The Goal of the Blackjack Game

The Object of Online Blackjack

What is the object of the game of blackjack? It seems like the most fundamental question one should ask before starting to play online blackjack, yet many online blackjack players get confused. Many people will tell you that the goal in playing blackjack is to get as close as possible to 21. They are WRONG! The goal in playing blackjack is NOT to get as close as possible to 21. The goal in any blackjack game is to beat the dealer. And there is a big difference between the two.

Beat the Dealer to Win at Blackjack

Suppose you are playing blackjack and you are dealt a hand of 12, and the dealer is showing a 5 as his up card. Now, 12 is pretty far away from 21, and if the goal in playing black jack were to get as close as possible to 21, you would take another card in order to get closer to 21. But since the true goal in blackjack is to beat the dealer, the best blackjack strategy is to stand.

When the dealer is showing a 5, there is a pretty good chance that his hole card is a 10, giving him a hand of 15. And since the blackjack rules require the dealer to hit on 15, there is a good chance that his next card will be a 7 or higher and he will bust.

When the dealer busts, you win at blackjack, even if all you have is a lowly blackjack hand of 12. That is what is meant by beating the dealer, and that is what is meant by winning at blackjack.

Using the Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart

Once you understand your true goal in playing online blackjack, you can start to make sense of the blackjack basic strategy chart. The blackjack basic strategy chart does not tell you how to get as close as possible to 21. It tells you to look at your cards and to look at the dealer's card, and then it advises you on the best way to beat the dealer based on all of the relevant factors.

If you have a blackjack hand of 12 and the dealer is showing a 6, the basic blackjack strategy chart advises you to stand. As explained above, there is a good chance that the dealer will bust and you will win at blackjack.

But now suppose that you are holding a blackjack hand of 12 and the dealer is showing a 7. In this situation, the basic blackjack strategy chart advises you to hit. Why? Because there is a good chance that the dealer has a 10 in the hole for a hand of 17. Since the rules of blackjack permit the dealer to stand on 17, his 17 will beat your 12 unless you do something about it. Therefore, your best blackjack strategy is to hit in order to try and beat the dealer's 17.

The Advantage of Playing Online Blackjack

When you play blackjack online, the dealer is not a human being; he is a Random Number Generator. But that doesn't change a thing. The RNG blackjack dealer plays by the same rules and restrictions as a human blackjack dealer, and your goal in playing online blackjack is the same as it would be in playing land-based blackjack: to beat the dealer and to win at blackjack.

Playing online black jack has many advantages over playing blackjack in a land-based casino. One is that you can take your time to think about your moves. Another is that you can keep a blackjack basic strategy chart by your side and refer to it whenever you want to. Nobody will rush you in the online blackjack casino, and nobody will inspect or confiscate your stuff.

What it all boils down to is that when you play blackjack online, you can think clearly and play intelligently, without being distracted by false goals or rushed into playing by hunches instead of by a winning blackjack strategy geared toward beating the dealer.

Making Sense of the Game of Blackjack

When you stop to think about it, everything that has been said here about the goal of the game of blackjack makes perfect sense.

If you were playing basketball, you would not say that the object of the game is to score as many points as possible. The object of the game of basketball is to score more points than the other team. If your team is behind by 10 points, you might adopt a fast-moving aggressive style of play. If you are ahead by a few points, you might play a more conservative and defense-oriented game. The strategy is different, but the goal is the same: to beat the other team.

When you sit down at the virtual blackjack table, the goal is also always the same: to beat the dealer. That's the only way to win at online blackjack.