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If you play blackjack for an hour, the difference will be $30 an hour. That means you will give the casino an extra $30 per hour just to play blackjack. Learn How to Count. Learning how to count cards is one of the most crucial steps to becoming a successful Blackjack player. It can take probably a few hours to learn how it is done. Most people recognize that unlike many casino games, blackjack is a game of strategy. It’s immediately obvious when you sit down to play a little blackjack; players have to make a large number of decisions on almost every hand, and the choices you make often make the difference between winning and losing.

The purpose of this “blackjack for beginners” page is to
provide a detailed buy also easily understood introduction to
the game. Too many guides to the game get really complicated
really quickly. We’re going to avoid that here.

The first section covers the card game and how it works in
actual play. We follow that with an explanation of the
appropriate strategies for getting the best odds. Finally, we
conclude the page with some comments on advantage play and how
to get an edge over the casino.

Introduction to Blackjack

Blackjack is a card game played in casinos. You play against
the dealer, not the other players. Since this page is for
beginners, we’re going to go into a little bit of detail about
card games in general and how they work to star this off.

How a Traditional Deck of Cards Works

Blackjack uses a traditional deck of cards. (Actually it
often uses multiple decks, but we’ll go more into that later in
the page.) Here’s what you need to know about a traditional deck
of cards.

Let’s start with the suits. A traditional deck of cards has
52 cards total, but they’re of 4 different suits:

• Clubs
• Diamonds
• Hearts
• Spades

As you can see, the clubs and spades are colored black while
the hearts and diamonds are colored red. Every card of each suit
includes the symbol for that suit (i.e., all the cards that are
designated “hearts” have a heart symbol on them, all the cards
that are designated “diamonds” have a diamond symbol on them,
and so on).

Now let’s look at the ranks. A traditional card has 13 ranks,
as follows.

All the cards shown here are clubs, but each suit contains
one card of each rank. So there’s an ace of clubs, of diamonds,
of hearts, and of spades in every deck. There’s also a two of
each suit, and so on. The number or letter in parenthesis after
each ranking is the shorthand form that’s used to describe that
card when writing about blackjack.

The ace is the “1”, but it is also often considered the
highest card in the deck. It’s not just a “1”, in other
words—it’s an ace!

The jack, queen, and king are all called face cards.

Scoring in Blackjack

In blackjack, the suits only matter in certain rare
variations of the game. For the most part, you can almost always
ignore the cards’ suits. It is important to realize that there
are only 4 cards of each rank in the deck, though. (4 suits, 4
cards of each rank).

In blackjack, hands are given a score based on the ranks of
the cards in the hand. These scores are given as follows:

• Ace – Worth 1 or 11 points.
• Face cards – Worth 10 points.
• All other cards – Worth their rank in points.
  • For example, the 3 is worth 3 points, the 4 is worth
    4 points, and so on.

To calculate the score for a hand of blackjack, you simply
add the points up for all the cards in the hand. The hand with
the HIGHER total is the winner.

Notice we use the word “higher”, not “highest”. That’s
because you only use the superlative (“highest”) when comparing
3 or more items. In blackjack, you’re ALWAYS only comparing 2
hands’the player’s hand versus the dealer’s hand. Other hands
might be in play, but for purposes of calculating a win, there
are only 2 hands that matter.

There’s one other catch. Any hand with a total of 22 or
higher is considered a bust, which is a dead hand and
automatically loses immediately.

Why Blackjack Is THE Best Bet in the Casino

All casino games have a built in mathematical edge for the
house. Blackjack is no exception. But if you know how to play
well, the game has the lowest house edge in the casino.

It’s also one of the most fun games in the casino.

It’s expressed as a percentage. Over the long run (thousands
of hands), the house edge is the percentage of each bet that the
casino mathematically expects to keep. This number can range as
high as 40% for some games (like keno) to as low as 0.5% or less
for other games (like blackjack).

You’re playing slot machines, and these games are programmed
with a house edge of 15%. (They’re at the airport, which offers
some of the worst odds in town.) You’re playing for a dollar per
spin, and you’re making 600 spins per hour. That means you’re
putting $600 per hour into action.

15% of $600 is $90. That’s how much the casino expects you to
lose every hour while playing that game. That number takes into
account the occasional wins and payoffs you get. If you play
long enough, you will certainly go broke.

Any casino bet can be looked at in terms of an expected
hourly loss. This is how casinos make projections and plan their
floor space. They want to maximize the amount of revenue they
generate per square foot.

Roulette is another good example. The house edge for this
game is 5.26%. You’ll rarely find a roulette game which will
accept a bet of less than $5 per spin. Let’s assume you’re
playing at a roulette table where you’re able to place 60 bets
per hour. (Notice how much slower a game than slots roulette
is.)

