Playing Blackjack at Bodog
It might surprise you to know that all of those benefits still apply when you play Blackjack online. What’ll really knock you off your feet, if you’re among the uninitiated, are all of the online rewards, giveaways and bonuses that you collect at a leading online casino like Bodog.
Add to that the other kind of bonus: playing at home wearing something a casino doorman would most definitely disapprove of.
Since it’s high time you learned Bodog Blackjack online, we’re going to step you through the fundamentals, and what you can expect when you take a virtual seat at the table.
How to Play
In online Blackjack, there aren’t any other opponents to put on the pressure – it’s just you and the dealer. The game flows just like it would in a land casino, but you can take as much time as you need to decide on your move. There are multiple types of Blackjack to play at Bodog, but for now we’ll focus on the most popular version, which is simply called “Classic”.
In the Classic version, there are 6 decks which are shuffled between each round.
Here’s how it’s done:
- You drag a chip (1, 5, 25, 100, or 500) to the centre space and hit “Deal”. Easy enough, right?
- You get two cards face up, and the dealer gets two cards with one face up and one face down. Still good.
- Based on your own two cards and the one card you see in the dealer’s hand, you decide on your action (we’ll go over the actions in detail in just a minute).
- Once you’re done taking new cards, your hand is compared to the dealer’s.
- The hand with a total the closest to a sum of 21, without going over, is the winner. And of course, hopefully that’s you.
The sum of the cards is determined by their value. This is how the cards are valued:
- 2-9: their number value
- J, Q, K, A: 10 points
- A: either a 1 or an 11, depending on what works best in that situation
And this is how you could get paid in the game:
- A Natural Blackjack: (a total of 21): 3:2
- Regular winning hand: 1:1
- Insurance: 2:1
Those are the factual details, but you can’t play the game without them. Let’s move on to special features.
Game Features
Another upside of playing Blackjack online is the access you have to additional features you just can’t get in a real life setting.
Customization: You can choose from pink, blue, or green felt on your table, and then you can choose the design on the back of the card, and some of them are decidedly fancy!
Decks: Online Blackjack also allows you to play with three decks instead of six, which can work in your favour in some circumstances.
Blackjack Actions
Alright, back to the game.
Once you see your two cards and the dealer’s one face-up card, you can decide on what action to take.
Hit
This means to take another card. You can hit as many times as you’d like until you bust, or go over 21 (which also means you lose the round). Of course, it’s best practice in Blackjack to stop hitting when you get close to 21. As for the dealer, they are required to hit on a soft 17, which is a hand that contains an Ace as an 11.
Stand
This means you keep your hand as-is without taking another card. Once you stand, you must face the dealer. (Not literally, of course – online, your cards and your screen are your face.)
Double Down
A double down is when you double your bet and receive another card, often used on totals of 11 when another card cannot send you bust. 
Split
Splitting is an option when you have two of the same card. A “split” divides those two cards into two separate hands, and you can play each hand as usual, i.e. hitting as much as you’d like. That is, except for Aces. When you split Aces, you only get one more card for each hand, and you cannot re-split if that ends up being another Ace.
Surrender
If you surrender on your first two cards, you will stop the game and get 50% of your bet. This option is sometimes used when your hand only has a 50% chance of beating the dealer’s.
Insurance
If the dealer’s up card shows an Ace, you have the option to get insurance. If you take the insurance, exactly half of your original bet is on stake. If the Dealer shows a Blackjack with their next card, you get paid 2:1. If the dealer does not show a Blackjack, you lose the insurance and the round is settled as usual on your initial bet.
Game Mechanics
Here’s what all the buttons on the screen mean:
- Two cards: Deal the cards and start the game
- Coins stacked with an “x”: Clear the board
- One coin with an “x”: undo your last action
- Stacked coins: Double down
- Three cards with a plus sign “+”: Hit
- A raised hand: Stand
- A flag: Surrender
- Hamburger icon: Access the settings, rules, and instructions
Games Similar to Blackjack
Blackjack is all parts fast, profitable, exciting, and easy to learn, but it’s not the only game that boasts such virtues! We have a veritable smorgasbord of similar options.
Baccarat
Baccarat also involves summing up cards but, unlike Blackjack, requires just a single, simple decision in the beginning of the round; and you still get paid 1:1 for winning.
Teen Patti Rapid
If you love the speed of Blackjack, try your 3-card hand at Teen Patti Rapid. This card game flips through rounds in a matter of seconds, dealing just three cards to determine your poker hand.
Zappit Blackjack
This style of Blackjack is the adult version of bending a game’s rules to give the smallest player an extra turn. Similarly, Zappit will let you wipe the slate clean with two new cards if you have a hard total of 15, 16 or 17, which are notoriously tough to decide on.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt about it: Blackjack is the king of the casino, and Bodog is the online Kingdom where the game rules supreme. Try it on Practice Mode first to warm up your game, then open it up on Real Money to start raking in even-money wins, and chasing that elusive Blackjack for the big bucks.
