Multi-Hand Blackjack Rule Authority: Blackjack is played and programmed according to Atlantic City Blackjack rules. Authority: New Jersey Casino Control Commission. Rule Exceptions: The cards are shuffled after each hand, pairs may not be re-split, and players may not draw additional cards on split Aces.

Premise:

Multi-Hand Blackjack is identical to Single-Player Blackjack, except that players can bet on up-to five hands and play them all independently, one after another.

In Multi-Hand Blackjack, you and the dealer (the computer) are dealt two cards to start in up to five different positions at the Blackjack table. The objective of Multi-Hand Blackjack is to accumulate cards that add up closer to 21 than that of the dealer's cards, without going over 21. Cards are worth their face value with the exception of Kings, Queens, and Jacks which are each worth 10 and Aces (worth either 1 or 11). If the value of your hand is closer to 21 than that of the dealer you win. If the value of the dealer's hand is higher than yours you lose. If the hands are of equal value the deal is a push and your money is returned. If you have a total of 22 or higher (a busted hand), you lose regardless of whether the dealer also busts. This process is repeated on all respective hands.

Summary of rules:
1. 8 52-card decks are used
2. The deck is re-shuffled after each hand
3. Dealer stands on all 17's
4. Doubling after splitting allowed
5. No re-splitting of cards allowed
6. No surrender
7. Only one additional card allowed on each Ace when splitting a pair of Aces
8. Each hand must be completed before proceeding to next hand.
9. Up to five possible hands playable per deal.

How to play:

Multi-Hand Blackjack plays the same as Single-Hand Blackjack. Blackjack is played with eight fifty-two card decks. After each game has been played, the used cards are shuffled back into the deck. All face cards are valued at ten and the cards from 2-10 are valued as indicated. Aces can be valued at either one or eleven; if counting the Ace as eleven would put the hand over twenty-one, the Ace is automatically counted as one instead. You do not need to specify which value the Ace has as it's always assumed to have the value that makes the best hand. The value of a hand is the sum of the values of the individual cards. For example, a hand containing a Jack, 3, and 4 has a value of 17.

Betting: Your chips are stacked by denomination ($1, $5, $25, $100, $500) at the bottom of the screen above your User label. Select the amount you would like to wager on a given hand by clicking the left mouse button on the chip of that denomination. The amount wagered per hand may be increased or decreased by placing the mouse on the stack that you wish to add or subtract to your bet. Each time you click the left mouse button you will add a chip from that pile to your planned wager amount. Likewise by clicking on the right mouse button you can decrease your planned wager amount. You may repeat your last bet by simply hitting the "0" button of your numeric keyboard. If you place a wager that is lower than the minimum table bet limit, your bet amount will be automatically adjusted to the minimum bet amount. Wager as little or as much as you wish on varying hands within game limits.

You begin a hand of Multi-Hand Blackjack by placing up to five bets on the table as described above. You will then receive two cards face up. The dealer will receive one card face up and one face down. Once you have been dealt your cards (and based on the nature of these cards) you can do the following by clicking with the left mouse button on the appropriate button:

Hit:
Requests another card. You can request a hit as many times as you like, but if your total goes over twenty-one, you will "bust" and lose the hand.

Stand:
Requests that you receive no more cards. The hand as it currently stands will be judged against the dealers.

Split:
If you have two cards of the same denomination, a Split button will appear. This option will only be active immediately after you receive your first two cards.

You can split your cards into two hands and play each hand separately. Your original bet will be duplicated for the new hand. Each hand will be played out as usual except when splitting Aces, where only one additional card per hand is dealt. A white box displaying your card total will appear over each hand indicating which hand is active.

The split option can only be used once per hand - you cannot split part of a split hand. Any winning 21 obtained after splitting a pair is paid 1-to-1.

Double Down:
If you select this option, three things will happen: you will get exactly one more card, your turn will end, and your bet will be doubled. This option will only be active immediately after you receive your first two cards.

Insurance:

Whenever the dealer's up-card is an Ace, the player has the option of taking insurance for half the amount of the bet.

If you wish to take insurance, click on the "Insurance" button. If you do not wish to take insurance, you simply click on the "Pass" button to proceed with the rest of the hand.

When you buy insurance, you are effectively betting on the fact that the dealer's down card is a ten or face card, ie. a natural Multi-Hand blackjack.

If the dealer does have a 10 ranking card, the player is immediately paid 2-to-1 on the insurance bet, but the original wager is lost unless the player too has a blackjack and pushes with the dealer. If the dealer does not have a natural Multi-Hand blackjack, the rest of the hand is played out as usual, and you lose your insurance money.

If you eventually win the hand, you will get back your original bet plus the same amount in profit.

If you win with a natural Multi-Hand blackjack, you will be paid off at 3-to-2 odds, which means you get your original bet back plus 150% profit. (So if you bet $50 and win with a natural twenty-one, you get $50 (your bet) plus $75 (your bet plus half of your bet), which totals to $125.

Payoffs:

Result	Payoff
Winning Hand	1 to 1
Blackjack	3 to 2
Insurance	2 to 1

Betting Limits:

$2 minimum initial ante
$2.500 maximum bet.

Individual tables may have a higher minimum bet and a lower maximum bet. There are two ways to determine the table bet limit for a specific table. You can place your mouse pointer over a specific table. After 2 or 3 seconds a box will appear identifying the table number and the minimum and maximum bet. Alternatively, you can click on a specific table. A new window will open displaying the minimum and maximum bet.

Setting your table bet limit:

You may also set your table bet limit below the maximum specified limit by selecting "Bet Options" from the "Game Menu". The "Modify Table Bet Limit" window will appear on the screen. To reduce your maximum table bet limit type in the new limit in the appropriate box. Click on the OK button to complete the update. Please be aware that you can modify your table bet limit no more than once per week and that using the "Modify Table Bet Limit" function affects the bet limit for all games and not just the game that you are currently playing.

Note:
You may turn on/off the Sound, Voice and Animation during the game by clicking on the Options button located in the lower left-hand area of the console. The setting is turned on when the checkbox is checked and it is turned off when the checkbox is unchecked. You must exit and re-enter the game to activate the Animation feature.