Atlantic City Blackjack made its debut back in 1976, the year that gambling in this town was legalised in order to try and revive it. Before then, the only place you could enjoy real money gambling was Las Vegas, and in order to draw some of that city’s clientele, the Atlantic City casinos decided to tweak Blackjack so that it offered players a little extra.
Thus, this hometown version of the famous casino game came into being, and this very exciting variation, also known as Hole Card Blackjack, has been steadily increasing in popularity ever since.
Also Known as Hole Card Blackjack
Atlantic City Blackjack earned its nickname, Hole Card Blackjack, thanks to the fact that the dealer is dealt two cards, one facing up, and the other facing down. The face-down card is known as the Hole Card, and the dealer will always be required to check this Hole Card if his face-up card is valued at ten points, as in the case of a ten, jack, queen, king or ace.
Atlantic City Blackjack vs. Blackjack
There are two chief differences between Atlantic City Blackjack and regular Blackjack:
- Atlantic City Blackjack uses eight standard decks of playing cards instead of the usual sixThis means that the odds are slightly tipped in the Dealer’s favour, and Busting occurs less frequently with the extra decks. Thanks to this fact the Dealers who have to Hit on hands with a score of less than 17 are less likely to exceed 21.
- Atlantic City Blackjack has a Late Surrender option, which regular Blackjack does not.This allows the dealer for the game to check for Blackjack when they have been dealt an ace or other card valued at ten points, and, if they do not have it, you will have the chance to give up your hand. In other words, you will not have to play the hand, in return for half your stake, when the Dealer has a possibly very strong hand.
The Most Important Rules for Play
One of the most important Atlantic City Blackjack rules for you to remember is that the dealer will always have to Stand when his or her hand is totalled at 17 or higher.
You will also be permitted to Double Down on any two of your cards, and can also do so after a split. If you are playing a large amount of hands you will be able to split as many as three times, but if you are dealt two ace cards you will only be able to split them with once only, and only one card will be dealt on top of that ace.
