European blackjack really isn’t even a different game than original blackjack. The only difference between European blackjack and original blackjack is that the dealer’s hole card (the face-down card) isn’t dealt until after the players have finished playing their hands. Because the dealer always plays according to a predetermined set of rules, this change doesn’t make the game any different than traditional blackjack.
In fact, the house rules make a bigger difference in the game than anything else. Most casinos that spread European blackjack implement the following rules:
Blackjack dealers must play their hands according to the rules of the casino regardless of the players’ cards. Some casinos say that dealers must hit on soft 17 and other say that dealers must stand on soft 17.
A soft hand is a hand in which there is an Ace that can be counted as 1 or 11. For example, a hand like A-6 is called a soft 17 because the ace can be worth either 1 or 11. A hard 17 would be a hand like King-7 because there’s no variability on the value of the hand.
Hands in which the Ace must be counted as 1 are also considered hard hands. For example, a hand like King-6-Ace would be called a hard 17. There’s no way the Ace could be counted as 11 because that would cause a bust.
In games in which the dealer must stand on soft 17, the casino loses 0.20% of its advantage over the players. Long story short: when you see a game that says “dealer stands on soft 17,” it’s a good thing.
European blackjack isn’t any different than traditional blackjack but if you need a quick refresher on the rules, keep on reading.
At the beginning of the hand, each player places a bet on the table. The dealer then gives each player two cards face up and one card to himself face up. The players may then draw as many cards as they wish in the attempt to get as close to 21 as possible without going over.
After the players are finished drawing, the dealer then reveals his card, draws another card and places it face up next to his first card. The dealer then draws cards until he reaches a point total of soft 17 or higher.
The dealer then compares his hand to each player’s hand and either pays that player for winning or collect that player’s bet for losing. Remember, the goal is to get closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. Ties are considered pushes, which means the bets are simply returned to the players’ hands.