your hands beat the dealer, you are paid evens on your original stake. If you split a hand, Blackjack (3:2) cannot be called on that hand - a winning hand in this situation will be paid at evens.
When splitting two aces, only one further card can be drawn for each hand in the split. The image below shows a split hand of a ten and a Jack; each split hand is finalised in turn:
Double
This option enables you to double your bet, but receive just one more card (forfeiting the opportunity to hit further). You may double down only where your hand totals 9, 10 or 11, on your first two cards only, when the Double button is displayed.
Tip: Doubling, or Doubling down is most effective when you have an edge on the dealer, for example, when the dealer's hand shows a weak or low card like a Four, Five or Six.
Double-after-split
This option is not applicable to Orbis Multi Hand Blackjack.
Two aces
Unlike some other variants of Blackjack, if your first two cards are aces, you do not win the hand. Instead, it forms a total hand of either 12 or 2, but since aces are strong cards, you do have the option to split them.
Soft
This is displayed alongside an ace card when your hand is low enough for the ace card to be assigned its higher value of 11 without going bust. For instance, where an ace is the first or second card to be drawn. You can always draw at least one card to a soft hand without busting.
Other rules
No Surrender
Orbis Multi Hand Blackjack does not allow a player to surrender their hand. Surrender means giving up half your bet for the privilege of not playing out a hand, if for instance, you have a weak hand.
No Peek
The "no peek" rule applies to Orbis European Blackjack. This is where the dealer does not 'peek' at their hole (hidden) card for Blackjack (21) if their upcard is an ace or ten value card.
No Resplitting
You may only split your hand once, at the start of the game, if your first two cards are identical in value. No further split (resplitting) is allowed.
Game results
After you have finalised your hand, the dealer will then finalise theirs. The results of the game are clearly displayed by each hand and on the top bar:
Bets and payouts
Play |
Payout |
|---|---|
Blackjack |
3:2 |
Insurance |
2:1 |
Winning hand (excluding Blackjack or special plays) |
Evens |
Push (a draw) |
Returns the original stake |
Lose |
Forfeits your stake, including any double or split stakes. |
Double or Double-down |
2:1 on the original stake |
Split |
Evens on your original stake |
