How to Play Backhand Card Game

Backhand is a variation of blackjack where you have to predict when you will go over 21 and bust in order to stay in the game.

Backhand Card Game Rules

| Players: 2+ | Type: Betting | Supplies: 1+ Deck(s) |

Objective

The object of backhand is to predict when the next card is going to make the value of your hand go over 21 points.

Setup

You need 1 deck for every 2 players. 3-4 players will play with 2 decks. 5-6 players will play with 3 decks, and so on. You need 3 tokens per player.

Deal

Deal out two cards to each player, face up, in front of them. The remaining deck is placed face down as the stock. If an ace is dealt as one of the two face up cards, it is discarded from that hand and replaced with a new card from the stock. If the new card is also an ace, the ace is held onto this time.

Card Value

Face Cards: 10
2-10: face value in points
Ace: 1

Game Play

Each player puts a token in between them and the dealer. Play starts left of the dealer, and continues like this until each player wins or loses their hand.

Cards are always dealt face up. On a player's turn, If the player's cards have a value of 11 or less, they are dealt one additional card. When a player starts their turn and the value of their cards is 12 or above, they may choose to hit or backhand.

Hit

If a player chooses to hit, they get dealt a card. If their score goes above 21, they bust, lose the round, and lose their chip. If their total is under 21, play moves to the next player. If a player ever has 5 cards in their hand without going over 21, they win the round, and keep their chip.

Backhand

When a player calls backhand, the dealer plays the next card from the stock face up, this card is not dealt to the player's hand. If this card would have made the player bust (making their total above 21) the player wins the round and gets their chip back. If you call backhand and your total does not go over 21, you lose the round and your chip.

Push Hand

If a players starting two cards (after removing the ace) is between 17-20 points, they can either play, or push the hand away, they may not call backhand on their first turn. If the player chooses to push their hand, their hand is discarded and they are dealt two new cards, aces are replaced if applicable. You may only push when you have a total of two cards with a value between 17-20.

If a player chooses to play the hand, they are only dealt one card for the remainder of the round. If this card makes them bust, they lose the round and a chip. If they do not bust from this card, they win the round and keep their chip.

Winner

The last player in the game with one or more chips after a round is over is the winner.