The game of blackjack is played by first placing a wager for the hand. The hand is then won by either having a card total greater than the dealer's total (but no higher than 21), or by the dealer's total exceeding 21. If the player's total exceeds 21 then they immediately lose. This is referred to as a bust.
At the start of each hand the player is dealt two face-up cards and the dealer is dealt one face-down card and one face-up card. If the player's first two cards total 21(a blackjack) then the player will immediately win 150% of their wager. If the dealer's first two cards total 21 then the player immediately loses his or her entire wager. If both hands total 21 then it is a tie or push.
If the dealer's up-card is an ace then the player will have the option to make an insurance bet (betting an additional one-half of his or her original wager that the dealer's two cards total 21) before the hand is played; insurance pays 2:1. If the player has a blackjack and the dealer's up-card is an ace then the player will have the option to take even-money (getting paid 1:1 on a blackjack instead of 3:2, but without any chance of a push). If the dealer does not have a blackjack then the hand continues with the player's turn (hopefully "card counter" would also be an applicable term).
On a player's turn he or she may decide to do one of four moves. They can stand (pass), they can hit (draw one card from the deck), they can double-down (double his or her original wager for one hit and not be able to hit for the remainder of the hand), or they can split (this can only be done if the players first two cards have the same value. The player makes a second wager equal to their first wager and now plays two hands, each hand having one of the original cards along with a new card drawn from the deck). If the player does not bust then the dealer will flip over their face-down card and if the dealer's two cards total less than 17, the dealer will hit until their total is 17 or higher.
Once the dealer's turn has finished, hands totaling less than the dealer's will lose their wager and hands totaling more than the dealer's total will win even money. If a player's hand and the dealer's hand have the same total then the wager will not be won or lost. When the dealer's hand exceeds twenty-one, every hand that does not exceed 21 will be paid even money on their original wager (an automatic win, regardless of their hand total).
Player's options:
"Hit" - Draw an additional card. A player may hit as many times as they choose to, or until they bust.
"Stand" - When the player wants to end his or her turn.
"Double-Down" - The player doubles his or her original wager. The player then receives one hit and is then forced to stand.
"Split" - When the player's first two cards have the same value they may make an additional wager equal to their first. His or her two cards are then split into separate hands, each hand receiving an additional card from the deck.
Different casinos will use different variations on these rules. For example, some casinos will not let you double after splitting. These variations will affect the players advantage. Below is a table that describes the affect that rule variations will have on advantage. We won't discuss advantage in detail yet, so if you find this table confusing feel free to ignore it for now. Simply keep in mind that the more freedom a player has to make decisions, the better off they will be.
Card counters want to have control over when money is on the table. The easiest way to do this is by changing the bet size after each round, but without using moves like splitting and doubling down, profitable card counting would be impossible.
To learn more about card counting and the mathematical formulas involved, check out Modern Card Counting here: Counting Cards eBooks
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