60 bets per hour at $5 per bet is $300. 5.26% of $300 is
$15.78, which is your expected hourly loss. Even though the
house edge for this game is almost 1/3 that of the slot machines
we discussed earlier, and we’re placing bets that are 5x greater
than we were placing on the slots, we’re still losing a
considerably lower amount of money per hour. That’s because the
lower speed of the game limits your exposure.

When we say that blackjack offers a house edge of around
0.5%, we’re assuming a good set of rules options. Different
casinos and different tables within the same casino offer
different options to their blackjack games which affect the
house edge. For example, a game that uses 8 decks has a higher
house edge than a game which only uses one deck.

Assume you’re playing for $5 per hand. Let’s also assume that
you’re playing 100 hands per hour. You’re putting $500 into
action each hour—almost as much as when you were playing the
airport slot machines in the earlier example.

But you only expect to lose 0.5% of that. That means your
expected hourly loss is only $2.50.

Compare $2.50 with $90, or even with $15.78. It’s clear to
see which game offers the best odds.

And the other beautiful thing about blackjack is that you can
get an edge over the house through multiple advantage play
techniques. Most of these are too much trouble for the casual
blackjack player, but we’ll cover the basics of those later on
this page, too.

Blackjack Basics

Blackjack is played at a blackjack table, which usually seats
around 7 players on one side and a dealer on the other. You’ll
see some words printed on the table, or on a sign sitting on the
table. These words will usually include the following:

• Blackjack pays 3 to 2.
• Dealer must hit soft 17.
• Insurance pays 2 to 1.
• $5 minimum, $500 maximum.

Here’s what those phrases mean:

Blackjack pays 3 to 2

A blackjack is a 2 card hand that totals 21. That’s an
automatic winner, unless the dealer also has a blackjack. In the
latter case, the casino considers this result a push, so you
don’t lose or win any money. Your bet is returned to you.

But if you don’t have a push, you win, and your bet is paid
off at 3 to 2. So if you had placed a bet of $20, you’d receive
a payoff of $30.

On most blackjack hands, if you win, you’ll get paid off at
even odds. You bet $20 and win, you get a $20 payoff. But
blackjack almost always has a better payoff.

You’ll find many casinos which offer a 6 to 5 payout instead
of a 3 to 2 payout. That significantly changes the odds in favor
of the casino. Our recommendation is to avoid such games.

Dealer must hit soft 17

The dealer in a blackjack game has to play his hand in a
prescribed fashion. Hitting is one of the actions available to
both the player and the dealer. Dealers always stand (another
available action) on a hard 17 or higher and must always hit a
16 or lower.

This is a rules option that favors the casino, not the
player. It adds about 0.2% to the casino’s expected edge. We’ll
get into these terms and what they mean later in the gameplay
section.

If the dealer doesn’t hit a soft 17, the table will usually
read “Dealer must stand on all 17s or higher”.

Insurances pays 2 to 1

Insurance is an optional side bet on whether or not the
dealer has a blackjack. It’s considered a sucker bet by people
in the know, as the house edge is high. Dealers encourage
players to take this bet, but it’s best to skip it unless you’re
counting cards.

You bet $10. You get dealt your cards, and so does the
dealer. The dealer has a possible blackjack and offers you the
option of taking the insurance bet, which costs another $10. If
the dealer has a blackjack, you lose your original $10 bet, but
you win $10 on insurance, which results in a net loss of 0.

That sounds like a pretty good deal on the face of it, but
you have to also consider what happens when you lose the
insurance bet.

If the dealer doesn’t have a total of 21, you lose the $10
insurance bet. This is going to happen more than half the time.
Also, you still might lose on your main hand, which means you
have a greater than 50% chance of losing your insurance side bet
and your original bet.

You’re better off just skipping the insurance bet and just
playing your hand.

$5 minimum, $500 maximum

These refer to the minimum and maximum bets you can place at
this particular table. You’ll rarely find a casino which offers
a minimum bet of less than $5 anymore, although sometimes you’ll
find a game where you can bet $1 per hand—especially if you’re
playing online.

How to Play Blackjack

The dealer is a casino employee who deals the cards and runs
all the action at the blackjack table. He starts the game after
the players at the table place their bets.

Blackjack games use chips instead of cash. You’ll buy your
chips from the dealer. You lay the money on the table—you never
put it in the dealer’s hand. He’ll give you the chips in
exchange. You should buy your chips between hands—don’t try to
interrupt a hand that’s being played to get chips.

You place your bet by putting your chips in the designated
spot in front of your seat. It’s a circle drawn onto the table.
Once you and the other players have placed their bets, the
dealer starts the game.

The game begins when the dealer gives each player 2 cards. In
some casinos these cards are dealt face up; in others, they’re
dealt face down. The game plays out the same either way.

The dealer also deals himself a 2 card hand, but he deals
himself one card face up and the other card face down. This is
important, because that face up card gives the player a lot of
information about how she should play her hand.

Since you’re starting with a 2 card hand, the highest
possible total you could have is 21—that’s an ace (which counts
as 11) and a ten. That’s a blackjack, which usually pays off at
3 to 2.

