Blackjack

How to play

You start with 100 chips and choose a bet of 5, 10, 25, or 50. You and the dealer each get two cards, and your goal is to finish closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. Hit to draw another card, Stand to lock in your total, or Double to double your bet and take exactly one more card. Face cards count as 10, aces count as 1 or 11, and a two-card blackjack pays 3 to 2.

Tips

• The dealer must hit through 16 and stand on 17, so a dealer showing 2 through 6 busts often. Stand on 12 or more and let it happen.
• Always hit a hand of 11 or less. No single card can bust you.
• Double on 10 or 11 when the dealer shows a weak card. One big bet on a strong hand beats many small ones.
• Your best chip count saves automatically, so a hot streak is banked even if you go bust later.

The rules this table uses

You start with 100 chips and bet 5, 10, 25 or 50 a hand. Face cards count 10, aces count 1 or 11 whichever helps, and a two card 21 is a blackjack paying three to two. The dealer follows fixed rules and has no choices to make: draw to 17, stand on any 17 including a soft one, which is the key fact of the game: the dealer is not playing against you, the dealer is a procedure, and your job is to make good decisions against that procedure.

Basic strategy, the mathematically best decision for every combination of your hand and the dealer's showing card, has been worked out exactly. Playing it perfectly does not make you a winner, since the house edge remains, but it shrinks that edge to under one percent and it is the difference between a bankroll that lasts an evening and one that is gone in ten hands.

Basic strategy in six lines

• Always stand on 17 or more. The dealer has to reach 17 anyway, and drawing to a hard 17 busts more often than it helps.
• Always hit 11 or less. You cannot bust, so there is no downside to another card.
• With 12 to 16, look at the dealer's card. Against a 2 through 6 the dealer busts often, so stand and let them. Against a 7 or higher, hit, because they will probably make a hand.
• Double on 11 against anything but an ace, and on 10 against a dealer 9 or lower. These are the hands where the extra bet is worth it.
• An ace and a 6 is a soft 17. Hit it. It cannot bust and 17 is a weak total.
• Bet flat. Raising the bet after a loss does not change the odds of the next hand; it only changes how fast the chips move.

Common questions

How does the dealer play?

By fixed rules with no decisions. The dealer draws until reaching at least 17 and stands on any 17, including a soft 17 made with an ace, so you always know exactly what they will do.

What does blackjack pay?

A two card 21 pays three to two on your bet.

Is there a strategy that always wins?

No. Basic strategy makes the best decision for every hand and cuts the house edge to under one percent, but the edge does not go to zero.