The below terms are a selection of important words and expressions being used in Blackjack. If you are playing in an online casino or just at home with friends, these terms are important for you to know. Please learn them well and your game will improve 100%!
21: Another name for Blackjack, this represents the highest possible hand in Blackjack.
Blackjack: A hand that consist of Ace and a card that is worth 10 points.
Break/Broke: Taking a card that brings your score over 21 points (See ‘Bust’).
Breaking Hand/Breakable Hand: A hand that can Break or be broken by one card.
Bust/Busted: A hand that goes over 21 points, with this hand the player always loses.
Draw: Card – Getting a new card in the game is called a ‘draw’.
Early Surrender: This rule gives you the possibility to surrender before the end of the game, when, for instance, the dealer has Blackjack.
Face Up Game: The dealer puts both your cards open on the table in order for everyone to see the values.
First Base: The First spot on the dealers left side. This player reacts first to the dealers hand.
Hard Doubling: Doubling is possible when there are two cards (and neither of them is an Ace and therefore a hard hand).
Hard Hand: A hand without an Ace, or an Ace that counts as 1.
Head On (Heads Up): Playing at the Blackjack table with just the dealer and without any other players.
Hole Card: The closed card that lies in front of the dealer.
Insurance: When the dealer shows an Ace, you can do a special Blackjack side bet half the value of your initial bet.
Natural: The hand that adds up to 21 points with just two cards is called Natural.
Pair: When the player receives two card of the same value (e.g. : Ace-Ace, 2-2 and so on)
Peek: The dealer checks if he has Blackjack before the player decides to take another card or not.
Push: Equal score between player & dealer. The player doesn’t win or lose.
Scratch: Asking for a card is called a Scratch. The actual scratching a card on the table also indicates you want another card. This is being used with single-deck and double-deck Blackjack.
Splitting: When the player receives two the same cards he can split the hand into two. This is called Splitting.
There are some weird expressions in this online blackjack list of terms. Even if other players tell you that most of these terms aren’t that important, we advise you to learn them by heart. It can never hurt and you would want to know exactly what is going on when you’re in the middle of an important bet and a lot is at stake.