If the dealer’s face up card is an ace, you’re given the
opportunity to take insurance. We talked about that side bet
earlier. It’s a sucker bet. Just say no, ever time, and you’ll
be fine.

Once all the cards are dealt, the dealer peeks to see if he
has blackjack. If he doesn’t, then the players get to decide how
to play their hands. You have several options, but 2 of those
options are the most important:

• Hitting
• Standing

Hitting

Hitting is when you take an additional card, increasing the
score of the hand. Remember that if your total goes to 22 or
higher, you bust and you lose. Hitting is almost always a
calculated risk.

Standing

Standing is when you decide to keep the hand you have and not
take any additional cards. This is also a calculated risk, as
the dealer might have a better hand than you do. He might also
hit his hand until he has a better hand than you.

Those are the 2 basic “moves” in this game. Taking cards or
not taking cards. Hitting or standing.

Later on this page, we’ll discuss how to make that decision
intelligently. There’s a single correct play for every situation
in blackjack mathematically, and that list of correct decisions
is called “basic strategy”. It’s easier to learn than you might
think, too.

Those aren’t the only 2 options you have, though. In some
situations, you have other choices, too. These include:

• Splitting
• Doubling down
• Surrendering

Splitting

Splitting can only be done if and when you have two cards of
the same rank. When you split a hand, you take each of the 2
cards from your hand and start 2 hands. You have to place an
additional bet in order to get that 2nd hand. These 2 hands are
played independently of each other. They also pay off
independently of each other.

You bet $10. You’re dealt 2 aces. You decide to split, so you
place an additional $10 bet.

You now have 2 hands. The first card of each of these hands
is an ace. The dealer gives you an additional card on each of
those 2 hands so that you have 2 2-card hands. You play each
hand independently, win or lose. It’s possible to win both, lose
both, or lose one while winning the other.

The basic strategy table we keep referring to includes a list
of all the possible hands that could be split, and provides the
mathematically correct decision about whether or not to split
based on the dealer’s upcard.

Doubling Down

Doubling down means that you’re placing an additional bet and
simultaneously agreeing to take one more (and ONLY one more)
card.

You bet $10. You’re dealt an 8 and a 3, so you have a total
of 11. You double down, putting $10 more into action. You’re
dealt a card worth 10, so you have a total of 21 with $20 in
action.

Surrendering

Surrendering is when you agree to give up half your bet and
just drop out of the hand. It’s comparable to folding in poker.
It’s the correct move in some rare situations. Some casinos have
early surrender, while others have late surrender.

In a casino which offers early surrender, you have the option
of dropping out BEFORE the dealer checks his hole card to see if
he has a blackjack. Casinos which offer early surrender are
giving up a good bit of their house edge, which is good for the
player. It’s a generous rules option. It’s also rarely found.

In a casino which offers late surrender, which is far more
common, you only have the option of dropping out AFTER the
dealer checks for blackjack. That means if the dealer has a
blackjack, you don’t have the option of surrendering at all.
Everyone at the table loses when the dealer has a
blackjack—unless you too have a blackjack, in which case you’ve
tied.

Here’s how the game plays out:

1. The players place their bets.
2. The dealer deals everyone’s hands.
3. The dealer checks for blackjack. If he has it, he collects his bets from all the players who don’t also have blackjack.
4. If the dealer doesn’t have blackjack, then the players who were dealt a blackjack get paid off 3 to 2.
5. Then the players get to play their hands, hitting, standing, splitting, doubling down, or surrendering, as the case may be. If at any point a player’s hand totals 22 or more, she loses her bet and is out of the action.
6. Once all the players have made all their decisions, the dealer plays his hand.
7. All the bets are settled finally.

How the Dealer Plays His Hand

Players can take any allowable action with their hands. If a
player has a total of 20 and wants to take a hit because she
feels lucky, then she’s allowed to do that.

But the dealer has to play his hand according to a prescribed
strategy based on the casino’s rules.

In all blackjack games, dealers always have to hit any total
of 16 or below, no matter what kinds of cards the players have.

Dealers also always stand on an 18 or higher.

The only difference is when the dealer has a soft 17. (A
“soft” 17 is a total of 17 that includes an ace. Since the ace
can count as 1 point or as 11 points, there are more
possibilities with that total than with some other totals.)

In some casinos, a dealer is required to hit a soft 17. In
others, the dealer is required to stand on a soft 17.

You’ll notice a couple of interesting things about these
rules for how the dealer has to play his hand.

The first is that the dealer always acts last, which is a
factor in the casino’s favor. Since a player loses her bet
immediately when she busts, she doesn’t have the chance to see
how the dealer’s hand plays out. You can bust out and lose even
if the dealer eventually busts out and loses. That’s because you
act first.

The next is that the dealer doesn’t get to make decisions.

Here’s an example of why that might matter:

You bet $10. You’re dealt a total of 15. The dealer has a 6
as his upcard.

