Blackjack is a game most people have heard of before. If you haven’t played the game yourself yet but would like to try it, make sure you’re familiar with the blackjack rules before playing for real money. If you don’t know the blackjack rules, your chances of losing are much higher. On this page, 1 Deposit Casinos has outlined the most important blackjack rules for you. But that’s not all, because we also pay attention to blackjack hand values. This way you’ll know everything you need to know to be able to play blackjack.
What is blackjack?
When playing blackjack, you always play against the dealer. If you manage to beat the dealer, you win. There are several ways to beat the dealer. For example, you always win if you are dealt an ace and a ten or a face card (J, Q, K). This is considered a blackjack. You also beat the dealer if your hand is closer to 21 than the dealer’s hand. If your hand is worth less than the dealer’s, you lose. If the dealer’s cards together are worth more than 21? Then he busts. Anyone who is still in the game then beats the dealer.
To determine how much your hand is worth, you need to know the values that the different cards represent that are used in blackjack. To keep it clear, we have listed the cards and their values below.
| CARD | VALUE |
| Ace | 1 or 11 |
| Two | 2 |
| Three | 3 |
| Four | 4 |
| Five | 5 |
| Six | 6 |
| Seven | 7 |
| Eight | 8 |
| Nine | 9 |
| Ten | 10 |
| Jack (J) | 10 |
| Queen (Q) | 10 |
| King (K) | 10 |
To determine how much your cards are worth, simply add them up. If you get a jack and a seven dealt? Then you have a total of 17 points (10 + 7). When the value of your hand is above 21, you bust. The dealer then immediately takes your bet, regardless of the value of his hand.
How to play blackjack
To understand the blackjack rules in a free spins for $1 online casino, it’s useful to know how the game is played exactly. After the players have placed their bets, the dealer first deals everyone – including himself – one card. All players then receive a second card. It may be that the dealer also immediately gets his second card, but this depends on the blackjack variant being played.
When all cards have been dealt, the dealer goes around each player one by one. You can take a card, stand, double down or split. For the last two options you can sometimes only choose with certain card combinations or values. Below we briefly explain each option so you know what the consequences are if you choose it.
- Hit: you take an extra card if you are not satisfied with your first two cards. During your turn, you can take multiple extra cards as long as you don’t go over 21. Does this happen anyway? Then you bust and the game ends.
- Stand: you are satisfied with your cards and do not want another extra card.
- Double Down: You double your original bet to get one more card. Regardless of the card you get, you must stand after this. In some blackjack variants you can only double with a value of 9, 10 or 11.
- Split: You split your hand into two separate hands. This is only possible if you are dealt two identical cards. When splitting, you must place the same bet again for the second hand.
In addition, some blackjack variants allow you to choose to surrender. When you choose this, you stop playing. Surrender is different from standing, because you get half of your bet back, which is not the case if you stand. If you are almost certain that you cannot win with your cards, this can be an interesting option. Why surrender is interesting in that case? Because you get back half of your bet. You may lose, but you lose less than when you take on the dealer and he beats you.
After all players have played, it’s the dealer’s turn. According to the blackjack rules, a dealer must always take a card if their cards together represent a value of 16 or less. Once the dealer has finished playing, their hand is compared to the player’s hands to determine who wins and who loses. If a player’s and dealer’s hands have the same value, it’s a push and the player gets their bet back.
Blackjack side bets
In addition to the regular bet, you can also place so-called side bets with many blackjack variants. These are bets that are separate from the regular bet. These side bets can make playing blackjack a lot more exciting. Curious about what side bets you can place? We have listed the two most famous ones here for you and explain how they work.
1. Perfect Pairs
The perfect pairs side bet relates to the first two cards a player is dealt. You win this side bet if you are dealt two identical cards. How much you win depends on the cards you are dealt. The payout looks like this:
- Mixed Pair: two cards with the same value, but of a different color — 5:1
- Colored Pair: two cards with the same value and color — 12:1
- Perfect Pair: Two identical cards of the same color — 25:1
2. 21 + 3
This side bet relates not only to your first two cards, but also to the dealer’s open card (face card). You bet that these three cards together form one of the following combinations:
- Flush: all cards are of the same suit — 5:1
- Straight: all cards follow each other directly — 10:1
- Three of a Kind: all cards have the same value, regardless of suit — 30:1
- Straight Flush: all cards follow each other directly and are of the same suit — 40:1
- Suited Triple: all cards have the same value and are of the same suit — 100:1
The payouts we mentioned above for the different side bets are not the same in every reliable online casino. With one blackjack variant the payout can be higher, while with the other variant you get paid out less. Factors that can influence the payout are a casino’s house edge and the number of card decks blackjack is played with.
When do I make which decision in blackjack?
Earlier in this text we mentioned that you have different choices after you have been dealt your two cards in blackjack. Many people randomly make a choice and hope for the best. If you take this approach, you need quite a bit of luck to win at blackjack. The chances of busting yourself or the dealer having a better hand are quite high then.
Do you regularly doubt whether you should take a card or stand? Or don’t you know when it is wise to double or split? Then it can help to play according to a blackjack strategy. In that case you not only look at your own cards, but also at the dealer’s card(s). When applying the basic blackjack strategy, you base your decision on both hands.
Before you can apply the basic blackjack strategy, you first need to know how this strategy works. To give you a hand, here we already highlight a few decisions with certain cards. If your cards together are worth 16 or less and the dealer’s open card (face card) is a 7 or higher? Then always take a card. With a value of 17 you should always stand, regardless of the dealer’s open card. After all, the dealer is not allowed to stand until his cards have a minimum value of 17.
With many blackjack variants, it is possible to double down. After you’ve doubled your bet, you get one more card. With some variants you can only double if your cards together have a value of 9, 10 or 11. Don’t always double with such values but let your choice depend again on the dealer’s card. Splitting is not always wise either. For example, we would never recommend you to split if you get dealt two 10s.
Players of online blackjack may encounter the surrender option. Only choose this if you expect that you have no chance of winning with your cards. Why surrender is interesting in that case? Because you get back half of your bet. You may lose, but you lose less than if you take on the dealer and he beats you.
If you are unsure which decisions to make and are unsure about starting to play for real money, also check out some tips for practicing free online blackjack.
Card Counting in Blackjack
In addition to the basic blackjack strategy, there are more strategies you can apply to increase your chances of winning at blackjack. Card counting is an example of this. It is important that you know the blackjack rules and understand how this blackjack strategy works. If the knowledge of one of the two is missing, counting cards in blackjack makes little sense.
Do you know the blackjack rules but don’t know how card counting works? We’ll briefly explain it to you here. First of all, you must pay close attention when playing according to this blackjack strategy. You assign a value to all open cards on the table. You add up these values and subtract them from each other to determine what the next card will be. Because blackjack is now played with multiple card decks in almost every casino, card counting has become a lot more difficult. This is also much more difficult in an online live casino.
If you still want to give it a try, give the cards 2 through 6 a value of +1, 7, 8 and 9 a value of 0 and a 10 and the face cards (including ace) a value of -1. In principle, card counting is just one big math problem. If you have a high positive value, the chance of getting a jack (J), queen (Q), king (K) or ace (A) is high. When there is a high negative value, according to this blackjack strategy it is likely that the next card will be a 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6.