How to play blackjack

The goal: beat the dealer, not 21

Each player plays alone against the dealer, never against the other players. You win when your total is higher than the dealer’s without going over 21, or when the dealer goes over. Going over 21 is a bust, and a bust loses at once, even if the dealer busts afterwards: that one rule is where the house gets its edge.

An Ace with a ten, Jack, Queen or King as your first two cards is a blackjack, the best hand. It pays 3 to 2 and comes about once every 21 hands (4.75%).

• A♠K♥Blackjack21 in two cards, pays 3 to 2
• 10♣7♦Hard 17a total to stand on
• 9♥8♠6♣23: bustover 21, the bet is lost

How a round of blackjack goes

1. Place your bet before any card is dealt.
2. Everyone gets two cards face up. The dealer takes one card face up and one face down, the hole card.
3. If the dealer shows an Ace or a ten, the dealer checks the hole card. With a blackjack the round ends at once: every hand loses, except another blackjack, which is a push.
4. Players act one after the other: hit, stand, double or split, until they stand or bust.
5. The dealer turns the hole card over and must draw until reaching 17 or more. There is no choice involved.
6. A higher total than the dealer wins even money, a blackjack wins 3 to 2, and the same total is a push: the bet comes back.

Card values, soft and hard hands

Cards 2 to 10 count their number, Jacks, Queens and Kings count 10, and an Ace counts 11, or 1 when 11 would take you over 21. Suits play no part.

A hand where an Ace still counts 11 is soft: it cannot bust on the next card, because the Ace can drop to 1. Every other hand is hard. Ace-6 is a soft 17; draw a 9 and it becomes a hard 16 (1 + 6 + 9).

• A♦6♠Soft 17the Ace counts 11
• A♦6♠9♥Hard 16the Ace now counts 1
• K♣Q♥20any two ten-value cards

Hit, stand, double, split: your moves

What the dealer must do

The dealer makes no decisions. At 16 or less the dealer hits, at 17 or more the dealer stands. At this table that includes soft 17: Ace-6 stands. Some casinos make the dealer hit soft 17, printed on the felt as “Dealer hits soft 17”; that is slightly worse for you and changes three cells of the strategy chart.

Because the dealer must keep drawing below 17, a weak up card busts often: 35% to 42% of the time with a 2 to 6 showing, against 21% to 26% with a 7 to 10 and 11.5% with an Ace. Most of basic strategy follows from those numbers.

What each result pays

Avoid tables where blackjack pays 6 to 5. A blackjack on 10 then pays 12 instead of 15, and the house edge of the same game rises from 0.42% to about 1.78%: more than four times as much.

At a real blackjack table

• Gestures count, not words: tap the table to hit, wave a flat hand over your cards to stand. The cameras record the gesture.
• To double or split, put the extra chips next to your bet, never on top of it.
• At a shoe game dealt face up, you do not touch the cards.
• Change cash for chips between rounds by laying it on the table, not in the dealer’s hand.
• Other players’ decisions do not change your odds: the next card is just as random for everyone.

Beginner mistakes that cost the most

• Never busting: standing on every hard 12 or more sounds careful but costs 6.03% of your bets, against 0.42% with basic strategy.
• Playing like the dealer: hitting to 17 and never doubling or splitting costs 5.70%.
• Taking insurance: the hole card is a ten only 30.9% of the time, so at 2 to 1 the bet loses 7.4% of what you put on it.
• Splitting tens: 20 is already a strong hand. Always split Aces and 8s, never 10s or 5s.
• Guessing: the strategy chart gives the right move for every hand, and the trainer teaches it in a few sessions.