You stand.

The dealer has you beat, but he can’t decide to stand. He
MUST take a hit because of the rules of the game.

He has a total of 16 as it turns out, but he deals himself a
10, so he busts.

You win $10.

If he were allowed to make decisions, he could decide to
stand on the total of 16. But he doesn’t have that option. This
gives a player what we like to call “a fighting chance”.

Blackjack Strategy for Beginners

The first thing to understand when thinking about blackjack
strategy is the difference between a hard hand and a soft hand.

A hard hand is a hand with no aces in it. It’s also a hand
with an ace in it where the ace has to count as 1, not 11, in
order to avoid going bust.

Think of a hard hand in blackjack as a hand with no wiggle
room.

You’ll play hard hands differently from soft hands, for
reasons which will soon become obvious.

A soft hand, on the other hand (ahem), is a hand with an ace
in it which can count as either a 1 or as an 11. The total used
is the higher of the 2 options, but you have some wiggle room in
case you’re dealt a high value card.

Here are 2 examples of hard hands:

You have a jack and a 5. That’s a hard total of 15.

You have an 8, a 3, and an ace. That’s a hard total of 12.
(If you count the ace as 11, you have a total of 22, which would
make you bust.)

Here are 2 examples of soft hands:

You have a 9 and an ace. You have a “soft total” of 20. You
COULD take a hit here without going bust. The highest value card
you could receive would be worth 10, which would still leave you
with a total of 20.

You have a 5 and an ace. You have a “soft total” of 16. You
could take a hit here, too, and it would be impossible for you
to bust. Even if you were dealt a 10, which is the highest value
card in the game, you could just count the ace as 1 and avoid
going bust.

When deciding how to play each hand, you’ll take into account
whether it’s hard or soft.

The second thing you need to understand about blackjack
strategy is the importance of the dealer’s up card. You’ll look
at the dealer’s up card to see how likely you think it is that
the dealer will go bust.

The “breaking point” for the dealer’s up card is between the
6 and 7. When the dealer has a 6 or lower showing, you will
generally play your hand more conservatively, because the dealer
is more likely to go bust. When the dealer has a 7 or higher
showing, you will generally play your hand more aggressively,
because the dealer is more likely to wind up with a high total
that you’ll have to beat.

When reading pages about “common blackjack myths”, you’ll
occasionally see people complain about the idea of assuming that
the dealer has a 10 in the hole. And it’s true that your
strategy won’t always be correct if you assume that.

But the reality is that there are more cards in the deck
worth 10 than any other value. You have 16 cards out of 52 which
are worth 10 points, so the chance that the dealer has a 10 in
the hole is usually 30.7%. That’s almost 1/3 of the time.

But you should also consider that cards of 7, 8, and 9 are
often in the hole, too. So if the dealer has a 6 or lower
showing, he has a good chance of having a total of 16, 15, 14,
or 13. All of those hands are apt to go bust when the dealer
takes a hit.

Because there’s always an excellent chance of the dealer
getting dealt a 10 on the next. Heck, with any of those totals,
even an 8 or a 9 is going to bust the dealer.

That’s why the correct strategy, when you have a hard total
of between 12 and 16 versus a dealer’s 6 or lower, is almost
always to stand. You want to stay in the game to maximize your
chances of still being in the game when the dealer busts.

There are exceptions to this. A lot of times, if you have
total of 12 or 13, you’ll take a hit against the dealer—not
always, but some of the time.

At the same time, if the dealer has a 7 or higher showing,
he’s likely to have a 10 in the hole, which means he’s
going to stand on a pretty good hand.

That’s why, if you have a hard total of 16, if the dealer is
showing a 7, you should take a hit. Even though you’re likely to
go bust, it’s more likely that the dealer has a hand total of 17
or better, and he’ll beat you if you stand on that 16.

There are exceptions to all these rules, but these are the
considerations and thought processes that go into creating a
correct basic strategy for the game.

The dealer’s up card will also inform your decisions about
splitting and doubling down. These will also often assume that
the cards you don’t see have a value of 10.

Here’s an example:

Here’s why:

If you have a pair of aces, you basically have a total of
soft 12. If you take a card, and you get a 10, you now have a
hard total of 12, which is not a great hand.

But if you split the aces, you have a chance of getting a 10
as the 2nd card of each of your 2 new hands. That gives you the
opportunity to get 2 blackjacks, in fact. That’s an obvious good
decision.

If you have a pair of 8s, you have a hard total of 16, which
is likely to go bust if you hit it. It’s also likely to lose if
the dealer doesn’t bust. It’s just a lousy hand.

On the other hand, if you split those 8s, you have a chance
of getting 2 hands totaling 18. That’s a respectable total that
has a good chance of beating the dealer even if he doesn’t go
bust.

Here’s another example:

Let’s just look at one of those examples.

You’re dealt a pair of 5s, so you have a hard total of 10.

