The cards in each array are then evaluated and (if new cards are detected) added as HTML elements to the screen. The general structure consists of a 5-setting* state machine which manages cards in two arrays representing both the player's hand and the dealer's hand respectively.

*You can view the original C++ program I wrote here. Since I had a bit of spare time between academic semesters, I decided to rewrite the project as a browser-based mini-game for fun. Originally, this was a text-based C++ project* written for a university course. See Wikipedia for an in-depth explanation of Blackjack. If the player's hand (or both the player and dealer's hands) exceed 21, the dealer wins.įor the purposes of keeping Simple Blackjack 'simple', there is no splitting or doubling down in this version, and only 1 player may compete against the dealer. If the dealer's hand exceeds 21, the player wins. Once satisfied with their hand, players can choose to 'stay', and whoever has the hand with the greater value wins that round. Numbered cards are valued according to their number, face cards have the value of 10, and Aces may be valued as 11 or 1 (up to the player). The first card in the dealer's hand is revealed to the player, with the cards following it remaining hidden until the end of the player's turn. Players start with 2 cards and may draw cards from the deck (known as 'hit'). In Blackjack, players compete against the dealer to attain the highest-valued hand without exceeding 21. All on-screen graphics were made with HTML elements (mostly divs and buttons). A Blackjack web application written with JavaScript, HTML and CSS.

Blackjack web app code