How to play blackjack: rules, payouts and basic strategy
Updated · 4 min read
Blackjack is the simplest table game to learn and one of the most interesting to play well. Every player plays their own hand against the dealer, and the only question is whether you can get closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. This guide covers the standard rules, the table variations that change the odds, and how our free play-chips table works. Nothing here is real money: chips cannot be bought, sold or cashed out.
What you need and the goal
- A dealer and one or more players. Casinos use a shoe of several decks shuffled together; at home, one or two decks will do.
- Number cards count their value. Jacks, queens and kings count 10. An ace counts 11 or 1, whichever is better for the hand.
- Chips for betting.
The goal is to beat the dealer's hand. You win if your total is higher than the dealer's without going over 21, or if the dealer goes over. You do not play against the other players at all.
A hand with an ace counted as 11 is called soft, because it cannot go over 21 on the next card: the ace simply drops to 1. Ace-6 is a soft 17. A hand without such an ace is hard.
Setup and the deal
Every player places a bet before the deal, within the table's minimum and maximum. The dealer then gives each player two cards face up and takes two for the dealer's own hand: one face up and one face down, called the hole card.
An ace and any 10-value card as your first two cards is a blackjack, the best hand in the game. It usually pays 3 to 2. If the dealer's face-up card is an ace or a 10-value card, the dealer checks for blackjack before anyone plays. A dealer blackjack ends the round at once: everyone without a blackjack loses, and a player blackjack ties.
How a hand works
Players act one at a time. On your turn you choose:
- Hit: take another card. You can hit as many times as you like.
- Stand: keep your total and end your turn.
- Double: double your bet on your first two cards and take exactly one more card.
- Split: if your first two cards have the same value, split them into two hands with an equal bet on each, then play each hand separately. Split aces usually get one card each.
- Surrender: at some tables, give up your first two cards and take back half your bet.
If your total goes over 21, you bust and lose your bet right away, even if the dealer busts later. When the dealer shows an ace, players may also take insurance, a side bet of half their wager that pays 2 to 1 if the dealer has blackjack.
The dealer and the payouts
After every player has acted, the dealer turns over the hole card and plays by fixed rules, with no choices at all: draw until the total is 17 or more, then stand. Tables differ on whether the dealer stands or hits on a soft 17.
- Win: paid even money, 1 to 1.
- Blackjack: paid 3 to 2, or 6 to 5 at worse tables.
- Tie with the dealer, called a push: your bet comes back.
- Lose or bust: the dealer takes your bet.
Common house rules and variations
- Dealer hits soft 17: slightly better for the house than standing.
- 6 to 5 blackjacks: a much worse deal for the player than 3 to 2.
- Late surrender: lets you fold a bad hand for half your bet.
- Splitting limits: some tables let you split again up to three or four hands, and some forbid doubling after a split.
How blackjack plays on Knockout
Our Blackjack seats one to five players against a computer dealer. From the game's own rules:
- Six decks in the shoe, reshuffled once three quarters have been dealt. Bets run from 10 to 500 chips in steps of 10.
- The host picks 10, 20 (the default) or 30 rounds; 500, 1,000 (the default) or 2,500 starting chips; whether the dealer stands (the default) or hits on soft 17; a 3 to 2 (the default) or 6 to 5 blackjack; and late surrender, off by default.
- The dealer checks for blackjack under an ace or a 10. You can split up to four hands and double after splitting; split aces get one card each.
- After the last round, the player with the most chips wins. Playing alone, you win by finishing with more than you started. Run out and you may rebuy a fresh stack once a game.
- Turn on Hints and the basic-strategy play for your hand, for this table's rules, is named above the buttons.
Beginner tips
- Stand on 12 to 16 when the dealer shows 2 to 6, and hit them when the dealer shows 7 or higher.
- Always split aces and 8s. Never split 10s or 5s.
- Double 11 against almost anything, and 10 against anything but a 10 or an ace.
- Skip insurance. Over time it costs more than it returns.
Where to play blackjack free
Blackjack is free in a browser here with play chips. Playing alone or with computer players needs no account; computer players come at Easy, Normal and Hard, from dealer-style play to perfect basic strategy. To sit at a table with friends, make a free player (a username and a PIN or password), create a game and send the invite link or code. Knockout is for people 13 and older.
For a game where you play the other players instead of the dealer, see How to play Texas hold'em: rules, hands and betting. For a quieter few minutes alone, Solitaire is covered in How to play solitaire (Klondike): rules and scoring.