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Add a bit of spice to your Blackjack gameplay – live!

December 4th, 2022 by The Nerd Comments

Blackjack is one of the most famous and iconic casino games of all time. Originating in 17th-century France, the game was originally known as Vingt-et-Un, which is a direct translation of Twenty-One.

Since then, Blackjack has continued to evolve, with online casinos adopting it as one of the first games to take to our screens. Now, you can play live Blackjack online at any time you’d like, anywhere you are, as long as you have internet access!

What is live Blackjack?

Live Blackjack is exactly what it says on the tin – a game of Blackjack hosted by a real-life, professional dealer direct from a specialist studio, in real time.

State-of-the-art cameras capture gameplay from all angles, and the likes of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software picks up every tiny detail in the room, streaming it through a video link for you to enjoy with no delay. This is how you’ll see the shuffling of the cards and your hand being dealt to you with such detail and precision that it’s as though you’re really standing around the gaming table.

There’s also a Game Control Unit (GCU) which encodes the video that’s broadcast, translating it into data so it can be delivered to your device effectively.

How to play

One of the reasons Blackjack is so popular, both online and at land-based venues, is because gameplay is fairly simple and the house edge is relatively low.

To play, you’ll place your bets and then the dealer will deal clockwise. You’ll receive one card, face-up, as will any other players, and the dealer will receive one card face-down. Then you’ll each receive another face-up card, as will the dealer.

Numbered cards remain at face value, face cards are worth 10, and Aces can be worth 11 or one. You’ll need to get your cards to total as close to 21 as possible, without going over, by either choosing to ‘hit’ and take another card, ‘stand’ if you’re happy with the value of your hand, ‘split’ your hand into two or ‘fold’ and exit the game.

It really is as simple as that!

Spicing it up

It’s all very well playing classic Blackjack online, but the live casino brings varieties of the game that you just wouldn’t find at a land-based venue. That’s right, you can play Blackjack with a twist as you discover different themes and features that come with new, unique versions of the game.

An example of this is Lightning Blackjack, where you’ll find randomly drawn Lightning Numbers that could provide you with multipliers should you be dealt a winning hand. There’s also Multi-Hand Blackjack, where you can play with multiple hands and mix chip values on the same bet.

Each unique variation comes with its own minimum and maximum betting limits, as well as the total amount you can win and different features.

Ultimately though, live Blackjack remains the same – inspired by the classic game so many have grown to love over the years.

Do you think you have what it takes to beat the dealer?

The Nerd is the one who lurks in the shadows of the FTN HQ, writing mysterious articles and sponsored posts. No one has ever seen him and most are happy at that... but some of us are still curious