Blackjack / 21 | rules, strategies, live playing tips
 
Blackjack or 21 - a brief history
Blackjack game premise / basics
Hit, stand, double down, split insurance, surrender
Basic strategy
Counting cards
Live blackjack considerations
Useful links
The names "Blackjack" or "21", generally speaking are used interchangeably
to refer to the same game.
Originally known as Twenty-one, due to the fact that the
underlying premise of the game is beat the dealer by being closer to 21, it
wasn't until the game migrated from Europe to America that it became known as
Blackjack. Apparently, in an effort to win over US casino players (who
took some time to warm to the game), a 10-1 payout was paid to players hitting
the A and a
black jack (Jack
or Jack).
The game came to be known as Blackjack, and while the 10 to 1
payout has long since disappeared, and Blackjack is now paid out on any Ace and
10 card, the name has stuck to this day. Blackjack has become one of the
most popular casino games in the world, offered in every major terrestrial
casino and all online casinos. Most live casinos include blackjack as one
of the few games they offer.
Its popularity is due at least in part to the fact that it is
one of the best returning casino games, with a house edge of less around
0.5% when played optimally. It is also the only casino game that affords
skilled players the ability to enjoy a mathematical edge over casinos if they
know how to count cards and bet effectively to the count.
There are a number of well documented cases of expert counters winning enormous
sums of money at the blackjack table before eventually being banned from the casino for
their counting expertise. The exploits of the
MIT
Blackjack Team is perhaps the most celebrated of these.
In the game of blackjack you are playing against the dealer
and the aim of the game is to have a hand higher in value than the dealer's
without 'busting' or going over 21. Equal hands are pushed; that is you get
your bet back with no win.
The game begins with the player(s) placing a bet in his/her
allocate bet box. The dealer will then deal all participating players 2
cards (both facing up) as well as 2 cards to him/her self (only 1 facing up).
The game may be dealt from a single deck through to an eight deck shoe depending
on where you are playing.
Card values...
2 through 9: face value
10, Jack, Queen, and King: 10
Ace: 1 or 11, eg. A6
may be 7 or 17 ('soft' 17)
Hand values are equal
to the sum of cards held.
Following the initial deal of 2 cards to all players and the
dealer, each player plays his/her hand in turn, with the option to receive
additional cards (hit/stand/double down/split - see below).
The aim is to get a hand total higher than the dealer, but not more than 21. If a card
is drawn that takes the hand total to more than 21, the player's hand busts and
the bet is lost.
Dealer rules...
Once all player hands have completed, the dealer turns over
their down card and draws additional cards according to the house rules.
Either one of the two below
house rules is commonly employed:
Dealer stands on all 17s - Dealer must stand on any 17
whether hard or soft. eg. must stand on 6A
Dealer stands on hard 17 but hits soft 17. eg. will hit on 6A
This is quite an important rule
distinction that has house edge
implications so is worth noting.
If the dealer busts all remaining players win their bet (ie 1
to 1 payout). If the dealer doesn't bust, all player hands totaling more
than the dealers win their bet at 1 to 1. All player hands totaling less
than the dealer's lose their bet.
Blackjack...
Players dealt cards totaling 21 from the initial deal get
'Blackjack'. As long as the dealer doesn't also have a blackjack, the
player is paid 3 to 2 (generally) on their bet. Some casinos pay 6 to 5 on
blackjack - clearly an inferior payout and a blackjack game to be avoided if
possible.
Following the initial deal, players are given the option of
drawing additional cards to achieve the best possible hand. Their options
are as follows:
Hit...
Additional card is dealt. Player may hit as many times as they wish on
a given hand, until the hand busts.
Stand...
No further cards dealt to the hand.
Double down...
After the initial 2 card deal (and only after the initial 2 card deal) a player
may choose to double down. Here the initial bet stake is doubled and only
one more card is received. No further cards can be hit after this third
card.
Split...
If the player receives a pair on their initially dealt cards, they have the
option of splitting the pairs and then playing each split hand as a separate
hand. An additional bet (equal to the original stake) must be staked on
the new hand resulting from the split and each hand is then played in turn.
Rules regarding the ability to re-split split hands or double
down split hands vary from one casino to the next so it may be worth reading the
house rules for confirmation of policy.
Insurance...
When the dealer's up-card is an Ace, players have the option of taking
insurance. Insurance is effectively a side bet paying 2:1 that the dealer
will get blackjack (ie their down card is a 10, J, Q or K). Regardless of
whether you take insurance or not, you play out your initial hand.
