Blackjack Beginner Guide: Basic Rules

The most crucial bit of kit for any game of Blackjack is, at the very least, one standard fifty-two deck of playing cards. When playing Blackjack in a reputable casino environment the cards are dealt by the table's dealer from a custom box-like device called a ‘shoe' and, depending on the rules of the table you're playing, this can contain from one to eights decks of cards.

When playing casino Blackjack, you start a game by placing an initial bet to win. This initial bet must be between the minimum and maximum bet advertised by the casino for that game, and online casinos in particular often have very thrifty minimum limits so you don't have to stake very much to get into a game. Once the bets are placed, you will de dealt two face-up cards from the shoe by the table's dealer. The dealer then deals his or her own hand of two cards, the first face up, the second face down (‘blind').

Now the initial hands are dealt, you must make a judgement about (a) how strong the dealer's hand might already be compared to yours (i.e. how close to ‘21' could the dealer's hand already be knowing the value of his or her face-up card) and (b) how you want to proceed to try and win. The basic options to proceed are:

Hit – an additional single card is dealt to you from the shoe to enlarge your hand. You can choose to ‘hit' as many times as you like, but the risk is that the value of the cards in your hand overshoots ‘21' after which you're ‘bust' and automatically lose the game. The closer your hand is to ‘21' the greater the chance choosing to ‘hit' for another card will bust it.

Stand – you choose to stick with the cards you're holding (either after the initial deal or following one or more successful decisions to hit it without busting) and their value is judged against the dealer's final hand.

Additional options you may be allowed to play under the table's rules are:

Split – When you are holding two cards of the same value (e.g. two fours or two picture cards) you may choose to split the hand and double your initial bet to play each of them separately. This gives you two chances to beat the dealer in the same game.

Double Down – When the value of your initial two card hand totals nine, ten or eleven you may have the option to double your initial bet to receive one further card after which the hand then ‘stands'.

Insurance – When the dealer's face-up card is an Ace this puts them in quite a strong position to achieve Blackjack (i.e. the dealer's second card turns up with a value of ten, giving a hand of twenty-one with just two cards). In this situation you may be allowed to place an additional side bet (typically half your original wager) to payout if the dealer's hand is the Blackjack it threatens. The ‘house edge' and hence the potential advantage of such insurance bets is not especially keen for the player, so we would suggest only using this option for a fun gamble rather than serious strategic play.

Surrender - This is an option offered by some casinos to bin your first two cards immediately if you judge the hand to be too weak to compete with the dealer. If you surrender, you lose half your bet, but this could be the better outcome than proceeding to play a weak hand and losing all of that wager.

Provided you haven't ‘bust' your hand, the moment you choose to ‘stand' the dealer's turn to play their hand then begins. The blind card of the dealer's hand is revealed and they then proceed to hit and /or stand to try and beat you. Importantly in casino Blackjack there are strict rules as to how the dealer must play their hand so they are obliged to stand or hit depending on the value of their hand at that moment. Should they bust you win automatically, otherwise once they stand their final hand is compared with yours and the strongest wins. In the event that you both end up holding equal value hands the result is a draw called a ‘Push', and you will get your original bet back.