Every player is dealt two cards face up except for the dealer, who gets one card. Additional cards are dealt to each player in turn before the dealer draws his next cards. The object is to come as close as possible to totaling 21 without going over or "busting". To win you must have a better hand than the dealer.

Aces count as one or eleven, face cards count as ten and the rest are counted at their face value. You have a strategic advantage over the dealer in that you may take as many or as few cards as you like in your turn, no matter what is in your hand, while the dealer must draw cards to a count of sixteen and must stand on seventeen.

If you have any two-card twenty-one, you immediately win one and a half times your bet -- unless the dealer also has a blackjack, in which case it's called a "push" and you neither win nor lose.

If the dealer's first card is an ace, he will offer you the opportunity to make an "insurance bet", up to one-half of your original bet. This will pay 2 to I if he has a blackjack. If he doesn't, he collects your insurance bet and you play your original hand as usual.

If the dealer doesn't have an ace for his first card, he continues dealing cards as desired to each player in turn until the players' hands are complete. If you want a card, you say "hit me" and make a beckoning motion. When you have all the cards you want you motion ... "stand."

If you go over twenty-one, you have busted. The dealer collects your bet and your hand has ended. If you and the dealer end up with the same count, it's a push -- no win, no loss. All regular winning bets receive even money.

If your first two cards add up to 9, 10 or I l, you may double your bet and receive one more card face down. This is called "doubling down" or "down for double", and the dealer will turn your card over after his last card is drawn.

If your first two cards are a pair, you can place an amount equal to the original bet in front of your bet.

The dealer will split the cards and you draw cards for each as separate hands. Each hand is then played out in order.

If your split hand adds up to 9, 10 or 11, you can also double the bet and go down for double and receive a card face down.

With split aces you only get one card for each hand.