Blackjack Terms Blackjack means any combination of your first two cards that total 21 To ask the dealer to Hit on a hand, is to ask for another card. When the player tells the dealer they want to Stand , they are telling him that they don't want any more cards. If the player has been dealt a pair, they are able to Split the pair, and play 2 separate hands at the same time. (Some house rules will not allow you to split Aces, or Aces more than once) Hard hand is when the ace can only be counted as 1. When a player Doubles Down , they are doubling their bet and asking the dealer for ONLY one more card. Regardless of what the card is, the player must stand after doubling down. The player is given the choice of asking for Insurance , if the dealer has been dealt an "A" face up. By asking for Insurance, the player is making a side-bet that the down-card could be a 10 point card, giving the dealer 21. It has been stated many times, that Insurance is a "sucker bet" and to NEVER make this bet. Surrender is the only play at the blackjack table that requires a "verbal" response. If the player is dealt a hand that looks particularly dismal, they can surrender half the bet and end their play. This is also referred to as a "sucker bet", and some casinos don't even recognize it.(There are a few instances that a very skilled card counter can use this bet to their advantage) . A push or tie occurs when the total of your cards are the same as the dealers without going over 21. You do lose and you can change your bet on the next hand. Soft hand is when the ace can be counted as 1 or 11

If the shooter is winning, the dice are not passed on. The dice are only passed to the next player if the shooter sevens-out (rolls a seven) or decides not to continue rolling. In the Internet version of craps, the player loses if there is a seven-out and can end the game at any time provided there are no bets placed. Pass Line and Don't Pass Line bets are made on the shooter's "Come Out" roll. All other bets are placed after the come out, once a "point" has been determined, and work independent of the "pass line" and "don't pass" bets. 1) The Come Bet
Made any time after the initial "Come Out" roll when a shooter has a point to make, you win on the first roll of the come bet with a natural (7, 11) and lose on craps (2, 3, 12) Any other number that comes up is a come point. You win on a come bet if this number is rolled again before a 7. 2) The Don't Come Bet
Opposite of the come bet, except the 12 is a tie. Made any time after the initial "Come Out" roll when a shooter has a point to make, you lose on the first roll of the don't come bet with a natural (7, 11) and win on craps (2, 3) Any other number that comes up is a come point. You lose on a don't come bet if this number is rolled again before a 7. 3) Odds Bet
You can accompany your Pass Line, Come, Don't Pass, or Don't Come bet with an additional bet called an "odds bet". Once point has been established, the odds bet is popular because it pays "true odds" on your bet. True odds are based on comparing the chance of your number being rolled before the 7, are paid out accordingly. To illustrate, using the True Odds Chart, you can see that the 7's chance of coming up is twice that of the 4. When you place an odds bet on the four, it will pay 2 to 1, the true odds.

Requesting a card or a hit on 17 or above will do two things: it will mark you as a rank amateur and will make other players abandon your table. There are only four cards to improve your hand with a 17, three with an 18, 2 with a 19 and one with a 20. The odds are stacked against you in every case. With 17 as the player's key point, 6 is the corresponding cutoff card for thedealer's exposed card in determining how you play it, with the deuce or 2 beingthe exception to the rule (refer to "The Terror of the Twos") It is importantto remember: everything is relative to the one card the dealer is showing. Ifthe dealer's exposed card is 3-6, the player has a better chance of winning thanif the dealer is showing a 2, 9, 10 (or face card) or ace. Seven and eight fallin the middle.Generally accepted blackjack theory notes that 18.3 represents the calculatedaverage hand needed to win. In other words, a hand with less than a 19 total(you can't get fractions in blackjack), is potentially a losing hand. If thedealer is showing a 7, 8, 9, or 10-value card, you will need to hit if you haveless than a 17.With a total of 17, you are stuck-you can't take a hit, but your chances aren'tgood. The math of the game says you can't take a card to improve your hand, butthe best you can do is hope the dealer has a 5-10 if he/she is showing a seven.With a 10, you tie, or "push." You don't win, but you don't lose. 5-9 makes thedealer hit once more. If the dealer has an 8, 9, or 10-value card exposed, youhave to hope that there is a 4, 5,6, or 7 in the hole. That will make the dealerneed to take a third card as well and this might put his/her hand over the totalof 21, with a busted hand. As there are more 10-value cards than any other, thechances here are not as bad.When you receive a hard 17, 18, 19, or 20, there is nothing to do except sitback and hope that the dealer's hand isn't as good as yours. You merely indicateto the dealer that you don't want a card and want to stand. Obviously, with a21 or blackjack, there's no need to try to improve your position.

Basic Rules of Play
The dice are tossed from one end of the crapstable to the other making sure that both dice bounce off of the back wall of thetable.

Moving in a clockwise direction, players take turns rolling the dice. TheShooter's first role is called the "Come Out" role. This Shootercontinues to role as long as he or she makes winning roles.

The "Come Out" role is very important in craps in that it establishesthe Shooter's "Point." "The Point" is the number that theShooter must role again before he or she roles a 7. A 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10establishes the point. Rolling a 7, 11, 2, 3 or 12 on the "Come Out"role results in the dice being passed to the next Shooter.

The Puck - This two-sided disc indicates whether or not a game is inprogress and if a "Point" has been established. The puck displays"OFF" and remains on the "Don't Come Bar" until a"Point" has been established by the shooter. The dealer then turns thepuck to the "ON" side and moves it to the numbered location on thecraps table to denote the "Point" number for this shooter.

Betting On Craps

Pass Line Bet - A simple and basic even money bet. You are betting thatthe first role of the dice will add up to 7 or 11. On this bet, a 2, 3, or 12loses the bet. Any other number establishes the "Point." The"Point" number has to be rolled again before a 7 comes up to win,otherwise, the bet is lost.