Before each hand begins, each screen contains the following areas and controls. Once cards have been dealt, the Deal and Clear buttons disappear, to make way for the in-game controls.
The Chip Selector. The Chip Selector is located on the edge of the table, and will allow you to select the value of the chips you are betting. At any given time, the chip that is currently selected will look bigger than the others. To select a chip type, click on it; any bets you place will use chips of the value you have selected, until you select a different one.
The arrow buttons at each
side of the Chip Selector can be used to cycle through the available chip
sizes.
You are free to mix chips of whatever denomination you choose, although
there is a limit to how much you can bet on a single game. The chip sizes
and total bet limit will depend on the version of the game you are playing
and your accounts profile.
The Betting Zones. In all games except Single Deck Blackjack, there are five betting zones available for use, so that you can bet on up to five Blackjack hands at once. Each zone is represented by a rectangle. In Single Deck Blackjack there is only one betting zone. To make a bet, select a chip type using the Chip Selector, and click on one of the circles. You can increase your bet, up to the maximum allowed, by clicking again, with the same or different chip types.
The Clear Button. Before the cards are dealt, clicking this will clear all the chips from the table.
The Deal Button. Once all bets have been placed, click on the Deal button to begin the hand, and deal cards to all positions that have made bets. Once the deal begins, this button disappears, and is replaced by the In-Game Control buttons.
The Rebet Button. Clicking on the Rebet button will automatically place the same bets as were laid for each position in the previous hand. Once the deal begins, this button disappears, and is replaced by the In-Game Control buttons.
Once cards are dealt, the Deal and Clear Bets buttons disappear, and are replaced by buttons that show the options available at the time. These options are specific to each hand in play, (the screen will indicate which hand is in play at the time). Play goes clockwise from the dealer; hence, decisions for the position on the right of the screen are taken first. In Single Deck Blackjack, only one hand can be played, the one in the middle of the table. Depending on the options available at the time, the following controls may be visible on-screen:
Hit. Clicking Hit requests an additional card to be added to the hand that is currently in play.
Stand. Clicking Stand completes the actions available for the hand that is currently in play.
Double. Clicking this allows you to Double-down. The Game Table shows the rules in each game.
Split. If your initial cards are the same, you will be offered the chance to split them. Some Blackjack variants will allow all cards that have a value of 10 (even non-identical ones) to be split whereas others only allow you to split pairs of cards with a matching face. You can Double on split hands. The Game Table shows the rules in each game.
Insurance. The Insurance
buttons appear on the right of the screen, near the Chip
Selector, when the dealer’s visible card is an Ace. If the dealer’s
hand is a Blackjack, you will receive a payout of 2 to 1.
Unlike the other in-game controls, the option to insure
hands is taken before the rest of the actions are offered, and can
be applied either to each hand individually or all of them at once.
Surrender. In some versions of Blackjack, a ‘Surrender’ button will appear after the cards are dealt. This button forfeits the selected hand, and then half of the bet amount for that hand is returned to the player.