Special plays will appear as buttons during the course of the game, when you have the option to play them.
Insurance
If the dealer's first card is an Ace, you are given the option to buy Insurance before the dealer views the second card.
Insurance is effectively a side-bet of half the amount of your original stake, paid at 2:1. This means that if the dealer has a natural Blackjack (an Ace and a face card or 10 on your first two cards), you lose your original bet, but win 2 to 1, i.e. you win back three times the insurance bet value (equivalent to winning the insurance plus your original stake) – thereby limiting your loss.
Note: No Insurance will be offered if you have Blackjack.
Split
If your first two cards are of identical value, you may split them and place an additional bet (equal to your original bet) to play two hands instead of one. Each of the cards then becomes the start of a new hand. You can split up to three times (for a total of four hands). Note: Ten, Jack, Queen and King have identical value; any combination of these cards may be split (in addition to pairs).
If either of your hands beats the dealer, you are paid evens on your original stake. If you split a hand, Blackjack (3:2) cannot be called on that hand – a winning hand in this situation will be paid at evens.
When splitting two Aces, only one further card can be drawn for each hand in the split.
In order to identify which hand is to be played a small indicator will hover above that hand.
Double
This option enables you to double your bet and receive just one more card, forfeiting the opportunity to hit further.
In this version of Blackjack you may choose to select the "Double" option/button whilst playing a hand on your first two cards.
You may not hit and double down to split Aces.
Tip: "Doubling", or "Double down" is most effective when you have an edge on the dealer, for example, when the dealer's hand shows a weak or low card like a Four, Five or Six.
Double After Split
Once you have split your identical value cards into two hands and received a second card for each, you have the option to double down on those two hands. Each hand is played out separately and you can choose to double down on one, or both hands.
Doubling down after splitting (on two hands) follows the same rules as doubling down on a single hand and returns the same odds - double your stake – for each hand you win.
Two Aces
Unlike some other variants of Blackjack, if your first two cards are Aces, you do not win the hand. Instead, it forms a total hand of either 12 or 2 with the option to split them, but only once.
Soft
This is displayed alongside an Ace card when your hand is low enough for the Ace card to be assigned its higher value of 11 without going bust. For instance, where an Ace is the first or second card to be drawn. You can always draw at least one card to a soft hand without busting.