If you take insurance and the dealer hits blackjack, you
loose your initial bet (unless of course you have blackjack) but win the 2:1
side insurance side bet. If you take insurance and the dealer doesn't have
blackjack, you lose your side bet and play out your hand.
Expert consensus and irrefutable game mathematics dictates
that taking insurance is never a good bet, and shouldn't be taken if you are
trying to optimize returns.
Surrender...
Surrender allows players to fold their hand at a given point in the game and
surrender only a portion of their original bet stake. It's not a commonly
offered option in blackjack (most of the live blackjack games listed on this
site don't offer surrender). The one exception is Vuetec's
Live blackjack basic
strategy with early payout™.
Played optimally, blackjack is one of the best returning
casino games. But optimal play dictates making the correct decision (hit,
stand, double down, split, insure, surrender) on every occasion.
Optimal play in blackjack is often referred to as Blackjack
Basic Strategy, and it's really not that hard to play. This is because plenty of game mathematicians
and probability experts have already done all the leg work and devised basic
strategy charts that tell you the correct bet for every possible scenario.
Basic strategy charts may be found for most rule variations.
Taking the most common set of rules employed by live casinos listed on
this site*, the basic strategy chart at left provides the basic strategy play
for any given deal scenario.
H = Hit
S = Stand
D = Double down
P = Split
Example 1:
Player hand: 4
8
Dealer hand: 9
Basic strategy play: Hit
Example 2:
Player hand: 88
Dealer hand: Q
Basic strategy play: Split, then use chat for play on split hands
* House rules as follows:
- 8 deck shoe
- Dealer stands on all 17s
Playing blackjack basic strategy optimizes player returns to
the point where the casino's house edge is only 0.5% or thereabouts depending on
the house rules being played. Counting cards can increase player returns
to the point where there is actually a mathematical player edge, and long term
play will result in likely player profits rather than losses.
Of course card counting is generally frowned upon by most
casinos (this doesn't mean it is illegal!) and they reserve the right to ask
counters to leave their premises. Most casinos employ measures to detect/prevent
counting, but that's another story altogether.
There are a bunch of methods devised to count
cards in Black
Jack, and all are designed to enable players to determine the extent to
which the cards remaining in the shoe are high card rich. A high card rich
shoe results in more player pat hands and dealer busts on forced hits, and
played correctly (ie employing basic strategy) will return more wins than a low
card rich shoe. Counting cards is simply a method of allowing a player to
understand at any given point during a shoes depletion, how high card rich it
is.
Contrary to popular belief, no counting methods require
remembering every card dealt and computing all cards remaining. Rather they
involve assigning a simple integer to broad card groups and keeping a running
count of the sum of assigned integers as the cards are dealt.
The Hi Lo method is perhaps the bets known counting
technique, and works as follows:
-
assign +1 to 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s;
-
assign 0 to 7s, 8s, 9s;
-
assign -1 to 10s, Js, Qs, Ks, A's.
You simply keep a running tally of the assigned integer for EVERY card
dealt (ie. to your hand, dealer's hand, all other players' hands), as
illustrated by way of example below.
dealt |
assigned |
count |
6 |
+1 |
1 |
Q |
-1 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
+1 |
1 |
A |
-1 |
0 |
3 |
+1 |
1 |
2 |
+1 |
2 |
When the count is high and the deal is deep into the shoe, this means that the remaining
cards are higher than average and bets should be raised accordingly.
Conversely when the count is negative, the remaining cards are lower than
average and bets should be reduced.
Counting cards is not possible playing RNG
online blackjack as each
deal is from a fully shuffled virtual deck.
Counting cards playing live
blackjack is largely mitigated by casino shuffle polices.
Blackjack house rules will may vary from one
live casino to the next. Key
points of differentiation will be found regarding:
number of decks used;
dealer hit or stand on soft 17;
restrictions on doubling down;
For your convenience, blackjack house rules for all blackjack
games reviewed on this site are provided so you can read the exact rules
employed by each casino. Links to house rules may be found at game review pages as well as the
live blackjack summary page.
With regard to counting cards playing live blackjack, casinos
employ a standard counter measure designed to render counting largely
ineffective. Typically most live casinos employ re-shuffles mid-shoe,
making it impossible to penetrate deep into the shoe with a count. More details
on live blackjack card
counting may be found here.
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