How the dealer plays his hand

How the dealer plays his hand and how this affects the game is described in this section.

Once the dealer has dealt each player two cards face up and himself two cards, one face up (up card) and the other face down (hole card), he checks his hand for blackjack. If his up card is an ace, he first offers the players the chance to take insurance against his hole card having a value of ten, before he actually checks it.

If the dealer does not have blackjack, play continues with players either making requests for further cards to increase their points or standing.

The dealer plays his hand after all players conclude their requests for more cards and 'stand.' If he has blackjack, then players with 20 points or less will lose their bets. Players with blackjack will have their bets returned for a drawn game and players who took the insurance bet are paid out accordingly, the insurance bet covering their losses if they did not match the dealer's blackjack.

If the dealer does not have blackjack but has a low scoring hand, he is obliged to draw another card to improve his score, although most house rules will prevent him drawing another card if his total reaches 17. At this stage, the dealer must stand and pay out any players who have a higher points total in their hands than his.

Should the dealer bust with his next card by exceeding 21 points, all players will win their bet.