BlackjackEvaluator

Core logic component that evaluates Blackjack hands, determines winners, and applies rule-based outcomes such as Blackjack, busts, and pushes.

Overview

The Blackjack Evaluator is a static utility class responsible for all hand evaluation logic in the uVegas Blackjack system. It determines hand totals, detects soft and hard hands, checks for Blackjack or bust conditions, and compares player and dealer hands according to the configured Blackjack Rules.

This component ensures consistent and rule-driven hand evaluation across all clients and the server, making it a critical part of gameplay resolution.

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Core Responsibilities

• Hand Evaluation - Calculates total, soft/hard value, and bust status for a given hand.

• Blackjack Detection - Identifies a natural Blackjack based on card count and total.

• Hand Comparison - Compares player and dealer hands and returns the appropriate game outcome.

• Rule Integration — Uses parameters from BlackjackRules to ensure flexibility across different table configurations.

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Key Methods

EvaluateHandValue(List<Card> hand)

Evaluates a player or dealer hand and returns a structured HandValue object containing:

Property	Description
Total	Best possible total (soft or hard) under 21.
HardTotal	Value when counting all aces as 1.
SoftTotal	Value when at least one ace counts as 11 (if possible).
IsSoft	True if hand includes an ace counted as 11.
IsBust	True if hand total exceeds 21.

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CompareHands(List<Card> playerHand, List<Card> dealerHand, BlackjackRules rules)

Compares player and dealer hands and returns a HandResult, which can be one of:

• PlayerBlackjack

• DealerBlackjack

• PlayerWins

• DealerWins

• Push (tie)

• PlayerBust

• DealerBust

The logic fully respects the configured Blackjack rules, such as blackjackTotal and bustTotal.

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HasBlackjack(List<Card> hand, BlackjackRules rules)

Determines whether a given hand qualifies as a natural Blackjack, based on the number of cards and the target total defined in the rules.

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Example Usage

var result = BlackjackEvaluator.CompareHands(player.Hand, dealer.Hand, tableRules);

if (result == HandResult.PlayerBlackjack)
    // Player Blackjack

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Integration Notes

• The evaluator is stateless and can safely be used both server- and client-side.

• All calculations are deterministic, ensuring consistent results across networked clients.

• It works in combination with BlackjackRules, HandValue, and HandResult to form the complete game evaluation pipeline.