If you split that hand, you have 2 new hands, each of which
starts with 5. If you’re dealt a 10, you’ve got 2 hands of 15,
which are lousy hands. They’ll get beat most of the time if you
stand on them, and they’ll bust most of the time if you hit
them.

On the other hand, if hit a hard total of 10, a good
percentage of the time you’ll get dealt a 10 or an ace, in which
case you have a total of 20 or 21. Either of those hands is a
likely winner against most dealer hands.

Doubling down is also fun, but it’s a move you’ll probably
only get to make rarely. If you have a total of 10 or 11, you’ll
almost always double down. In fact, the only time you WON’T
double down is if and when the dealer has an ace showing. In
that case, the dealer has such a high chance of winning that it
isn’t worth getting the money into action.

Doubling down on other totals makes sense sometimes, although
many casinos restrict the totals that you’re allowed to double
down on to 9, 10, or 11. But if you can double down on a hard
total of 8 against a dealer 5, you should do so.

Most people learn a complete basic strategy using a chart or
a table. In fact, you can buy such a chart or table in the
casino gift shop and use it while you play. As long as you’re
not slowing down the game, the casino doesn’t mind. After all,
using the correct basic strategy doesn’t eliminate the casino’s
edge or even give you an edge. It just reduces the house edge to
a more reasonable level.

We’re fans of learning basic strategy a little more
holistically. You can visit our basic strategy page for a text
version of basic strategy which explains some of the reasoning
behind some of the decisions.

Either way, keep in mind that game conditions do affect the
correct strategy in certain situations. You can find
customizable basic strategy generators that take into account
the rules in place where you’re playing. If you don’t bother
with these customizations, you’re not giving up much to the
house.

In fact, the most dedicated basic strategy players don’t stop
with basic strategy. They start getting interested in advantage
play techniques. We offer an introduction to advantage player
for beginners in the next section.

Advantage Play for Beginners

“Advantage play” is a phrase used in the gambling niche to
describe a method of gambling that puts the edge on the side of
the player. These techniques are distinct from cheating, as they
don’t go outside the prescribed rules or game conditions. The
most commonly known advantage play technique in gambling is
counting cards in blackjack.

This entire page is aimed at beginners, so learning how to
count cards might seem like an advanced topic. But we’re only
providing an introduction to the subject here. We have extensive
sections on how to count cards and get an edge in blackjack
elsewhere on the site. You can review those pages when you’re
ready.

Some people think that counting cards is beyond what their
puny brains can handle, but we can attest that even the puniest
of minds (ours included) can learn how to count cards in
blackjack. That’s because you don’t really have to memorize
which cards have been played.

Card counting uses a heuristic system for determining the
ratio of high cards to low cards in the deck. When the deck has
a relatively large number of high cards in it, a card counter
raises her bets. When it has a relatively low number of high
cards, a card counter lowers her bets.

Think about which hands offer the biggest payout—the
blackjack. The ace and the 10 are required to get a blackjack,
and those are the 2 highest cards in the deck. If a deck had
lots of aces and 10s compared to lower cards, you’d have a
better chance of getting that 3 to 2 payout, wouldn’t you?

Think about it this way. If you’re playing blackjack, and all
the aces have already been dealt, your odds of getting a
blackjack are 0%. That means you won’t see a 3 to 2 payout until
the deck gets re-shuffled.

Card counter have simple and complicated ways of tracking
this ratio. Most of them use a simple count called the “hi lo”
count. It works like this:

• Every time you see an ace or a 10, you subtract 1 from
  the count.
• Every time you see a 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, you add 1 to the
  count.

If the total count is highly positive, you bet more. If it’s
negative or 0, you bet the table minimum.

This might seem like it’s hard to do, and it is, but it’s
achievable with practice. We recommend practicing extensively at
the kitchen table before trying to count cards at the casino. If
they think you’re counting cards, they’ll start shuffling every
hand, eliminating the possibility of getting an edge.

They might even ask you to stop playing blackjack there.

Some casinos even ban card counters from the premises
altogether.

That’s why card counters use a technique called “camouflage”.
They make sure to not look like they’re paying attention.
They’ll sometimes make basic strategy mistakes. They’ll tip the
dealers. They won’t stay at the same casino or at the same table
for more than an hour or 2 at a time.

If you can’t play, you can’t get an edge, by definition. So
get good at counting cards without looking like you’re counting
them if you want to try it.

Max Rubin, the author of Comp City, suggests using just
enough card counting plus basic strategy to play at even odds
with the casino. You don’t even need to get an edge over the
casino, because you’ll get rewards from the casino just for
playing. You’ll also be less likely to risk getting banned or
barred.

Other advantage gambling techniques exist for blackjack, but
they’re beyond the scope of an introduction to blackjack for
beginners. Go to the appropriate page on our site for details on
other advantage blackjack techniques like shuffle tracking, hole
carding, and dealer tells.

