How to play Twenty-One against the dealer

Twenty-One is the casino card game played against a dealer, and in Games by Zaweba you start with a stack of 500 chips. The aim is to get closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. It is a one-player game on the Cards shelf, and the chips are just numbers on the screen.

Each hand takes a few seconds, but every one asks a real question: is the next card more likely to help you or to sink you?

Hit, stand, double or split

Start by betting with your chips, then deal. You get two cards and so does the dealer. Picture cards count 10, aces count 1 or 11, whichever suits your hand, and the other cards count their number.

Now decide. Hit to take another card. Stand to keep what you have. You can keep hitting until you are happy or until you go over 21, which loses the hand straight away.

You also have two extra choices. Double your bet to receive exactly one more card, no more and no fewer. Or, if your first two cards are a pair, split them into two separate hands and play each one.

When you stand, the dealer plays. The dealer draws to 17, so their play follows a fixed rule. Beat their total without going over and you win evens on your bet. A two-card twenty-one, an ace with a ten or a picture card, pays 3 to 2.

You can cash out whenever you like.

Chips, buttons and keys

Click the chips to bet and the buttons to play. On the keyboard, H hits, S stands, D doubles, P splits and Enter deals. Once you know them, the keys make the game very quick.

Making better decisions

The dealer's rule is your best guide. Because the dealer must keep drawing until reaching 17, a dealer showing a low card has a fair chance of going over. That is a reason to be careful about hitting yourself, since you would rather let the dealer take the risk. A dealer showing a high card is more likely to finish with a strong total, so you may need to take more risk to beat it.

Remember that an ace can be 1 or 11. A hand with an ace counted as 11 is flexible, because if the next card would take you over, the ace drops to 1. That makes hitting much safer with such a hand.

Doubling is strongest when one more card is likely to give you a good total. Splitting gives you two chances where you had one awkward hand, but it also means two bets.

Managing your chips

The 500 chips are your whole evening. Betting big on every hand tends to end the game quickly. Smaller, steady bets let you play more hands and ride out a run of bad cards. Knowing when to cash out is part of the game too, and a good finishing total is something to be proud of.

Its neighbours on the Cards shelf

Twenty-One in Games by Zaweba sits alongside Five Card Draw and Higher or Lower as the games of chance and nerve on the Cards shelf. Esc pauses between hands, F1 brings back the rules, and your best score is kept on the game's tile in the library.