There are many advanced plays available to a blackjack player, and each of these plays represents some change to the action the player is performing. This may be a redirect mid-swing, suddenly noticing an opportunity for a new tactic, and so forth. When you make one of these plays, narrate how your action is changing in the scene.
- Blackjack/Critical Success: When you reveal a hand containing two and only two cards which have a total value of exactly 21 your hand is declared a blackjack. If you beat the dealer (they may still be able to win a tie against you), your bet pays out 3:2. That is, you receive a payout equal to 150% of your bet. This increased payout also increases the number of chips which come off the stakes thanks to this action by the same amount. When you achieve a blackjack your action has had positive consequences beyond your initial plans for it, or has set you up to simply knock out some task that may have previously required you to perform an action. Additionally, if you critically succeed on an unsafe action it will not generate any complications.
- Double Down/Act Aggressively: You may choose to double down after the deal and before you have asked for any cards to be hit into your hand. When you do so, you must immediately double the amount of effort in your current bet and you must accept one and only one card as a hit, which you must immediately stand upon. When you double down your character has taken a more aggressive stance than your original narration, and you should narrate the new reckless method they are taking.
- Bet Behind/Assist: You may place your own bet on a hand that another player is playing, as long as you are not also performing an action during that hand. When you do so, your character is providing help to that player instead of performing an action of their own during this time. Narrate how you are providing assistance, whether it be your own experienced guidance or an offered helping hand. If the action is a success your bet pays out as normal, including the increased payout if the hand succeeds as a blackjack. Your payout is also deducted from the current scene’s stakes as if you had performed an action. Additionally, if the one and only thing making an action unsafe was that the character was trying to do it alone, your assistance can make the action’s position safe.
- Insurance/Act Cautiously: When the face-up card the dealer dealt themself is an Ace, you may purchase insurance against their hand being a blackjack. You may bet no more than one-half the amount of your current bet (roud up to a minimum of one effort chip), and must do so before you have chosen to hit (including to double down). Taking out insurance in this manner represents your character taking a more cautious approach to their action than they originally planned, and you should narrate what they may have noticed and how they are changing their methods. If the dealer reveals a blackjack, recover the effort you placed as an insurance bet and receive a payout equal to that bet.
- Forfeit/Wasted Effort: At any time before you have chosen to stand or double down you may forfeit your hand. You return your cards to the dealer and recover one half of your bet, rounded down to a minimum of zero. When you forfeit a safe action it generates no complication, when you forfeit an unsafe action it generates a complication as if you had failed a safe action. If other players stay in on the action their failures may change what that hand’s ultimate complication is, rather than them being determined by your withdrawal. When you forfeit an action, narrate how far you got into it before you decided to stop, and what you may have done to try and undo what you started.
- Split/Multitask: When you are dealt a pair of cards with the same face value you may choose to split that hand into two separate hands. You must choose to split a hand before making any other decisions to hit, etc. When you do so, separate the two cards, assign your initial bet to one of them, and place a second bet equal to your initial one on the other card. The dealer will immediately deal you a second card into each of these new hands. You will play one of the hands until you stand on it, then move on to the next. When you split a pair in this manner, your character has started multitasking in the middle of their original action. Narrate the second action you are performing or preparing as you place your new bet. The narration of your new action could cause your position to become unsafe, but the dealer should not make the position unsafe simply because the character is doing two things at once.
- Wild Hit/Unforeseen Consequences: Though not a part of traditional blackjack, a player may ask that they receive a Joker when they hit their hand. Instead of drawing from the deck, the dealer will add one of the Jokers they separated from the deck to the player’s hand. This counts in all ways as a normal hit, and in the reveal a Joker is any value (2 through 11) and suit (club, diamond, heart, or spade) that the player desires it to be. When you take a wild hit your character found some way to make their task easier, but in doing so have made themselves an easier target in some way. Narrate the (possibly off-camera) unforeseen consequences of the action. Each time you take a wild hit a single chip is added to the dealer’s stack as your harriers close in or your escape gets further away.