Rule Authority

berryCherry Blackjack is played and programmed according to Atlantic City Blackjack rules. 8 decks of 52 cards are used.
Authority: New Jersey Casino Control Commission.
Rule Exceptions: The cards are shuffled after each hand.
 

Premise

In Blackjack, you and the dealer (the computer) are dealt two cards to start. The objective of Blackjack is to accumulate cards that add up closer to 21 than the dealer's cards, without going over 21. Cards are worth their face value with the exception of Kings, Queens, and Jacks which are each worth 10 and Aces, which are worth either 1 or 11. If the value of your hand is closer to 21 than that of the dealer, you win. If the value of the dealer's hand is higher than yours (without exceeding 21), you lose. If the hands are of equal value, the deal is a push and your money is returned. If you have a total of 22 or higher (a busted hand), you lose regardless of whether the dealer also busts.
 

Summary of Rules

1. 8 52-card decks are used
2. The deck is re-shuffled after each hand
3. Dealer stands on all 17's
4. Doubling after splitting allowed
5. No re-splitting of cards allowed
6. No surrender
7. Only one additional card allowed on each ace when splitting a pair of aces

How to Play

berryCherry Blackjack is played with 8 fifty-two card decks. After each game has been played, the used cards are shuffled back into the deck. All face cards are valued at ten and the cards from 2-10 are valued as indicated. Aces can be valued at either one or eleven; if counting the ace as eleven would put the hand over twenty-one, the ace is automatically counted as one instead. You do not need to specify which value the Ace has as it's always assumed to have the value that makes the best hand. The value of a hand is the sum of the values of the individual cards. For example, a hand containing a Jack, 3, and 4 has a value of 17.

Your chips are arranged by denomination ($1, $5, $25, $100, $500) to the bottom right of the game window. Select the amount you would like to wager by clicking on the chip of that denomination. Each time you click, you will add a chip from that pile to the bet circle. To remove your bet, simply click on either the CLEAR BET button or click directly on the bet within the bet circle. If you have already played a previous round, you may repeat your last bet by simply hitting the ReBet button. Other keyboard shortcuts are summarized below.

You begin a hand of blackjack by placing a bet on the table as described above and then clicking the DEAL button. You will then receive two cards face up. The dealer will receive one card face up and one face down. Once you have been dealt your two cards (and based on the nature of these cards) you can do the following by clicking on the appropriate button:

Hit:
Requests another card. You can request a hit as many times as you like, but if your total goes over twenty-one, you will bust and lose the hand.

Stand:
Requests that you receive no more cards. The hand as it currently stands will be judged against the dealer's.

Split:
If you have two cards of the same denomination and enough money in your account to make a new bet in the same amount as your original bet, the SPLIT button will become available. You can split your cards into two hands and play each hand separately. Your original bet will be duplicated and placed on the table for the new hand. Each hand will be played out as usual except when splitting aces, where only one additional card per hand is dealt. The active hand will be shown with a green arrow. The split option can only be used once per hand -- you cannot split part of a split hand. Any winning 21 obtained after splitting a pair is paid 1-to-1.

Double Down:
If you select this option, three things will happen: your bet will be doubled, you will get one more card, and your turn will end.

Insurance:
Whenever the dealer's up card is an ace, the player has an option of taking insurance. The player may opt to take insurance by clicking on the Insurance button that will appear in the consol panel. If you do not wish to take insurance, you simply click on the Pass button to proceed with the rest of the hand. If the player believes that the dealer's down card is a 10-ranking card, then the player is permitted to place a side bet of half the original wager as insurance. This wager is automatically added to the table when you click the INSURANCE button. If the dealer does have a 10-ranking card, the player is immediately paid 2-to-1 on the insurance bet, but the original wager is lost unless the player too has a blackjack and pushes with the dealer. Here the player is simply betting that the dealer's unseen card is a 10-valued card.

Note:
The Double Down and Split options will only be available immediately after you receive your first two cards.
 

Payoffs

If you win a hand of Blackjack, usually you will get back your original bet plus the same amount in profit. A hand that consists of an Ace and any ten-value card is called a natural twenty-one, or a natural blackjack. If you win with a natural blackjack, you will be paid off at three-to-two, which means you get your original bet back plus 150% profit. (So if you bet $50 and win with a natural twenty-one, you get $50 (your bet) plus $75 (your bet plus half of your bet), which totals to $125.
 

Result	Payoff
Winning Hand	1 to 1
Blackjack	3 to 2
Insurance	2 to 1

 

Basic Blackjack Strategy Table

Basic Blackjack strategy is defined as the proper play of cards based on your hand and the dealer's exposed card. It does not involve card counting (an advantage lost in playing with 8 decks reshuffled after each hand) or remembering which cards were played previously. The basic blackjack strategy is created through intensive computer simulations that perform a complete combinatorial analysis. In this method, the computer "plays" tens of thousands of hands for each Blackjack situation possible and statistically decides which decision best favours the player.

Basic Blackjack strategy is usually printed as tables with the dealer's up card represented in the first row and your two card combination, the first column. Please note that berryCherry cannot warranty the results of the game even if a player fully adheres to the Basic BlackJack strategy. The other entries in the table tell you what to do (Stand, Hit, Double-Down, Split) with the different combinations of dealer and player's hands. Basic Blackjack strategy tables for our Casino rules (8 decks, dealer stands on 17, double-down on any two cards, double after split allowed, no re-splitting of cards allowed, no surrender) are shown below for hard totals, soft totals, and pairs along with a legend.

Legend:

• S - Stand
• H - Hit
• D - Double
• Y - Yes, split
• N - No, don't split

Hard Totals:
 

	Dealer's Upcard
Your Cards	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
17	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
9	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H

Soft Totals:
 

	Dealer's Upcard
Your Cards	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
(A,9)	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
(A,8)	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
(A,7)	S	D	D	D	D	S	S	H	H	H
(A,6)	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,5)	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,4)	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,3)	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,2)	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H

Pairs:
 

	Dealer's Upcard
Your Cards	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
(A,A)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
(10,10)	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
(9,9)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y
(8,8)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
(7,7)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N
(6,6)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N
(5,5)	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
(4,4)	N	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N
(3,3)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N
(2,2)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N

 

Numeric Keyboard Shortcuts

Sound
You may turn on/off the sound during the game by clicking on the Sound button, represented by a speaker icon, located above the Player field. The setting is turned on when the button is green and it is turned off when the button is red.

Help
If you need Help at any time, simply click the Help button, represented by a "?", at the bottom right of the game window.

Exiting the Game
To exit the game, simply click the Exit Game button. Please note that you will be unable to begin any new games until all incomplete games have finished.
 

References

Blackjack for Blood
Carlson, Bryce.
Compustar Press, 1992.

The World's Greatest Blackjack Book
Humble, Lance and Cooper, Carl.
Doubleday, 1987.

Best Blackjack
Scoblete, Frank.
Bonus Books, 1996.

Reference Guide to Casino Gambling
Tamburin, Henry.
Research Services Unlimited, 1993.

Million Dollar Blackjack
Uston, Ken.
Carol Publishing Group, 1994.