Blackjack

How to play

1. You and the dealer each get two cards, and you see one of the dealer's cards. You win with a higher total than the dealer without going over 21.
2. Number cards count their number, and kings, queens and jacks count 10. An ace counts 11, or 1 when 11 would take you over 21.
3. An ace with a 10-value card as your first two cards is a blackjack. It pays 3 to 2 and beats every other 21.
4. You can hit to take a card, stand to keep your total, double your bet for exactly one more card, or split two cards of the same value into two hands.
5. The dealer plays last, draws to 16 and stands on 17 or more. If the dealer goes over 21, every hand still in play wins.

The practice table uses six decks. The dealer stands on soft 17, blackjack pays 3 to 2, you can double on any two cards and after a split, and you can split once.

Odds

With basic strategy, the house edge at a table like this one is about 0.5%.

A table that pays 6 to 5 for blackjack instead of 3 to 2 adds about 1.4% to the house edge.

Insurance has a house edge of about 7.4% with six decks.

The house edge is the share of every bet that the casino keeps over time. With a 2% edge you lose 2 of every 100 you bet on average over a long run. Any single session can still go either way.

Best play

• Learn basic strategy. It gives the best move for every hand against every dealer card and brings the house edge down to about half a percent.
• Always split aces and eights. Never split tens or fives.
• Double 11 against every dealer card except an ace, and double 10 against 2 to 9.
• Stand on 12 against a dealer 4, 5 or 6, and on 13 to 16 against 2 to 6. Hit those totals against 7 or higher.
• Skip insurance, and play only at tables that pay 3 to 2 for blackjack.

Hard totals

Dealer shows

Soft totals

Dealer shows

Pairs

Dealer shows

• H: hit
• S: stand
• D: double, or hit if you cannot double
• Ds: double, or stand if you cannot double
• P: split

Practice

Play money only. Nothing on this page is real money.