Blackjack rules, basic strategy chart and card counting

What is the goal of blackjack?

Beat the dealer's hand without going over 21. You play only against the dealer, not the other players at the table. Go over 21 and you bust — you lose straight away, even if the dealer busts later.

What are the cards worth in blackjack?

Cards 2 to 10 are worth their number, Jacks, Queens and Kings are worth 10, and an Ace is worth 1 or 11 — whichever helps your hand more.

A hand with an Ace still counted as 11 is soft — A + 6 is "soft 17" — and can't bust on the next card, because the Ace can drop to 1. Every other hand is hard.

An Ace plus any 10-value card as your first two cards is a blackjack (a "natural"), the best hand in the game.

How does a round of blackjack work?

1. Bet. Chips go in your betting circle before any cards come out.
2. Deal. You get two cards face up. The dealer gets one up and one face down — the hole card.
3. Dealer peeks. If the up card is an Ace or a 10, the dealer checks for blackjack. If it's there, the round ends immediately.
4. Your turn. Hit, stand, double, split or surrender until you stand or bust.
5. Dealer's turn. The hole card flips and the dealer must draw until reaching 17 or more. The dealer makes no choices — only rules.
6. Payout. The hand closer to 21 wins. A tie is a push and your bet comes back.

When can you hit, stand, double, split or surrender?

You can hit or stand on any hand. Doubling, splitting and surrender are only allowed on your first two cards.

Hit

Take another card. You can keep hitting until you stand or go over 21.

Stand

Keep your total and end your turn.

Double down

Double your bet, take exactly one more card, then stand.

Split

Two cards of the same value? Match your bet and play them as two separate hands. Split Aces usually get one card each.

Surrender

Give up the hand and take back half your bet, where the table offers "late surrender".

Insurance

When the dealer shows an Ace: a side bet of half your wager that the hole card is a 10. It pays 2 to 1.

What does blackjack pay?

A normal win pays 1 to 1 and a blackjack pays 3 to 2 — $15 on a $10 bet. Avoid tables that pay 6 to 5 for blackjack: that one rule adds about 1.4% to the house edge — nearly three times the edge of a good game played perfectly.

Why does the dealer's up card matter?

Because the dealer must hit until 17, the up card predicts how often they bust. A 4, 5 or 6 is the dealer's worst start — they bust about 40% of the time — which is why basic strategy stands on weak totals and doubles more against those cards.

Approximate chance the dealer busts, by up card, when the dealer stands on soft 17 and has already checked for blackjack. Bars are drawn to a 0–50% scale.

What does the blackjack basic strategy chart say?

Basic strategy is the mathematically best play for every combination of your hand and the dealer's up card, worked out by computer simulation. Following it exactly cuts the house edge to about 0.5% in a typical six-deck game. Find your hand in the rows and the dealer's card in the columns.

Tap any cell to see why that's the best play.

For 4–8 decks, double after split allowed and late surrender available. Single- and double-deck games change a handful of cells.

The rules to remember

• Always split Aces and 8s.
• Never split 10s or 5s — play a pair of 5s as a hard 10 and double it against 2 to 9.
• Double 11 against every dealer card except an Ace. Double 10 against 2 to 9.
• Stand on hard 12 against 4, 5 and 6; hit it against 2 and 3.
• Stand on hard 13 to 16 against 2 to 6; hit them against 7 through Ace.
• Surrender hard 16 against 9, 10 and Ace, and hard 15 against a 10. If surrender isn't offered, hit.
• Soft 18 (A,7): stand against 2, 7 and 8, double against 3 to 6, and hit against 9, 10 and Ace.
• Always stand on hard 17 or more and on soft 19 or more.

If the dealer hits soft 17, five plays change: double 11 against an Ace, double soft 18 against a 2, double soft 19 against a 6, and surrender 15 and 17 against an Ace.

Common blackjack strategy questions

Should you hit 16 against a dealer 10?

Surrender if the table allows it; otherwise hit. Hard 16 against a 10 loses more than half your bet on average whatever you do, so giving up half is the cheapest option. Without surrender, hitting loses slightly less than standing.

Should you ever split 10s?

No. A pair of 10s is 20, which wins roughly 70% of the time and only loses to a dealer 21. Splitting it trades a strong winner for two hands that each start from a single 10.

Should you double down on 11?

Yes, against a dealer 2 through 10 — any 10-value card, the most common card in the deck, gives you 21. Against an Ace, just hit when the dealer stands on soft 17, and double when the dealer hits soft 17.

Should you take insurance?

No, unless you're counting cards. Insurance pays 2 to 1, so it needs the hole card to be a 10 more than a third of the time; in a normal shoe that happens only about 31% of the time. Card counters take it when the true count is +3 or higher, when the shoe is rich in 10s.

How does card counting work in blackjack?

Card counting tracks whether the cards left in the shoe are mostly high or mostly low. High cards help you — more blackjacks, better doubles, more dealer busts — so counters bet more when the remaining shoe is rich in 10s and Aces. The most popular system is Hi-Lo.

1. Keep a running count. Start at 0 with a fresh shoe. Add each card's tag as it's revealed — including the dealer's hole card.
2. Convert it to a true count. Divide the running count by the number of decks left in the shoe. +6 with 3 decks left is a true count of +2. Estimate the decks left from the discard tray.
3. Bet with the count. Bet the minimum at a true count of +1 or lower, then raise as it climbs — for example 2 units at +2, 4 units at +3 and 8 units at +4. Each point of true count is worth roughly half a percent of edge.

A full deck always nets to 0, which makes a good self-check: count down a shuffled deck and you should finish on zero.

Is card counting illegal?

No — counting cards in your head is legal in the United States and most other countries. But casinos are private businesses: they can shuffle more often, limit your bets, or ask you to stop playing blackjack. Using a device to help count is a crime in many places, including Nevada.

Counting is also a small, slow edge — around 1% in good counts — that needs a large bankroll to survive normal swings. Read our disclaimer and responsible gambling guidance before playing for real.