Learn the Rules of Blackjack

Blackjack rules are considered to be one of the easiest casino game rules to learn. The basics of the game are very simple, but the game also offers several special features which a player might not directly know.

Basically, the goal of blackjack is to get closer to 21 points than the dealer, without getting more than 21 points. If the player gets more than 21 points, he / she busts with his / her hand and loses definitely, even if the dealer later busts as well.

To calculate the number of points each hand is worth, the following hand values are used:
The cards 2 through 10 all count at face value, i.e. 2 counts as 2 points, 7 as 7 points.
Jack, Queen and King all count as 10 points.
An Ace counts as 11 or 1 point, depending on which value brings you closer to 21 points, without bringing you over 21 points.
The suits of the cards have absolutely no meaning and should be ignored.

Before each hand starts, the players place their bets. Then, the dealer gives everybody 2 cards. If a player shows an Ace and a card valued at 10 points (10, Jack, Queen or King), the player has a blackjack and his / her winnings will be paid immediately, except if the dealer also has a blackjack. Blackjacks can only be achieved with the first 2 cards a player or dealer gets. As soon as another card is drawn, blackjack is not possible anymore.

If the player doesn't have a blackjack, he / she has to decide if they want to draw another card to get even closer to 21 points. Should the player draw another card and now has a hand value above 21 points, he / she automatically busts and loses his / her bet.

After all players have made their decisions with regard to their hands, the dealer will draw. The dealer always has to draw another hand when his / her hand value is 16 points or less. Depending on the casino, the dealer also has to draw when he / she has a soft 17 (soft hands are the ones in which the Ace counts as 11 points).

If the dealer busts, the players that did not bust win their hands and will be paid at a 1 to 1 ratio (for each $1 bet, the player wins $1 and therefore get a total of $2 back). Should the dealer not bust, but has to stand on a value between 21 and 17, the person with the higher point value wins. Should the player and the dealer have the same hand value, the hand is a push and the player receives his original bet back.

There are several other choices a player can make instead of just hitting and standing:

Splitting Pairs: If the player has 2 cards of the same value, he / she can split their hand and continue to play with 2 hands. However, the original bet has to be placed again for the second hand. Generally, I don't recommend splitting pairs for people that haven't played much blackjack and don't know optimal strategy. However, in some cases, it's actually correct to split pairs to increase one's odds of winning the hand.

Doubling Down: This happens when the player has his / her original 2 cards and decides that he / she only needs one more card and wants to increase his / her bet. Therefore, the player will double their original bet and receive exactly one more card to complete their hand. This is generally recommended when the player has a hand value of 9, 10 or 11 and the player has a hand that is likely to bust him / her, i.e. 5 or 6.

Insurance: When the dealer shows an Ace as one of his two cards (the other one isn't shown), players can purchase insurance, up to half your original bet. Should the dealer have a blackjack, the insurance pays two to one, but the original bet is list. This means that if you bet half the original bet amount on insurance and the dealer actually has a blackjack, you will get your insurance bet back, as well as the amount of your original bet. While this might seem like an interesting bet, I recommend to never take insurance, as the edge of the house is very high on this bet.

These are the basic rules of blackjack. For more information, make sure to check out the Blackjack Strategy section of this website. There, we'll go into more details about what to do in each situation in order to minimize the edge that the casino has over you as the player.