Conclusion

Blackjack is the best game in the casino for multiple
reasons, even if you’re a total beginner. With just a little bit
of practice, it’s the easiest card game to learn how to play
besides War. But the house edge is so much better than War that
it would be silly to ever even try War.

Also, blackjack is one of the few games in the casino which
offer players “agency”. That’s a fancy word that philosophers
use to describe having some control over the outcome of your
activity. When you’re playing slot machines, you put your money
in and passively wait to see if you’ve won. When you’re playing
blackjack, you’re making decisions on every hand which increase
or decrease your chances of walking away a winner.

It’s easy to learn, fun to play, and offers the best odds in
the casino. You can even learn how to get an edge over the
casino if you’re dedicated to studying some simple advantage
gambling techniques like card counting.

Blackjack is among the most popular games in any casino. The object of the game is simple: beat the dealer’s hand and get as close to 21 as possible without going over. The simplicity of the goal is why both novice and experienced players enjoy the game.

While the aim is simple, the strategies for the game aren’t. Mastering the game can take years. Even the basics of the game strategy can take a long time to learn.

1 – Learn the Basics

I’ve already mentioned the objective of the game.

But that’s not the only thing you’ll need to know to play the game.

Let’s start with the card values. To make 21, you’ll need to use this point guide:

• 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10: The points are equal to the face value of the card
• Jack, Queen, or King: 10 points
• Ace: Can be either 1 or 11 points

The suits of the cards (hearts, clubs, diamonds, or spades) have no bearing on the game.

When you play in a casino, up to 8 standard 52-card decks can be used for the game. Some casinos may use only one deck (these are rare), but most will use 6 or 8 decks.

Each deck lowers your chances of winning, so finding games with fewer decks are to your advantage. Most casinos play with either 6 or 8 decks.

After the bets are placed, 2 cards are dealt to each player and the dealer. The player’s cards are dealt face up. The dealer’s cards are dealt with 1 card face up, and 1 face down.

If no one gets a natural 21 (an ace plus a card with a 10 point value) each player has the following options:

• Hit: Request an additional card from the dealer.
• Stand: Take no additional cards from the dealer, but continue to play.
• Double Down: Allows you to double your bet – the dealer will deal you 1 additional card, and your turn automatically ends.
• Surrender: You’ll give up half the bet and quit, ending your
• Split: If you have two cards of the same rank (for example, 77), you can separate them into 2 different hands. You’ll then have all the above options for both hands. These must be the same rank, even though a queen and a king are the same value, they aren’t the same rank and can’t get split. Some casinos will let you split multiple hands if the new cards dealt are also the same rank. Remember, by splitting, you’re making a new bet on a new hand, so you’re now playing 2 hands—not one hand with twice as much riding on it.
• Insurance: If the dealers face up card is an ace, you can pay 1/2 of the bet to get insurance against the dealer having a natural blackjack.

The dealer’s options are limited compared to the players. If he has 16 or less, he must hit. If he has 17 or more, he must stand. He can’t split, double down or surrender.

If he goes over 21, or busts as it’s called, he loses. All the players who did not bust win when the dealer busts.

Any player dealt a natural 21 will win automatically unless the dealer is showing an ace. If the 2^nd card the dealer shows isn’t valued at 10, then the player wins as a natural blackjack. If the dealer has a card worth 10 points besides his ace, it’s a tie or push, and the wager goes back to the player.

2 – Set a Budget

Any time you gamble, you should set a budget. It’s easy to get caught up in the thrill of the game and to lose perspective.

Before I set up my budget for a casino excursion to play blackjack, I tend to save up for a bit. I don’t go to a casino to play a few games and leave. If I wanted to do that, I’d play online.

I like to have a minimum of $1,000. That is enough to play for a few hours (at least the way I play) and not feel like I didn’t have enough time at the table.

Whether I show up with $1,000, $5,000, or more, I always cap my betting at that amount. I never bet beyond what I planned.

I never go to the casino with the hopes of making my rent money or car payment for the month. The reason is that I’ve always taken the phrase “don’t bet more than you can afford to lose” to heart.

As should you.

Don’t get caught up in a situation where you convince yourself that the next hand will be the one that you can win it all.

If you’re losing and spent the budgeted amount, cut your losses and try another day. If you’re winning a lot and have built up a nice bankroll, know when to call it a day and enjoy the winnings.

3 – Know the Terminology

In gambling, each game has its unique terms and slang. For instance, in Texas hold ‘em you’ll hear terms like flop, turn, and river. In craps, you have terms like point, snake eyes, and shooter.

The same is true in blackjack.

It’s important to understand the language of the game.

After all, how can you master blackjack if you don’t know what the players are talking about?

