Short, exact answers to the questions people really ask about blackjack. Each answer has its own link, so you can send a friend straight to it.
Cards 2 to 10 count their face value. Jacks, queens and kings count 10. An ace counts 1 or 11. Suits do not matter. Add up your cards to get your total.
A 7 counts 7, a queen counts 10, an ace counts 1 or 11.
A king is worth 10, the same as a queen, a jack or a 10. With an ace as your first two cards, a king makes a blackjack.
All four are worth 10.
A jack is worth 10 points, like the queen and king. It is not worth 11: only the ace can count 11.
A jack counts 10.
Either. The ace counts 11 unless that would take your total over 21, and then it counts 1. You never have to choose in advance: it changes as you take cards.
Ace and 6 is 17. Add a 10 and the ace drops to 1: 1 + 6 + 10 = 17.
A blackjack, also called a natural, is an ace plus any card worth 10 (a 10, jack, queen or king) as your first two cards. It is the best hand in the game.
Ace and king as the first two cards: blackjack.
Yes. A blackjack beats any other 21, such as 7, 4 and king made with three cards. It only ties with another blackjack.
Blackjack beats a three-card 21.
A soft hand is one where an ace counts as 11. A soft 17 is a 17 like ace and 6. One more card can never bust it, because the ace can drop to 1. A hand with no ace counted as 11 is hard.
Ace (11) and 6: soft 17.
A stiff is a hard total of 12, 13, 14, 15 or 16. It is too low to feel safe standing on, but one more card can take it over 21.
16: a stiff.
No. In casino blackjack every card just adds to your total. "Power cards" belong to a different British game also called Black Jack, a Crazy Eights-style game where special cards make the next player pick up or miss a turn.
You bet before any cards are dealt. In a casino you put your chips in the betting circle in front of you; once the dealer waves a hand across the table, no more bets. At home, put out chips, matches or buttons in front of you.
Anything from one to eight standard 52-card decks, with no jokers. Casinos usually use 1, 2, 4, 6 or 8 decks. At home one deck is fine.
Yes. One person is the dealer and the other plays against them. At home, take turns being the dealer, for example swapping every hand or every five hands, so the game is fair.
Hit: take another card. Stand: take no more cards. Double down: double your bet and take exactly one more card. Split: turn a pair into two hands, with a second bet equal to the first.
On your first two cards, and in most games also on the first two cards of each hand after a split. You add a bet up to the size of your first one and get one card only. Some tables only let you double on 9, 10 or 11, or on 10 or 11.
11, doubled: one more card makes 20.
When your first two cards have the same value, such as two 8s. Put in a second bet equal to the first and play two hands. Most casinos also let you split two different 10-value cards, like a king and a jack, but some only allow a matching rank.
A pair of 8s can be split into two hands.
It depends on the table. Many casinos let you split again up to four hands in total; others allow only one split. Re-splitting aces is often not allowed.
Each ace usually gets just one more card, and you cannot hit again. If an ace gets a 10-card, it counts as an ordinary 21, not a blackjack, so it pays 1 to 1.
After a split, ace and king is 21, not blackjack.
Surrender lets you give up your hand and get back half your bet. It must be your first decision on the hand, before you hit, stand, double or split. Not every casino offers it.
When the dealer's face-up card is an ace, you may make a side bet of up to half your bet that the dealer has blackjack. It pays 2 to 1 if the dealer does. Over time insurance loses more than it wins, so Bicycle and Pagat both advise against it.
Dealer shows an ace: insurance is offered.
Yes. The dealer has no choices: hit on 16 or less, stand on 17 or more. The dealer never doubles, splits or surrenders.
16, so the dealer hits: 18, and stands.
It depends on the table, and the rule is printed on the felt. Some tables make the dealer stand on every 17; others make the dealer hit a soft 17 (like ace and 6). Hitting soft 17 is slightly better for the house: about 0.22 percentage points.
Soft 17: some dealers stand, some hit.
A blackjack wins 3 for every 2 you bet, so one and a half times your bet. Bet 10 and you win 15 (and keep your 10). Ordinary wins pay 1 to 1: bet 10, win 10.
Bet 2, win 3.
A short payout: a blackjack wins 6 for every 5 you bet. Bet 10 and you win 12 instead of 15. It is the most costly common rule change for the player, adding about 1.4 percentage points to the house edge, so check the felt before you sit down.
No. A tie is a push: nobody wins and you keep your bet. If you both have blackjack, that is a push too. (A bust is not a tie: if you bust, you lose even if the dealer busts later.)
A rule in some variants, such as Free Bet Blackjack and Blackjack Switch, not in standard blackjack: if the dealer busts with exactly 22, your bet is a push instead of a win. Some tables also offer a separate "Push 22" side bet that the dealer will reach 22.
A house-rule variant, rarely offered: if you hold five cards without going over 21, you win at once, paid 1 to 1, whatever the dealer has. Standard blackjack has no such rule.
For a player who follows basic strategy, most games have a house edge of between 0.5% and 1%: on average the house keeps 50 cents to a dollar of every 100 bet. It is higher if you play by guesswork, and higher at 6 to 5 tables.
A simple rule of thumb: with 12 to 16, stand if the dealer shows 2 to 6 (the dealer is more likely to bust) and hit if the dealer shows 7 to ace. A full basic strategy chart fine-tunes this, for example hitting 12 against a 2 or 3.
Two aces give you two strong starts instead of a clumsy 12. Two 8s make 16, the worst total, so splitting gets you out of it. Two 10s already make 20, a winning hand, so you keep them together.
Split. Two 10-cards: keep them.
Every answer on this page was checked against the sources below, and against our own step-by-step guide.
