Playing cards are believed to have been invented in China and/or India sometime around 900 AD. The Chinese are thought to have originated card games when they began shuffling paper money (another Chinese invention) into various combinations. In China today, the general term for playing cards means "paper tickets". The contemporary 52 card deck used in the U.S. was originally called the "French Pack" (circa 1600's) which was later adopted by the English and subsequently the Americans.

The history of the blackjack card game itself is still disputed but was probably spawned from other French games such as "chemin de fer" and "French Ferme", although blackjack is also claimed by both Italy and Spain as well. The game blackjack originated in French casinos around 1700 where it was called "vingt-et-un" ("twenty-and-one") and has been played in the U.S. since the 1800's. The game is named blackjack because if a player got a Jack of Spades and an Ace of Spades as the first two cards (Spade being the color black of course), the player was additionally remunerated.

In the early days of western card rooms, poker and craps were the preferred games of the high rollers and 21(blackjack) as it was played at the time had not really caught on. To make the game more enticing some clubs began offering a whopping 10 to 1 payout to any player who got a very special hand on his first two cards: Ace of Spades plus a Jack of Clubs or or Jack of Spades -- thus "21" became "blackjack" because of those two cards. Nowadays the payout of 3 to 2 (150%) is standard in most casinos, regardless of which face card accompanies the Ace. But the game remained more or less unchanged until the early days of the computer age. It took the high-powered number crunching of mathematicians like Edward Thorpe to prove that the house edge could be virtually eliminated. Thorpe and others calculated the one optimal play for every possible card combination. This set of moves became known as Basic Strategy and has been the basis of all legitimate winning blackjack methods.

But casinos did not sit idly by as Basic Strategy began eroding their advantage. They developed ways to counteract players' latest ammunition. These include multiple decks, shuffling machines, frequent and early shuffling, player tracking computers and more. But savvy players can beat even these techniques, especially with card counting.

The game of blackjack is played with one, two, four, six or eight decks of cards. In single and double deck blackjack games the dealer holds the cards and deals them out. In multi-deck blackjack games the cards are dealt out of a tray like box that is called a shoe. The casinos are starting to look at continuous shufflers that are a shoe that shuffle as well as hold the cards.

In hand held games the cards are dealt face down and the blackjack player is allowed to pick up his cards. In a shoe game the cards are dealt face up to the player and you are not allowed to touch your cards. The basic play for either version of blackjack is the same.

The objective of the game is to beat the blackjack dealer. If your cards total higher than the blackjack dealer's cards without going over 21 you win. You are not trying to get close to 21. If your hand or the blackjack dealer's hand goes over 21 you "Bust." If you bust you automatically lose. The player must act first. If the player busts he loses regardless if the dealer busts or not. The suits of the cards have no affect on the game of blackjack. Cards 2 - 10 are counted at face value without regards to their suit. All face cards have a value of ten. An ace can count as either one or eleven. A queen and a five would equal 15. An ace and a five would total either 6 or 16. A hand that does not have an ace is referred to as a "Hard Hand" in blackjack because it has only one value. A hand that contains an ace is referred to as a "Soft Hand" in blackjack because the value can change. If you draw to a soft hand and the three cards total a number where counting an ace as eleven puts you over 21 then the hand becomes a hard hand. Example: You are dealt an ace and a three. You have 4 or 14. If you then draw a ten you now have a hard 14 because if you count the ace as 11 you would have 25, which would bust you.

Common blackjack terms:

• Action - The amount of money risked by a player during an entire blackjack session.
  
  
• Betting Limits - Establishes the minimum and maximum amounts that can be wagered on one bet in blackjack.
  
  
• Blackjack - A hand whose first two cards total 21.
  
  
• Burn Card - The card placed on the bottom of the deck or in the discard tray after a shuffle and cut.
  
  
• Bust/Break - To exceed a total of twenty-one.
  
  
• Chip/Check - A casino term for tokens used instead of money.
  
  
• Cut - To divide a deck into two parts.
  
  
• Cut Card - A different colored card used to cut the decks.
  
  
• Early Surrender - To surrender or give up after a player receives their first two cards but before the dealer checks for a blackjack. Player loses half of their bet.
  
  
• Even Money - In blackjack, to get paid the same as you wagered plus your original wager when the player has a blackjack and the dealer has an ace showing.
  
