Blackjack Lingo, Vocabulary, and Jargon

Whether you've played a little blackjack or just try the game occasionally, it helps to learn the jargon and lingo used in this game. Learning blackjack terminology also helps you learn different aspects of the game. There may be a few new things you haven't yet learned that will come out of such exercise.

Value is a common term used not only in blackjack but also in other card games as well. This jargon refers to the numeric worth of a card. In blackjack, all the picture cards have equal value, which is ten. The Ace will either be given a value of one or 11, and the number cards will take their face value.

In blackjack, when you say surrender this doesn't necessarily mean you give up everything. This jargon implies that you give up 50% of your bet and not play your current hand. An early surrender occurs before the dealer checks for a blackjack and a late surrender occurs after.

You may take what is called an insurance when the dealer checks for a blackjack. This jargon refers to a side bet you can make in case the dealer does have a blackjack and you don't lose as much in your wager.

Moving off to the player moves in blackjack, to hit simply means to add a card to your initial hand, and to stand means to stay with what cards you already have. Related to these is bust, which means that you go over the maximum value of 21 thus automatically losing. These are very common jargon you'll encounter.

To split means to separate your two original cards and add to each individual card a new card to make two new hands that you can play. You play each new hand individually and place bets for each of them. In blackjack you can only split if both cards in your original hand have equal value.

Like hit, stand, and split, to double down is a jargon that refers to an action made by players. Doubling down means that you take just one more card then double the original wager and then stands whatever the final total will be.

Related to that jargon is double down rescue. This is a form of surrender that may be allowed by some blackjack tables but only occurs after a player has doubled down.

An American Hole Card Game is a variation of blackjack where the dealer checks for a blackjack in case the up card is either a Ten value card or an Ace. The word blackjack itself is a jargon which could either mean the name of the game or a hand that has an Ace and a card valued at Ten points.

These are blackjack terms that every player should be aware of. Like every other jargon, the meaning behind the words are related to practical use.

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