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Power Blackjack is a variant of the card gambling game Blackjack, modified by certain doubling and splitting rules, called "Power Double" and "Power Split," that are advantageous to the player, offset by the rule that, when the dealer makes a total of twenty two, any active player hands push rather than winning.
The rules for the power blackjack game are based on the standard Blackjack rules and involve common Blackjack terms.
The main variations are:
If the player's two-card total is nine, ten or eleven (in some casinos, only ten and eleven, and in some casinos soft 19 and 20 are included) and the player doubles, the player has the option of discarding the double-down card received and replacing it with top (unseen) card from the shoe. The player can not replace the second double card. This option increases the favorability of doubling opportunities. Thus, basic strategy for Power Blackjack includes more doubles than for regular blackjack. Furthermore, a player needs to learn the additional strategy of when to replace the first double-down card to take maximum advantage of this rule variation. This strategy will depend on the player's initial total, the card drawn, and the dealer's up card.
If the player is initially dealt a fifteen or sixteen (in some casinos hard only), the player can split the two cards, even if they are different values. After a power-split, all regular double-down and split actions are allowed, but power-split and power-double options are no longer allowed.
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Blackjack, formerly also Black Jack and Vingt-Un, is the American member of a global family of banking games known as Twenty-One, whose relatives include Pontoon and Vingt-et-Un. It is a comparing card game between one or more players and a dealer, where each player in turn competes against the dealer. Players do not compete against each other. It is played with one or more decks of 52 cards, and is the most widely played casino banking game in the world.
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Sheepshead or Sheephead is an American trick-taking card game derived from Bavaria's national card game, Schafkopf. Sheepshead is most commonly played by five players, but variants exist to allow for two to eight players. There are also many other variants to the game rules, and many slang terms used with the game.
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Elimination Blackjack is a tournament format of blackjack invented by Russ Hamilton, that was played on the Ultimate Blackjack Tour and in various casinos. It combines the game of blackjack with elements of No Limit Texas Hold'Em. Unlike Texas Hold'Em tournaments, players are still competing against the same dealer that is why the results of most players at the table are likely to be the same. UltimateBet, a sponsor of the Ultimate Blackjack Tour, offered online elimination blackjack tournaments prior to bankruptcy.
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Casino Hold'em is a casino gambling game. This banking game, introduced by Stephen Au-Yeung in 2000 and now played in live casinos worldwide. It was licensed for use in the United Kingdom in 2007. In addition online casinos offer the game, which is based on the traditional multi-player Texas Hold'em Poker.
Splitting aces and eights is part of blackjack basic strategy. Rules vary across gambling establishments regarding resplitting, doubling, multiple card draws, and the payout for blackjack, and there are conditional strategic responses that depend upon the number of decks used, the frequency of shuffling and dealer's cards. However, regardless of the various situations, the common strategic wisdom in the blackjack community is to "Always split aces and eights" when dealt either pair as initial cards. This is generally the first rule of any splitting strategy.
The following is a glossary of terms used in the card game blackjack. This is not intended to be a formal dictionary; precise usage details and multiple closely related senses are omitted here in favor of concise treatment of the basics.