I’ve already brought up the types of bets you can make. But beyond that, terms that you’ll need to know include:

• 5-card Charlie: A bonus or automatic win in some games when a hand contains five cards without busting. When a player receives 5 cards without busting. In some games, this is an automatic win.
• Bust card: The card that’s dealt that puts the total of the hand over 21.
• Bust: Having a card total over 21
• First base: The betting spot located to the dealer’s left, which is first to both receive cards and acts.
• Hard hand: A hand that doesn’t contain an ace is called a hard hand. Every card in the deck other than the ace has a set value. Since the value won’t change, it’s “hard.”
• Hit: To ask for another card.
• Hole card: The dealer card that’s dealt face down and not shown to players until after they have acted upon their hands
• Natural: A sum of 21 (blackjack) in the first two cards dealt.
• Pairs: 2 cards of the same rank are considered a pair.
• Push (Tie): When the player and dealer have hands with the same total.
• Shoe: A device used to hold the decks of cards. Usually, this will contain up to 8 decks in casino play.
• Soft hand: A hand that contains an ace and any other card is called a soft hand. An ace can be played high or low, so it’s worth a 1 or and 11, so its value is “soft” or changeable.
• Stiff: Any hard hand where the possibility bust exists by drawing an additional card namely 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16. (A 17 or higher isn’t a stiff hand because you’ll always stand on it.)
• Third base: The betting spot located on the dealer’s right which is last to act.
• Upcard: The face-up card that the dealer is showing.

4 – Know the Variations of Blackjack

The most common game of blackjack is classic blackjack. The descriptions of the game and the rules that I mentioned here are for classic blackjack.

But that doesn’t mean other variations don’t exist. On the contrary, many variations exist at casinos around the world.

Among the more popular variations are:

• Blackjack Switch
• Double Exposure Blackjack
• Pontoon
• Progressive Blackjack
• Spanish 21
• Super Fun 21

Each of these has its own rules and strategies.

Blackjack Switch is a variation where each player gets dealt two hands rather than one. The player is initially allowed to exchange or switch the top 2 cards between hands. Natural blackjacks are paid even money instead of the standard 3 to 2. A dealer hard 22 pushes all player hands except a natural blackjack.

Double Exposure Blackjack is a variation in which the dealer receives 2 cards face-up in the initial deal. In this game, the house edge for a natural blackjack is reduced from 3 to 2 to even money. Players lose their bets when their hands tied with the dealer. Also, with both dealers’ cards exposed at the outset, players cannot buy insurance or surrender their hand.

Pontoon (or British pontoon) gets played with a single 52-card deck. Pontoon uses the terms “twist” (hit), “stick” (stand), and “buy” (double the bet, not to be confused with doubling down). It has a different set of rules. The rules for buying in pontoon include allowing the player to buy on any hand of 2 to 4 cards and allowing the player to twist after he buys.

Another version of Pontoon is popular in Asia and uses a customized deck of cards. This version is also known as Treasury 21, Jupiters 21, Paradise Pontoon, and Federal Pontoon.

Progressive Blackjack is a version of the game that adds a side bet. A specific card rank triggers the side bet payouts in the deck. The most common cards themes are either 7s or aces, but it can be any card the casino chooses.

The payouts can be for a single card, pair, trips, or 4 of a kind, of the same or mixed suits. The progressive jackpot grows over time until someone hits it.

Spanish 21 gets played with 6 decks of 48 cards. In this variation, all the 10’s are removed from the deck. Jacks, queens, and kings remain in the deck and keep the same value of 10 points.

Unlike other blackjack variations, ties are awarded to the player. So a blackjack by the player always wins.

The options of splitting, hitting or standing work the same as normal blackjack, but, if you’re dealt 2 aces, you can hit as much as you like. Pairs of aces can split up to 4 times. A player can double down after the second or later cards.

Super Fun 21 getsplayed with 1 standard deck of cards. Players have the option of being able to split a hand up to 4 times. They can double down at any time, and they win automatically if dealt 6 cards or more totaling 20. This is the case even if the dealer has blackjack. Also, if a player gets a hand of 5 or more cards totaling 21, he doubles his winnings.

5 – Learn Basic Strategy

For every hand dealt, there’s a right way and a wrong way to proceed.

While many different strategies are available, it’s best to start with something simple. When I play, I have certain rules that I follow.

For soft hands:

• If my total is 19 or higher, I stand.
• If my total is 18, I stand if the dealer is showing a 7, 8, 9, 10, jack, queen, or king, I hit if the dealer’s face-up card is showing a 2, 3, or 4.
• If my total is 17 or lower, you I hit unless my total is 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 or 18 and the dealer’s face up card is a 5 or a 6. In this case. I double down.

For hard hands:

• I stand on 17 or higher.
• I hit on 12, 13, 14, 15 or 16 if the dealer is showing 7 or higher. If the dealer is showing 2 through 6, I stand.
• I double down if the dealer is showing any card 2 through 9 if I have cards valued at 10 or 11.
• I hit if my cards total 9 or lower.

