Online Blackjack Rules

The Cards

Cards are valued as follows:

An Ace can count as either 1 or 11

The 10, Jack, Queen, and King are all valued at 10.

Cards 2 to 9 are valued at 2 to 9

The suits of the cards are irrelevant

The value of the hand is the total of all the cards

The Ace

As we mentioned the Ace can count as 1 or 11, which ever suits you best at the time & you can change it as your cards change.  For example if your hand is A & 5 this can be 6 or 16.  Neither is much use, but you are safe to take another card as you can call the Ace a 1 and hence you can avoid going bust.  You take a card & it’s a 3.  This makes your total 9 or 19.  You could decide to take another card or you could say you’ve got 19 & stick on that (the latter is the correct strategy in this example).   This makes the Ace a useful card for both you & the dealer who can do the same thing when he gets an Ace.

A hand that contains an Ace which can be counted as 1 or 11 without the hand being over 21 is called a “soft” total, whereas any other hand (with an Ace or not) is called a “hard total”.  In the example above the hand was worth 9 or 19 – this would be called a “soft 19”.  You’ll need this terminology to use your strategy card later.

  Your choices

Surrender

This is not very common & we have not seen it at any online casinos.  However just in case here is what it is and what to do.  If the casino has a surrender rule, then this allows you abandon your hand (“fold”) for the cost of half of your bet.  You can only do this right at the beginning before you have made any other decisions.

There are particular strategy variations where there is a surrender option, however in general you do not surrender in that many circumstances.

Hit/Stick

The terminology for taking another card can vary from hit, draw, card,

For taking no more cards this can be called stick, stay, stand

You can stick on any total (although you’d be foolish to stick on 11 or less as you can only improve your hand)

You can hit on any total under 21 although clearly the closer to 21 you are the more chance that this extra card will make you go bust

Doubling / Double Down

Doubling or doubling down is also sometimes known as buying a card.

Essentially this allows you to double your stake & take another card.  However you are then not able to take any more cards.  You can only double in your first play of the hand (i.e. when you have 2 cards).  According to the rules you are allowed to double for any amount between the minimum bet and the level of your stake, but there are no instances when it is advantageous to do anything other than double your stake or no double at all.  In addition there is rarely the facility to do anything other than double your stake in an online casino.

This is common say if you are dealt a total of 11 & given that the most likely next card is 10 you have a reasonable expectation of 21.  If you get 21 then things are looking great, however if you get a 2 leaving you on 13 you are stuck on 13 with double your stake, desperately praying that the dealer will go bust.

While not without its risk, the ability to double is one of your key advantages, and when used wisely it will win you money, however you are not going to win on every double by any means. 

The decision of whether to double, like all the other decisions depends on what your cards total & what the dealers visible card is.  This is highlighted in the strategy card.

Different casinos have different rules for when you are allowed to double.  All only allow you to double from 2 cards, however many restrict this to only when your two cards total 9, 10 or 11 whereas others may let you double on any 2 card total.

Splitting

A pair is defined as two cards the same.  They don’t have to be the same suit, but they do need to be the same type such that you can split two Kings but not say a Queen and a Jack (although some casinos may allow this).  However splitting two tens (which make 20!) is never a good strategy as you are breaking up a very nice hand.

When you are dealt a pair you have the option of splitting these & forming two separate hands, both initially with just the one card.  To do this you need to add an additional and equal stake for the additional hand created.  You then play both these hands separately & in turn from right to left, not moving to the second hand until you have finished talking all the cards you need on the first.

Each separate hand plays just the same as the first hand meaning you may get the opportunity to double or even split again from one or more of the hands.

Some casinos may vary the rules on how many times you can re-split if the opportunity presents itself.  This can be limited to 3 splits (leaving 4 hands).  In addition for Aces the rules are be different.

When you split aces you are often allowed only one card on it, if you get a 10 this does not count as a blackjack, just 21, and if you draw an Ace on a split Ace you may not be allowed to split again.

The restrictions are due to the fact that splitting Aces is a very good move for you hence casinos like to restrict it.  If a casino has looser rules here then this is to your advantage.

The full details of when to split are in a separate table in the strategy table.

Insurance

When the dealers visible card is an ace he will offer you the opportunity to insure against a blackjack.   This is done by you placing a side bet on the dealer getting a blackjack.  You can bet up to half you stake on the table and the payout is 2 to 1 if the dealer gets a blackjack (but your original bet loses of course).  If the dealer doesn’t get a blackjack you lose that bet, but your original bet and hand are obviously in better shape.

Because the odds paid are 2 to 1 but the chance of a blackjack is 4 in 13 (4 ten cards out of 13 possible cards) then this is a poor bet & should NEVER be taken in an online blackjack environment where there is no card counting.

Another variation on this is where the dealer has an Ace and you already have a blackjack.  You therefore know that if the dealer also gets a blackjack you will “push”, otherwise you will win 1.5 times your stake.  The dealer can offer you “even money”, i.e. to pay your blackjack at just 1 times your stake now, irrespective of whether the dealer gets the blackjack.  While it sounds different the odds are the same as the insurance bet & you should never take the even money.

  Screen Shot

  Dealing & Betting

You must place your bet before you are dealt any cards.  Once you have bet you are given 2 cards & the dealer gets 2 cards, one of which is face up

Card Options

Once you have two cards you have two basic options & certain other options that may be possible in some circumstances (such as your two cards are the same number).

These two options are:

Hit – take another card

Stick – don’t take any more cards

The Dealer

The dealer must play his hand in a specific way.

This can vary, but the most common is that the dealer will stand on 17 & above, and take a card on 16 and below, no matter what your cards.  This means that if you have stuck on 14 & the dealer has 16 & has clearly beaten you, the dealer still has to take a card (& may very well go bust). 

As an Ace can count as 1 or 11, the dealer also must stick if he can make a total of 17 or above such as A, 7 could be 8 or 18, but the dealer would automatically stop at 18.

The main variation is that in some casinos, the dealer will take a card on a “soft 17”.  As mentioned above this is when the hand can count as 7 or 17, the most common being A, 6, but with other combinations possible such as A, 2, 4 or A, A, 2, 3.  The dealer behaviour is the same as above except for taking a card in this single situation.

Statistics show that the first set of rules is better for you although its not a huge difference.

The dealer cannot split pairs, effect your stake & doesn’t get any bonus for a blackjack.

Blackjack

A blackjack is a total of 21 in your first two cards – i.e. a “10” and an Ace.  The “10” could be a 10, Jack, Queen or King it makes no difference.

It does only apply to your first 2 cards, so that for example if you get a pair of aces & split them (see below) and then get a 10 with one of those aces, this counts as 21 but not a blackjack.

A blackjack always beats a score of 21.  All other ways of getting 21 such as with split aces or with 3 or more cards are all the same.  How you get to a total is irrelevant in every other situation.  There is no such thing as a “5 card trick” in casino blackjack (other than specially designed blackjack variations).  5 cards (or more) totally 18 or whatever are no better or worse than  2 cards totally the same.

As well as being the best hand, a blackjack also pays a bonus.  Whereas in all other bets the dealer pays you winning equal to the size of your stake (known as even money), for blackjack the dealer pays 1.5 times your stake.

If you & the dealer get a blackjack then this is a tie (a tie is called a “push” in blackjack) and you neither win nor lose, but keep your stake.  This is just the same as if you had a “push” at any other total.

The only time when this doesn’t apply is if you go over 21 (“Bust”) and then the dealer goes bust.  As soon as you go bust you have lost the hand, irrespective of what happens to the dealer.