Amaya is the world’s biggest online gaming conglomerate. From software development to online casino hosting, it now has a finger in every pie. Since its incorporation of Chartwell, it has been able to offer a number of table games as well as its slots titles, including several versions of Blackjack, such as European Blackjack.
Online roulette is just one of the variants of this hugely popular card game that Amaya has to offer. They also create titles like Vegas Blackjack, Lucky 7 Blackjack and Single Deck Blackjack. However, many players enjoy the unique rules that make European Blackjack different to other versions, so they search specifically for this variant of the game.
Some Blackjack Basics to Start
European Blackjack, like any version of Blackjack, Pontoon or Vingt-Et-Un, has its own special rules, but at its core it is based on the common principal of trying to get cards that total 21 or as close to it as possible, without exceeding it. At the same time, the player must get a higher total than the dealer, or the dealer must bust, for the player to win.
A bust is any hand that exceeds 21, and this becomes possible whenever the total is over 12, as a 10 or a picture card will bust the hand. The key to successful European Blackjack, or any Blackjack, is knowing how many cards to draw without busting, or knowing when the dealer is likely to bust depending on the dealer’s single visible card.
On each hand, player and dealer are dealt two cards each. The player must then decide to draw another card, double the bet for one more card, split any pairs, or stand with what they have. The dealer then draws cards until they bust or hit a total that the rules say the dealer must stand on. The hands are then assessed, and if the player’s wins, they are paid even money.
Blackjacks and Insurance Bets
In European Blackjack as in all the rest, a Blackjack is a hand making 21 with two cards: an Ace and a ten or picture. If the player gets Blackjack and the dealer doesn’t, the player wins 3:2 on the bet. If both have Blackjack, the bet is pushed.
If the dealer has Blackjack, even if the player can match the total of 21 with three or more cards, the dealer wins. This is why some versions of European Blackjack offer an insurance bet, which the player can place if the dealer is showing an A or 10-value. If the dealer turns out to have Blackjack, the insurance bet recoups the loss. However, if the dealer doesn’t have Blackjack, insurance bets are lost, although players still win even money if they beat the dealer’s total.
Specific Amaya Rules for European Blackjack
The Amaya European Blackjack plays on a screen that looks just like a Online NZ Casino Blackjack table. There are a few special rules that will influence the way the player bets and plays. The game uses six decks in a shoe, and Dealer must stand on a soft 17; in other words, an Ace and a 6.
The players can only double on European Blackjack hands with hard totals of 9 to 11, but they are allowed to double a hand after splitting a matching pair. The player doesn’t get to see one of the dealer’s cards, though, so there is no insurance option – Blackjack from the dealer will beat all the bets a player has made on lower totals.