If I have a pair, then that becomes an exception to my strategy. When I have a pair, I use the following strategy:

• I never split a pair of 4’s, 5’s or cards valued at 10.
• I always split when I have a pair of Aces or a pair of 8’s.
• I always split any pairs of 2’s, 3’s, 6’s 7’s or 9’s if the dealer is showing a 4, 5, or 6.

If the dealer is showing a 9, J, Q, K, or A, and I have 16, I surrender.

With this strategy, I reduce the house edge to about 1%.

Other basic strategies are even better.

But before trying to learn advanced strategies, it’s best to learn the basics.

6 – Know the Table Rules

No laws exist that say a casino must play a game a certain way or offer payouts in a certain manner. Because of this, you’ll need to research the casino you wish to play at to know the specifics.

One example is the odds. Casinos traditionally pay 3 to 2 odds for a blackjack.

But some casinos are now paying 6 to 5 odds for a blackjack.

Casinos may use anywhere from 1 to 8 decks in a game. They do this to throw off card counters. The house edge increases for each deck used in the game.

Most games of blackjack require the dealer to stop at 17, even if this means the dealer loses. But some casinos allow the dealer to hit on a soft 17.

Knowing these rules ahead of time can save you a lot of aggravation.

7 – Insurance Is a Sucker Bet

Making sure you minimize loss seems like a good idea.

That isn’t the case in blackjack.

Insurance is available after all the initial cards get dealt, and the dealer has an ace showing. To get insurance, you wager 1/2 of your original bet.

If the dealer has a natural, you win 2 to 1 odds – so you break even.

If the dealer doesn’t have blackjack, you lose the insurance bet.

A lot of times, there is a tendency to take this bet if you have a total of 20.

But, keep in mind, you already have 2 cards that the dealer needs to make blackjack.

The other players likely have cards the dealer needs too. So it’s better to stand your ground and not take the insurance. Remember, the dealer will only have blackjack about 30% of the time.

8 – Learn to Count Cards

Card counting is a skill where a player learns to determine whether the next hand is going to give the advantage to the player or the dealer.

By counting cards, the player decreases the house edge by keeping a running tally on the value of the visible cards dealt, both high and low.

When you learn to count cards, you give yourself the ability to bet more and risk less. You risk less because the tally of the count lets you know who the likely winner of the hand is.

There are several systems you can use to count cards, and many of them work similarly.

For each card played a value of -2, -1, 0, 1, or 2 gets assigned to each card. You add the totals in your head while playing.

There are no laws that prevent card counting in the United Kingdom or the United States. That doesn’t mean a casino can’t throw you out for doing so. The exception is New Jersey, where casinos are forbidden from barring card counters as a result of a 1979 New Jersey Supreme Court decision.

9 – Learn About Side Bets

Because blackjack has a low house edge, casinos look for a way to increase the money they can make from the game.

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One way they do this is to offer side bets.

Side bets are separate from regular gameplay. One side bet that I’ve already mentioned is insurance.

But there are others.

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These include:

21+3: This side bet pays off based on the first 2 cards you’re dealt and the dealer’s upcard. If the 3 cards form a flush, straight, 3-of-a-kind, or straight flush, you win.

Royal Match: This side bet pays if your first two dealt cards are suited. The payoff is 5 to 2. If you have suited king and queen, the payout is increased to 25 to 1. Also, you receive a 5 to 1 payoff for a suited blackjack.

Over/Under 13: As the names say you are betting on your total to be over or under 13. If you get a 13, you lose. In this bet, and ace is low.

Super 7s: The goal here is for 7s. 1 7 pays 3 to 1. If the first 2 cards are 7s you get 50 to 1 for unsuited, 100 to 1 for suited. If you get 3 7s, you get 500 to 1 unsuited, 5,000 to 1 suited. The bet is limited to $1, so the most you can win is $5,000.

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10 – Practice

No one becomes a master without practice. If you want to hone your skills, you must practice on a consistent basis.

When I started playing blackjack, I practiced every day. I started by going to free play online casinos. I spent hours learning the gameplay and trying out new strategies so I could build my confidence.

Eventually, I felt confident enough to try my hand a real money online casino. I played for small stakes as I knew I’d be losing for a while.

I also started playing with friends for money. It helped to get live reactions and that human equation into my game.

After about a year of doing this, it was time to venture to a real brick and mortar casino. I still remember walking in with $2,000. I played for several hours and got some great comps after losing all my money.

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But I kept playing, and I kept practicing, and now, a lot of times, I leave with more money than I came with.

Practice until you master it.

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Conclusion

Blackjack is a fun game. I like it because of the simple objective. Get 21.

But if you want to do well in the game, you need to prepare.

Take time to study the rules of the game. Look for strategies to help you shift the edge towards you.

Not every blackjack game is the same. There are over 100 variants of the game, and the rules differ on each one. I touched on some of the more popular ones, but there are many more that are available. So once again educate yourself on what you are playing and the rules of the game.

Most of all this isn’t a pathway to riches. Like any game, it’s meant to be fun.