Hold'em Blackjack Basics

While Texas hold’em is one of the most popular and fun types of internet poker, online poker sites have been looking for ways to keep poker fresh and interesting for their customers. At the same time, online casino sites has been doing the opposite and have been incorporating poker into their range of offerings. Now there is a game that is offering the best of both worlds: Hold’em blackjack! While not a poker game per se, this game combines many elements of Texas hold’em and blackjack. The game is so far only offered trough online casinos within the Cryptologic network but due to its popularity it’s expected that it will be available in more networks and in live casinos soon. Hold’em Blackjack Rules In a Hold’em Blackjack ring game or tournament, players are seated around a hold’em table, and post an ante. Also, just as in hold’em, there is a small and a big blind, as well as a dealer button which rotates with each deal. Players are dealt one card face down, and then bet. Bets are based on the likelihood of achieving a total close to 21, as in ordinary casino and blackjack online. Therefore, cards like aces and tens are usually considered worthy of a bet. In the first round, betting is done with a limit structure, so that players with an ace do not simply move all-in and shut out all opponents. Players then receive a second card, this time face up, and bet again, now with some information about what their opponents may hold. After this round of betting, players handle their hand like a traditional blackjack hand, hitting as many times as they feel the need to get a total as close to 21 as possible without going over. Opponents cannot see the cards being dealt. Once all opponents have taken as many cards as they need, a final round of betting takes place according to a spread limit structure, with a range of values from two to ten times the big blind within which a player can bet. Once all the betting is done, there is a showdown, and unless someone has taken seven cards without busting (an automatic winner, called a "seven card Charlie"), the player closest to 21 without going over wins the pot. If two players have the same best point total, they split the pot, regardless of how many cards (below seven) it took them to get that total. If everyone still in the hand has gone over twenty-one, the player closest to twenty-one wins the pot. As you can see Hold’em Blackjack is no ordinary casino game like online roulette but instead a real skill game where you can earn good money, that is to say if you employ the right tactics. The bottom line is that if you enjoy the structure of Texas hold’em , and you are a blackjack player, you may well enjoy this combination of the two games. If you want to know more about ordinary blackjack you can read a list of the best and most educational books here.