How to Play Blackjack

A guide with hints, tips and strategy ideas to help you win when you play Blackjack online

Use our Blackjack Assistant while you play here* »

Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games there is. It is essentially an even match game whereby you must score higher than the dealer, or closer to the magic 21. It is similar to pontoon that most people are familiar with from their youth.

The game of blackjack starts with you making your stake in the box with the lowest online stake normally being £1. In bricks & mortar casino's your minimum stake is likely to be £10. Once you have made your bet, the dealer deals your two cards face up and deals himself two, with one face up and one face down. This way you can start to gauge what total you think he may have and then take cards (or not) accordingly.

Each hand moves round the table sequentially, in the same order each time. Every player has the opportunity to either take one or more cards or to "stay" - i.e. take no more cards. All the cards count their face value. Picture cards ALL count ten and an ace can be 1 or 11. There are various numbers that precipitate an obvious "stay" and certain times when you must take a card. For example, you should always take a card if you have 11 or less as you cannot go bust (hit over 21). And you should be wary of taking a card once you have 17 or more.

Once the dealer has 17 or more he is not allowed to take any more cards. There are a few ways to win bigger (and lose bigger) depending on the cards you are dealt. When you get two cards of the same value you can "split them". This means you effectively play two hands and double you stake - you play one hand to its conclusion rather than alternating between the two. Also, when you have 9, 10 or 11 you can "double down".

In some casinos you can double down on any number but you only get one card and you double your stake, so hoping you will "hit" a 10, or at least a high number it is best to look at these 3 numbers - unless the dealer has a 5 or 6 in which case you it may still make sense to double on 7 or 8 if allowed! Choosing when to take a card and when to stick is just about the most important decision you can make on the blackjack table.

The following chart is often available in summary form at the bricks & mortar casinos but is never on show at an online version so we recommend you take a look at this and make sure you feel comfortable with the general concept.

*Obviously it is not cast iron, and we do recommend you use it as a guide only.

	PLAYER'S HAND	DEALER'S UP CARD
		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
	5-6-7-8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
	9	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
	10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
	11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H
	12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
	13-14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
	15-16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
	17-18-19-20-21	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
	A-2(13), A-3(14)	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
	A-4(15), A-5(16)	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
	A-6(17)	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
	A-7(18)	S	D	D	D	D	S	S	H	H	H
	A-8(19), A-9(20)	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
	A & A	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
	2 & 2 - 3 & 3	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
	4 & 4	H	H	H	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
	5 & 5 NS	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
	6 & 6	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
	7 & 7	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
	8 & 8	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
	9 & 9	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	S	S
	10 & 10 NS	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Key: H = Hit
D = Double
SP = Split
S = Stand
Dis=
Hard Totals = A fixed total of the value of your cards
Soft totals = A soft total, since ace counts as either 1 or 11

Use our Blackjack Assistant while you play here* »

Of course you also need to work out when to walk away and though we cannot help too much there, the one thing we will say is make sure you can afford to play - and this is the standard rule that applies to ALL casino games we recommend!