How to Play Casino Blackjack

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Blackjack

Playing

There are two aims of blackjack; the main aim is to reach a total of 21 points with your cards, the second aim is to get a score closer to 21 than the dealer without going over 21.

The dealer deals each player 2 cards each and lays them face down. He also deals himself 2 cards but leaves one card face up (the up card).

You look at your cards and you have a choice of sticking or hitting. If you are happy with your score then you stick, i.e. you don't get dealt any more cards. If you think you have a good chance of getting closer to 21 without getting bust then you ask the dealer to hit you, i.e. deal you another card. This is also commonly known as twisting.

If you make a score of 21 then the house pays out - this means they give you an amount equal to your stake (you leave your stake on the table in front of you so that you can increase your stake. This only goes to the house if you lose).

After all players have played their hands the dealer then plays his hand. At a lot of casinos there are strict rules on what the dealer can do. Generally if the dealer has 17 or more he must stick, if he has less than 17 he must hit.

Your Stake

You start of with your initial stake. If you think you have a good chance of beating the dealer then you can double down. This means that you double your stake prior to starting playing your hand.

If you have a pair you can split. This means that you pay a second bet equal to your initial stake, you split your cards so that one of the cards becomes a new bet. You play the two hands separately, the initial two cards being the first two cards in each hand respectively.

Some casinos give you the option to surrender - this happens after the dealer checks his cards. You then have the option to quit that hand but you only lose half of your stake. This is not generally recommended.

Payout

There are several potential outcomes at the end of each hand:

Bust - you twist once too much and the total of your hand is greater than 21. You lose your final stake.

Player wins - your hand is closer to 21 than the dealer's. You win the amount of your final stake.

House wins - as above but in reverse. You lose your final stake.

Push - your hand is worth the same as the dealer's; a draw. You don't win any money, you don't lose any money.

21 - your hand is worth 21 but you will only win if the dealer has less than 21 or is bust.

Blackjack - you score 21 with two cards. Again, you will only win if the dealer does not have blackjack.

Tactics

These tables show the recognised tactics when playing Blackjack:

Key:

S = Stand

H = Hit

D = Double Down

SP = Split

Soft totals are those where your hand includes an Ace which is being counted as 11 points (rather than 1).

Hard totals are those made up of cards not including an Ace, or the hand is being playing with the Ace's value being 1.

Your hand	Dealer's up card
Your hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
Hard totals
17-20	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	S	S	S
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	S	H
13-14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
9	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
5-8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
Soft totals
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,8 A,9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A,7	S	D	D	D	D	S	S	H	H	H
A,6	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,4 A,5	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,2 A,3	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
Pairs
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,A	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
10,10	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
9,9	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	S	SP	SP	S	S
8,8	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
7,7	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
6,6	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
5,5	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
4,4	H	H	H	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
2,2 3,3	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H

Card Values

Cards 2 - 10 are worth their face value.

Picture cards (Jack, Queen, King) are worth 10.

Aces are worth 11 or 1.