Blackjack

Grab a seat at the table and pony up some cash! You can play a game of Blackjack and rake in the gold!

This card game is a simplified version of Blackjack.

Basic Play
After taking a seat, the pirate will have the option placing a bet. A slider bar will allow the player to choose an amount between the minimum and maximum bets.
 * NOTE- These values vary by island. Port Royal and Tortuga have the lowest, while Padres Del Fuego has the highest (up to 500gp per hand!).

After betting, everyone at the table is dealt two cards. The dealer will have one of his showing. You can Split pairs (doubles your bet, creating two hands), Double-Down (doubles bet and gives only one hit), Hit (take another card), or Stay (stop).

Aces count a 1 or an 11. The game automatically assigns the best value.

The player only has to beat the dealer. The hand closest to 21 wins. You can continue to Hit to get closer to 21, but can bust if you go over. When you are happy with your hand, click Stay.

Dealers will continue hit their own cards until they exceed 16. In case of a tie, you get your bet back (Push).

For a full set of Blackjack rules check out Wikipedia

Strategy
There are a million books on playing Blackjack. But, a pirate's strategy should depend on the dealer's showing card. They should assume the other card is a 10 (since there are more face cards and tens combined than any other.) So, if the dealer has a 6 showing, the player should believe the dealer has a 16.

So, with that in mind - if you know you can't beat a ten plus what is showing, you should likely hit. But, best to stay if you have a 16 or higher - since the chance of getting a 5 or less is so low.

Double-down is a good move if your opening cards total 8, 9, 10 or 11 - since there's a good chance you'll hit a 10 and have an 18, 19, 20 or 21! The double bet only gives you one hit, but doubles your bet and your take.

Splitting any pair if a good idea as long as you don't get two 5's or two 10's. Since you'll want to stay with 20 or double-down on a 10.

Cheating
Cheating is limited to swapping a card out of your hand with one of the cards you have collected from defeating enemies (namely undead pirates, Royal Navy or EITC enemies) or by completing quests.

If successful, then your accumulated total will change corresponding to the card you chose to swap with. If caught cheating, you are thrown from the game, sent to jail and lose your winnings.

The two main strategy's for cheating:


 * Swap for an Ace or Ten and add to your highest card.
 * Swap for a total of 11, then Double Down
 * Tavern3.jpg