- Fact-checked by Josh Miller
- Edited by Diana Westfield
How to play blackjack fits on a beer mat: get closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. What makes it interesting is that the dealer has no choices and you do. The dealer follows fixed rules, you can hit, stand, double, split or sometimes surrender, and those choices are why blackjack has one of the lowest house edges in the casino when it’s played well. Here’s the whole game, the 21 card game at home included.
How to play blackjack: the basics
Number cards count their face value, jacks, queens and kings count 10, and an ace counts 1 or 11, whichever helps. An ace plus a ten-value card as your first two cards is a blackjack, or natural, and it beats any other 21.
You place a bet, everyone gets two cards and the dealer shows one. Then you decide. Hit takes another card. Stand keeps what you have. Double down doubles your bet for exactly one more card. Split turns a pair into two separate hands, each with a bet. Go over 21 and you bust and lose straight away, even if the dealer busts later. That’s the house’s advantage in one sentence.
When everyone’s done, the dealer turns their card and must hit on 16 or less and stand on 17 or more. Some tables make the dealer hit a soft 17 (17 with an ace counted as 11), which is slightly worse for you. Closest to 21 wins, a tie is a push and your bet comes back. The card values page has the scoring with examples.
How to deal blackjack
Dealing at home or learning to deal: shuffle, burn the top card, then go clockwise from the dealer’s left. One card face up to each player, one to the dealer. A second face up to each player, and the dealer’s second card face down, the hole card. In many European games the dealer takes no second card until players have finished, which changes what happens if you double against a ten or an ace.
Players act in turn, each one finishing their hand before the next starts. Then the dealer reveals and plays by the rules above, no decisions. Pay winners at even money, blackjacks at 3 to 2, take losers, and leave pushes. At home, rotate the deal, because the dealer has the edge and it’s fairer to share it. The CasinoCalcs blackjack payout calculator settles odd amounts.
Playing it well
Basic strategy is the set of correct plays for every hand against every dealer card, and with it the house edge on a decent table is around half a per cent. Without it, players commonly give up 2% or more. A few rules of thumb cover a lot: always split aces and eights, never split tens or fives, double 11 against anything but an ace, and stand on 12 against a dealer 4, 5 or 6. The full chart is on the blackjack strategy chart, which prints on one page, and the blackjack trainer drills it until it’s automatic.
Two table choices matter as much as strategy: play where blackjack pays 3 to 2, not 6 to 5, and skip insurance. The house edge calculator shows what each rule costs.
What is 21+3 in blackjack?
A side bet many tables offer: your first two cards plus the dealer’s up card form a three-card poker hand. A flush, straight, three of a kind, straight flush or suited three of a kind pays, at prices that vary by casino, from around 5 to 1 for a flush up to 100 to 1 for suited trips. It’s fun when it hits. It’s also priced with an edge of several per cent, ten times what the main game costs a good player, so treat it as a treat, not a plan. The side bets calculator works out the edge for your table’s pay table, and blackjack terms explains the rest of the words you’ll hear.
Even good strategy leaves the house a small edge. BeGambleAware.org is there for free, confidential help.