Texas Jack

The deal. You get one card, the dealer gets one face down, and one community card hits the middle. Community cards count toward both totals.

When you hit, the dealer reacts at the same moment. If the dealer's total is under 17 they hit as well — and your card lands in the community row, feeding both hands. If the dealer stands, the card is yours alone.

You choose where each card goes. Send it to the board and it counts for both hands — the way to break a dealer sitting on 16. Or take it to your hand, where it's yours alone — but you only get two of those per hand.

Read the dealer. Their card is face down, but the board is public, so their total is always pinned to a range — shown above their hand, along with what they'll do next.

When you stand, the dealer draws privately until they reach 17 or bust.

One money move per hand — raise or scout, never both. Back the read you already have, or pay for the card you can't see. Not both.

Raise adds up to half your ante, and the cap shrinks with every card you take. Commit early against a wide range for the most leverage, or wait for a sharper read and bet less on it.

Scout buys a look at the top card of the shoe for a third of your ante. The board already pins the dealer to a range, but nothing on the table tells you what comes next — so it's the one thing you can't work out for yourself, and it is priced like it. Buy it where it changes your mind, not every hand.

A pat dealer stands aside. Community cards only count for the dealer while they're under 17. Once they're pat, anything that lands on the board is marked yours and counts for you alone.

Bust over 21 and you lose — even when the same community card breaks the dealer too. You went over first.