Game Rules for Multi-Split Blackjack

Rule Authority:

InterCasino Blackjack is played and programmed according to Atlantic City Blackjack rules.

Authority: New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

Rule Exceptions: The deck of cards is shuffled after each hand, and pair may not be re-split. Players may not draw any additional cards on split aces.

Premise:

In MultiSplit Blackjack, the player and the dealer are dealt two cards to begin. 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 except face cards that are worth ten and aces that are worth either 1 or 11. If the value of the players hand is closer to 21 than the dealers the player wins. If the dealer's value is higher than the players, the player will lose. If the hands are of equal value then the deal is a push and the money is returned to the player. If the player has 22 or higher (known as a busted hand), the player loses 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 17s
4. Doubling after splitting allowed
5. Re-splitting of cards allowed up to three times
6. No surrender
7. Only one additional card allowed on each Ace when splitting a pair of Aces.

How to play:

InterCasino Multi-Split Blackjack is played with 8 decks of fifty-two cards. Immediately after each game has been played the used cards are then shuffled back into the deck. All face cards are valued as 10, and cards from 2-10 are valued by their number. Aces can be valued at either 1 or 11, which does not need to specified as it is assumed that it will be valued to the card that will give the best hand.

Betting:

Your chips are first stacked by denomination ($/£/€ 1, $/£/€ 5, $/£/€ 25, $/£/€ 100, $/£/€ 500) at the bottom of the gaming window. The player then selects the amount they want to wager on a given hand by clicking on the chip of the denomination they would like to use.

The player then places their bet on the Baccarat table by clicking on one of the bet fields. The player can also specify a bet that is not equal to an existing chip denomination by clicking on a different chip denomination after placing the last chip on the table. For example, placing a $/£/€ 25 chip and then a $/£/€ 5 chip would make the total of the bet $/£/€ 30.

The player is also able to withdraw their entire wager simply by clicking on the right mouse button. The total of the bet being played will appear in the "Bet" section just below "User". The player may repeat their last bet by clicking on the shortcuts that are summarized below. If the player places a wager that is below the table bet limit, the bet will automatically be put to the minimum bet limit.

After the player has placed their bet they will then receive two cards face up. The dealer will also receive two cards - one facing upwards and one down. Once the player has been dealt their cards (and based on the nature of the cards) they may do the following by clicking on the appropriate button:

Hit:

Hit requests another card. The player may do this as many times as they like, but if the total then exceeds 21 they will "bust" and lose their hand.

Stand:

A Stand requests that the player receive no more cards. The hand as it then stands will be judged against the dealer's own hand.

Split:

If the player received two cards of the same denomination, then a Split button will appear. This option will only be active immediately after the player receives their first two cards. The player is then able to split their hand into two and play each hand separately. The original bet will then be duplicated for the new hand. Each hand will then be played as usual, except when splitting aces, where only one additional card per hand is dealt. A white box will appear displaying the player's card total of each hand, and will also indicate which hand is active.

The split option may only be used once per hand- you cannot split a part of a split hand. Any winning 21 total is then paid one to one.

Double Down:

After selecting the Double Down button three things may happen - the player will receive one more card, the players turn will end, and the bet will be doubled. This option is only available immediately after the player received their first two cards.

Insurance:

When the dealer's up-card is an Ace, the player has the option to take insurance for half the amount of the bet.

If the player wants to take insurance, they must click the Insurance button. If the player does not want to take the insurance they may press the Pass button to continue with the When the player buys insurance they are betting on the idea that the dealer's down card is a ten or a face card (i.e a natural blackjack card).

If the dealer does possess a 10 ranking card then the player is immediately paid 2 to 1 on the insurance bet, but the original wager is lost unless the player has a blackjack too and pushed with the dealer. If the dealer does not have a natural blackjack then rest of the hand is played as usual, and the player loses their insurance money.

If the player then wins the hand, they will receive their original bet plus the same amount in profit. If they win with a natural Blackjack then they will be paid 3 to 2 odds, which means they will get back their original wager plus 150% profit.

If the player wins with a natural Multi-Hand blackjack they will be paid with 3 to 2 odds, which means that the player will receive their original wager plus 150% profit.

Payoffs:

Betting Limits:

$/£/€ 2 minimum initial ante

$/£/€ 2,500 maximum bet.

Individual tables may have different higher and lower bet limits. There are two ways to determine the table bet limit for a specific table - by placing the mouse over the specific table which will give a box stating the table number and minimum and maximum bet. Or, the player may click on a specific table and a new window will open displaying this information.

Setting your table bet limit:

You are also able to set your table limit to below the maximum specified limit by selecting Bet Options on the Game Menu. The Modify Table Bet Limit will then appear, and to reduce the maximum type in the new limit in the appropriate box. Then click OK to complete this update. Please be aware that you can only modify your table bet limit once a week (Friday 12:00 AM EST), and using the Modify Table Bet Limit affects the limit for ALL games and not just your current one.

Basic Blackjack Strategy Table

Basic blackjack strategy is defined as the proper play of cards knowing only your hand and the dealer's exposed card. It does not involve card counting (an advantage lost in playing InterCasino with 8 decks reshuffled after each hand) or remembering which cards were played previously. The basic blackjack strategy is created through intensive computer simulations which 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 strategy is usually printed as tables with the dealer's up card the first row and your two card combination the first column. 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 InterCasino 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

Numeric Keyboard Shortcuts:

For keyboards without keypads, you must use the "Fn" key plus the shortcuts above (e.g. 'Fn' + Enter). Please note that these keyboard shortcuts are given as a suggestion only. Some computers may function differently, and the shortcuts may not work on some computers.

Note: You are able to turn on and off the sound, voice and animation at anytime by clicking on the Options button that is located on the lower left-hand area of the console. The setting is turned on is the box is checked and off when it is unchecked, you must exit and re-enter the game to re-activate the animation feature.

References:

For further information on blackjack and mutisplit, please look at the following references:

• Carlson, Bryce. Blackjack for Blood, Compustar Press, 1992.
• Humble, Lance and Cooper, Carl. The World's Greatest Blackjack Book, Doubleday, 1987.
• Scoblete, Frank. Best Blackjack, Bonus Books, 1996.
• Tamburin, Henry. Reference Guide to Casino Gambling, Research Services Unlimited, 1993.
• Uston, Ken. Million Dollar Blackjack, Carol Publishing Group, 1994.