How to play blackjack

The aim of the game

Blackjack is played between each player and the dealer — the other players at the table don't matter to your result. You win when your hand finishes closer to 21 than the dealer's, or when the dealer goes over 21 and you haven't. Go over 21 yourself and you bust: the bet is lost immediately, even if the dealer busts later.

The best possible hand is a blackjack (also called a natural): an ace and a ten-value card as your first two cards. It beats every other hand, including a 21 made with three or more cards, and usually pays 3 to 2.

Card values

• 2 to 10 count their face value.
• Jacks, queens and kings count 10.
• Aces count 11, or 1 if 11 would take you over 21.

Suits don't matter. A hand with an ace that is still being counted as 11 is called soft: it can't bust with one more card, because the ace can always drop to 1. Any other hand is hard.

How a round works

1. Bet. Place chips in a betting circle. The table shows its minimum and maximum bet; each circle you bet on is a separate hand.
2. The deal. Every hand gets two cards face up. The dealer takes one card face up (the upcard) and, in most games, one face down (the hole card).
3. Insurance. If the upcard is an ace, you may be offered insurance — a side bet that the dealer has blackjack.
4. The peek. With an ace or ten showing, the dealer checks the hole card. If it makes blackjack, the round ends at once and every hand without a blackjack loses its original bet.
5. Players act. Hands are played one at a time, from the dealer's left — the rightmost circle on screen here, often called first base. You keep making decisions until you stand, bust, double or reach 21.
6. The dealer plays. The dealer turns over the hole card and draws by fixed rules — there are no decisions on that side of the table.
7. Settle. Each hand is compared with the dealer's. Winners are paid, losing bets are collected, and ties (pushes) are returned.

Your options

Hit

Take another card. You can hit as many times as you like until you stand or bust.

Stand

Keep your total and end your turn.

Double down

Double your bet and take exactly one more card. It's the strongest play when you're likely to make a good hand and the dealer is weak — classically 11 against anything up to a 10. Some tables only allow doubling on 9–11 or 10–11.

Split

When your first two cards are a pair, you can split them into two separate hands by placing a second bet equal to the first. Each hand then gets a second card and is played on its own. Most tables limit how many times you can re-split, and split aces usually receive just one card each.

A 21 made after a split is not a blackjack — it pays 1 to 1 like any other winning hand.

Surrender

Give up the hand and take back half your bet. Where it's offered, surrender is only available as your first decision on your first two cards. It's worth using on the worst hands — hard 16 against a dealer 9, 10 or ace, and hard 15 against a 10.

Insurance and even money

When the dealer shows an ace you can insure your hand for up to half your bet. Insurance pays 2 to 1 if the dealer has blackjack. Holding a blackjack yourself, the same offer is called even money: you're paid 1 to 1 immediately instead of risking a push. Both are poor bets for a player who isn't counting cards — basic strategy says decline.

How the dealer plays

The dealer must hit until reaching 17 or more, then stand. The one rule that varies is soft 17: the table felt tells you whether the dealer stands on all 17s (S17, better for you) or hits soft 17 (H17), which adds about 0.2% to the house edge.

Because the dealer has no choices, the house's edge comes from one thing: you act first. If you bust, you lose — even if the dealer would have busted too.

Payouts

Avoid 6:5 games where you can. That single rule costs more than every other common rule change combined — see why.

Playing at the Salon

Blackjack Salon is a five-seat table that runs entirely in your browser. You can play one seat or all five at once.

• Betting: choose a chip from the tray — five values are shown at a time; use the arrows (or swipe) for the rest — then click or tap a betting circle. Right-click a circle — or press and hold on a phone — to take the last chip back. Rebet repeats last round and ×2 doubles every bet. Deal sits right beside Hit and Stand, so the next hand is one short move away.
• Buy-in: bring up to $10,000,000 in play chips per buy-in. The table maximum can go up to $1,000,000 per seat.
• House rules: open Settings to choose decks, soft 17, the blackjack payout, doubling and splitting limits, surrender and more, or pick a preset like Vegas Strip or Atlantic City. The estimated house edge updates as you go.
• Strategy hints: switch them on in Settings → Preferences and the basic-strategy play is outlined on every decision.
• Fresh start: nothing is stored — refreshing the page starts a new session.

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