  
• Expected Win Rate - The percentage of the total amount wagered that the player can be expected to win or lose over time while playing blackjack.
  
  
• Face Cards - The King, Queen or Jack of each suite.
  
  
• First Base - The first seat nearest the blackjack dealer's left hand.
  
  
• Hard Hand - Any blackjack hand that does not contain an ace valued at eleven.
  
  
• Hit - To take another card.
  
  
• Hole Card - The blackjack dealer's face down card.
  
  
• Insurance - A side bet that the dealer has a natural 21 that is offered when the dealer's upcard is an ace. If the dealer has a natural, the player is paid double. If the dealer does not have a natural (a blackjack), the insurance bet is lost.
  
  
• Natural - A hand whose first two cards total 21. Also known as blackjack.
  
  
• Push/Tie - When the player and the dealer have unbusted hands with the same point total. No money changes hands.
  
  
• Shoe - A plastic or wooden device that holds multiple decks of cards to be dealt.
  
  
• Soft Hand - Any blackjack hand that contains an ace valued at eleven.
  
  
• Stand - To refrain from taking any more cards.
  
  
• Surrender - To give up half your wager to not have to complete the hand.
  
  
• Upcard - The dealers card that is face up.

Generic basic strategy is designed to be used against the baseline rules of blackjack. With blackjack basic strategy the number of decks used in a game of blackjack have no bearing on the situation. Each recommended play does not guarantee that you will win, but offers the highest odds of winning with any particular blackjack hand. Understanding basic strategy can make the difference between winning and losing, and blackjack is the only casino table game where players can employ skill to affect the outcome of their play against the house.

The foremost important and prevalent decision a blackjack player has to make is whether to hit or to stand on their hand. There are a few straightforward rules for both hard and soft hands in blackjack.

For hard hands in blackjack, if the player's cards amount to 12 or higher, there are three rules:

• Hit if the player hand totals 12 through 16 and the dealer has a seven or higher.
• Stand on any hand totaling 17 or higher.
• Stand if the player cards total 12 through 16 and the dealer has two through six.

For soft hands there are only two:
Always draw to soft 17 or less.
Only draw on soft 18 if the dealer has an eight, nine or ten.
Doubling down is the main method by which a player can eliminate the blackjack house edge so it is very important to remember when to utilize this option.

For hard hands, there are three basic rules:

• Double down when the player's cards total 11 and the dealer has a ten or less.
• Double down when the player's cards total 10 and the dealer has a nine or less.
• Double down when the player's cards total nine and the dealer has a four, five or six.

For soft hands, there are also three basic rules:

• Double down with a soft 13 and soft 14 when the dealer has a five or six.
• Double down with a soft 15 and soft 16 when the dealer has a four, five or six.
• Double down with a soft 17 and soft 18 when the dealer has three through six.

There are six easy rules that apply to splitting pairs in basic blackjack strategy:

• Always split a pair of aces or eights. A pair of aces totals either two or twelve but when you split them each card is worth eleven. When you split eights you are breaking up 16 which is the worst hand to have.
• Never split fours, fives or tens.
• Split twos and threes only when the dealer has four through seven.
• Split sixes when the dealer has three through six.
• Split sevens when the dealer has three through seven.
• Split nines when the dealer has two through six, eight or nine.

Here's the same basic blackjack strategy in chart form.
Hard Totals

				Dealer's Hand
		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	A
	8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
	9	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
	10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
Players	11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H
	12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
Hand	13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
	14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
	15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
	16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
	17-20	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Soft Totals

				Dealer's Hand
		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	A
	A 2	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
	A 3	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
Players	A 4	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
	A 5	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
Hand	A 6	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
	A 7	S	D	D	D	D	S	S	H	H	H
	A 8	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
	A 9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Pair Splitting (DAS)

				Dealer's Hand
		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	A
	2 2	P*	P*	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
	3 3	P*	P*	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
	4 4	H	H	H	P	P	H	H	H	H	H
Players	5 5	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
	6 6	P*	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H	H
Hand	7 7	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
	8 8	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
	9 9	P	P	P	P	P	S	P	P	S	S
	10's	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
	A's	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P

*=Hit if double after splitting is not allowed
H = Hit     S = Stand     D = Double     P = Split