Blackjack

Need to sit down and win some gold? Then you can play a game of Blackjack and rake in the gold like there's no tomorrow!

This card game is a simplified version of Blackjack. It can also be referred to as the card game 21.

Basic Play

Taking a seat, the pirate will have the option of placing a bet. A slider bar will allow the player to choose an amount they want between the minimum and maximum bets. After betting, everyone at the table is dealt two cards. The dealer will have one of his showing.

When it is your turn, you have several options of what to do:

• Split pairs (double your bet and create two hands—you can only do this once per round),
• Double Down (double your bet and take only one other card),
• Hit (take another card),
• Stay (stop).

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.

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

Suits don't matter in Blackjack. All that matters is the number value of the cards.

Where to Play

Taverns

Not all taverns have Blackjack. Different locations have different bidding limits.

• Port Royal
  • Rowdy Rooster - 2 to 50g
• Tortuga
  • King's Arm - 2 to 50 g
• Cuba
  • La Bodequita - 2 to 250 g
• Padres Del Fuego
  • Ratskellar - 2 to 500 g
  • Skull's Thunder - 2 to 500 g
• Ile d'Etable de Porc
  • Porc's Tavern - 2 to 50g
• Isla De La Avaricia
  • Avaricia's Tavern - 2 to 50g
• Bilgewater
  • Festering Fish

Underground Parlors

Under the Lobbies (Menu) (L) menu, pirates can select Parlor Games and travel to a secret gambling parlor somewhere in the Caribbean. These parlors contain only Blackjack and Poker tables and were meant for the player(s) who want to get away from the distraction of playing in a noisy tavern and perhaps higher table stakes.

Poker and Blackjack

Blackjack Only

Strategy

There are a million books on playing Blackjack. But, a pirate's strategy normally depends on the dealer's showing card. It's best to 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 odds are better the dealer has 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.

Also, in Blackjack, the Dealer must hit if he has less than 16. So, if he has between 12-15, you might want to stay because now he has a bigger chance of Busting.

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. Also, You should note that each time you split the hand, your initial bid, is also placed on the second hand, and you DO NOT get 150% profit, if you get a natural blackjack.

Basic Strategy

The basic strategy is the optimal method of playing any hand.

Player Hand	Dealer's Face-Up Card
Hard Totals Excluding Pairs
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
5–8	Hit
9–11	Double Down
12	Hit		Stay			Hit
13–16	Stay					Hit
17–20	Stay
Soft Totals
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,2–A,5	Hit
A,6–A,7	Double Down
A,8–A,9	Stay
Pairs
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
2,2–4,4	Split
5,5	Double Down
6,6–9,9	Split
10,10	Stay
A,A	Split

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 the dealer notices there are more than one of the same card on the table, you will be caught cheating, thrown from the game, sent to jail and lose your winnings.

Unlike regular blackjack recommendations, when you have ample cheat cards available (my personal recommendation: 50 or more cheat cards total) your methods to ensure a win (or at least a tie, if dealer has blackjack) are worlds easier than normal blackjack odds.

The Legend of Pirates Online added the Gambling skill which increases your chance of successfully swapping cards as well as avoid detection by the dealer.

A simplified table, thus:

When you have	Best cheating action
Ace + 2-9	swap the 2-9 for a 10*
10 + 10	stay
10 + 2-9	swap the 2-9 for an ace
2-9 + 2-9 total 12 to 18	swap to make 11 then double down
2-9 + 2-9 total 11	double down
2-9 + 2-9 total 10 or less	hit first, then swap to make 11 or 21

• 10 = a ten, jack, queen or king

A "natural blackjack" is superior to a "21" made of three or more cards. This is especially true when dealer gets 21 in three or more cards. A "natural blackjack" wins 25% more profit than usual.

Example: if you bet 500 then your winnings will be 1250gp instead of the usual 1000gp.

When caught cheating at Blackjack, all your winnings (since you sat down at the table) are lost and a 100 GP fine issued. To prevent serious losses when cheating, get up from the table right after. It resets.

Game Notes

• Some pirates believe the dealer may occasionally cheat; pulling out just the right card to beat you several hands in a row. The theory is you don't want to bet the full amount (bet 495 instead of 500 on Padres, for instance.) These accusations have not been statistically proven, but that crafty little devil does seem to get luckier when there's a lot of money on the table.

• There is a known glitch where the dealer occasionally will go bust and stay for some reason, which allows him to win hand after hand.