Atlantic City Blackjack

Here again we have a different name for what in effect is the same game of blackjack and this time it is called Atlantic City Blackjack which is believed to have originated in Atlantic City. Atlantic city blackjack is very popular with beginners to the blackjack game as it offers you all the advantages of Vegas strip blackjack plus one extra thing and that is that you are allowed to surrender. The whole idea of surrendering has been dealt with on the page entitled surrender blackjack so if you want to know more detail we recommend that you read that page.

There are some small differences between Atlantic City Blackjack and Vegas strip blackjack but whether these are variations or separate games is a matter of opinion however these differences are probably nothing which is going to make you refuse to play one or the other game. Atlantic City Blackjack is played with eight decks instead of the four at Vegas strip blackjack tables, the dealer has to stand on 17, hard or soft it does not matter but note that some online casinos offer Vegas Downtown blackjack where the dealer must draw on a soft 17. There is no difference in the number of times you are allowed to split which remains three and all the usual playing rules apply here in that you only get one card if you split aces and you are allowed to double down on any total as long as they are your first two cards. Atlantic City Blackjack also allows a double down after a split. Returning to surrendering for a moment; some Atlantic City Blackjack games allow you to surrender if you feel that the bank has a strong card showing. This will of course cost you half of your bet and is only allowed before you make any decisions about hitting or standing.

There are two different types of surrender, late and early and it depends on the dealer showing an ace or a ten. In some Atlantic City Blackjack games when the dealer has dealt cards to everybody at the table and the dealer card showing is an ace or a ten they will always look to see if there is blackjack in which case the dealer will show the players and start taking the losing bets and this all happens before any player is allowed to hit or pass. If the dealer were to have an ace showing as his first card then many people naturally enough would like to surrender but as you can imagine this is not allowed as the first thing the dealer does is to look to see if he actually has blackjack or not. If he does not have blackjack then the game will commence as usual and players are allowed to hit, stand or surrender. This form of play is called, Late Surrender. If you were to be playing at a table where you were allowed to play Early Surrender then you would be allowed to surrender before the dealer had a look at his own cards. As you can imagine, early surrender gives the casino a disadvantage and is therefore not found very often in Atlantic City Blackjack.

Any casino whether it is an online casino or a bricks and mortar casino does not like to lose, just like you, so if there is any way of changing the rules to their advantage, they will. Some Atlantic City Blackjack games also have an insurance option which can be taken out if the dealer is showing an ace; this is insurance only against the dealer having blackjack and it costs half your original bet and loses if the dealer does not have blackjack but play does continue. Atlantic city blackjack is a good variation of the basic blackjack that we all know and can have the nice advantage of surrendering but as stated on our surrender blackjack page think hard about the use of it and make sure you use this advantage to your best knowledge and do not surrender too early. This is a mistake that is made too often so please think about it before you decide to surrender. How often have you been dealt a good first card and then the second comes along and everything turns sour? We bet it is quite often but this is exactly what can happen to the dealers cards, so a ten showing does not at all mean that the dealer is going to be having a good card, thing can change rapidly at a blackjack table, as we all know. Whether you choose to play Atlantic City blackjack or Vegas Strip blackjack will not make any difference to most players so just enjoy it.