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“Blackjack’s pretty simple, so it’s a good game for someone who doesn’t know cards too well. Like I mentioned earlier, we’re also not using a bunch of common casino rules. The goal is to beat me, the dealer, by getting as close to twenty-one as you canwithoutgoing over twenty-one. If you do, that’s a bust—you lose. And since the player always goes before the dealer, you can never win a round if you bust.”
He waited for four distinct nods before continuing.
“Everyone starts with two cards. Since you all are sort of playing against each other, the first for all of us will be face up, but the second card each of us receives will be face down.”
“Isn’t that how it usually is?” Tess asked. “You’re making it sound like that’s not the norm.”
“In official games, every cardexceptthe dealer’s second card is usually shown face up. After all, you’re usually not playing against each other—just me.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that.”
Liam nodded. “We can do a quick practice round.”
Finishing his shuffle, now holding the cards deep in his palm, thumb sitting on the top of the deck, he began passing the first round of cards out from left to right, ending with him.
“Good,” he said, smiling at the cards showing on the table. “So, a numbered card is worth its value.” He nodded at Tess and Anna’s cards, which were a four and eight, respectively. “A face card is always ten, except for an ace, which is either worth one or eleven. It’s an eleven all the time, except if having it would cause you to bust. Then, it becomes a one.”
He and Avril shared face cards, a jack and queen, respectively, while Victoria owned the ace.
“The most important strategy revolves around the dealer’s shown card. I have a face card right now, which is worth ten, and you’re not usually going to know what card I end up getting on the second pass. Generally, if I have a seven or higher, you want to keep ‘hitting,’ which is what you say if you want another card beyond your two—and ‘stand’ is if you want to stop receiving cards for that round—until you reach a total of seventeen or higher. That’s because I, as the dealer,mustkeep hitting until I reachseventeen. But if I have a really low shown card, say a four, you might want to consider standing in the mid-teens. Because, as I said, you make the choices before I do, so if you bust, you lose.”
He began slipping cards face down to the others. “If it matters to you in the future rounds, be careful not to let your neighbors peek. Just be sureIdon’t catch a glance.”
Once he’d dealt the following five cards, he peeked at his face-down card. A nine. Nineteen in total.
“Okay, Tess, you’re up first. Hit if you want another card, stand if you want to stay where you’re at for the rest of the round.”
After peering at her card, the gorgeous brunette eyed him. “Hit me.”
Flipping the top card off the deck—a six—he slid it over to her.
“Stand.”
Nodding, he turned his attention to Anna. “So, you could probably surmise that Tess has a pretty high face down card. She’s got ten showing, and assuming she’s following my suggestion, she’s at least got an eight as her non-showing card.”
Anna glanced at Tess’s three cards, then nodded. “So, then I also want to hit.”
“Alright.” Liam dealt her another card. A three revealed itself, and Anna smiled softly.
“Stand.”
He nodded. Avril chose to stand immediately, as did Victoria.
“And I’ll stand, too,” he said. “Now, we can show our cards.”
He flipped over his hand, showing off a nineteen total. Tess revealed she’d had a king as her hidden card, which put her at twenty. Anna’s flip revealed a six, which also put her at nineteen. Avril showed off her two face cards, which also put her at twenty. And Victoria placed her face down ten beside her ace.
“Nobody busts, but we do get a couple of nice things,” Liam said, surveying the cards. “Tess and Avril both beat me by having twenty to my nineteen, but you and I tied Anna, which is called a ‘push.’ In normal Blackjack, you’d get back your bet. For Victoria, she ended up getting Blackjack. If your first two cards total twenty-one, you win unless the dealer also has a Blackjack, in which case it’s also a push. But that’s theonlyway to tie a Blackjack. Even if I’d drawn to twenty-one with a third or fourth card, a natural Blackjack always wins.”
Anna looked over the five hands on the table, soon nodding. “Okay, I think I know how to play. I’m ready.”
“Everyone else?”
“I am,” Tess said, smiling at him. “You’re in your element.”
He tried not to blush as he glanced at Avril and Victoria, the latter of whom simply nodded. Because, of course she would, the maverick redhead didn’t just throw a nod or “yep” at him.
“No mercy, not for any of you,” she said, grinning and miming a dagger over the throat with her thumb.
