Blackjack Rules

Introduction

In blackjack, it is you againts the dealer. The game is played with a (or a number of) standard deck(s) of cards. All cards below 10 are worth their rank, while face cards (Jack, Queen and King) are worth 10. Aces are worth 11 or 1, whichever makes the better hand. The goal of the game is to get as close to 21 as possible, without getting over and still beating the dealers hand.

The dealer

There are ruler how the dealer must play his hand and the dealer does not have any choices what so ever. There are two well establieshed rule variations that determine what totals the dealer must draw to. In any given casino, you can tell which rule is in effect by looking at the blackjack table felt. It should clearly stated with one of these rules. "Dealer stands on all 17s": This is the most common rule. In this case, the dealer must continue to take cards ("hit") until his total is 17 or greater. An Ace in the dealer's hand is always counted as 11 if possible without the dealer going over 21. For example, (Ace,8) would be 19 and the dealer would stop drawing cards ("stand"). Also, (Ace,6) is 17 and again the dealer will stand. (Ace,5) is only 16, so the dealer would hit. He will continue to draw cards until the hand's value is 17 or more. For example, (Ace,5,7) is only 13 so he hits again. (Ace,5,7,5) makes 18 so he would stop ("stand") at that point. "Dealer hits soft 17": Some casinos use this rule variation instead. This rule is identical except for what happens when the dealer has a soft total of 17. Hands such as (Ace,6), (Ace,5,Ace), and (Ace, 2, 4) are all examples of soft 17. The dealer hits these hands, and stands on soft 18 or higher, or hard 17 or higher. When this rule is used, the house advantage against the players is slightly increased. Again, the dealer has no choices to make in the play of his hand. He cannot split pairs, but must instead simply hit until he reaches at least 17 or busts by going over 21.

Players choices

Hit

"Hit" means taking another card. You hit when you are not satisfied with your current hand and you want to increase your total and get closer to 21. There is no upper limit on the number of cards a player can take. However, there are some strategies to follow and a good and practiced player has a on when to stand.

Stand

When you are satisfied with your hand and believe that you are close enough to 21 to beat the dealer, or when you want to tally and hope that the dealer bust, then you stand. In other words, stand means not to take any more cards.

Split

If your first two of cards is a pair, i.e. they have the same value you may split them. Then they are split, with one of the cards becoming a new hand and a new bet is placed on this new hand. The new bet is equal the original bet. Now, you proceed to draw cards on both these hands individually.

The game proceeds as usual, except if you split two aces, then you are only allowed to draw one (1) card for each hand (ace). Also, hitting a 10 on a splitted ace means you get 21, not Blackjack. If you hit another pair on one of the new hands, you are often allowed to split again, leaving you with three hands (and also three bets) in the game.

Read and learn more about splitting strategy on our blackjack strategy page. But if you want to know the simple strategy for splitting: split Ace's and 8's.

Double

After getting your first two cards, you may be allowed to double. By doubling, you double your original bet and then you are only allowed one more card.

The only time to double down is when you believe your chances of beating the dealer (with only one additonal card) is high. For example, having 10 while the dealer has 6, is a good situation to double.

Rules for doubling may differ between casinos so be sure to know the rules before starting to play.

Winning payouts

There are sometimes loacl rules of the payout of a winning hand, but these are the general rules used at most online casinos:
Winning Hand: 1 to 1
Insurance: 2 to 1
Blackjack: 3 to 2

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