How to play Blackjack

01The goal

You play against the dealer, never against the other players. Your hand wins when it ends closer to 21 than the dealer's, or when the dealer goes over 21 and you have not. Go over 21 yourself and you lose at once, whatever the dealer does next. That is called busting.

Every seat you bet on is a hand of its own. You can hold several seats in one round and play each one differently.

02Card values

A hand with an ace counted as 11 is soft: it cannot bust on the next card, because the ace can drop back to 1. Every other hand is hard.

03How a round runs

1. Betting opens

   A countdown runs at the top of the table. Pick a chip, then tap an open seat to bet there; tap again to add chips.

2. The cards are dealt

   Every seat with a bet gets two cards face up. The dealer takes one card face up and one face down, the hole card. The cards are real and dealt by hand on camera; each is read as it comes out of the shoe.

3. The dealer checks for blackjack

   With an ace showing, you are first offered insurance. With an ace or a ten-value card showing, the dealer looks at the hole card. A dealer blackjack ends the round there and then.

4. Your decisions

   Seat by seat, your options come up over the table with a clock. Hit, stand, double, split or surrender. If the clock runs out, the hand stands.

5. The dealer plays

   The hole card is turned. The dealer must draw to 16 and stands on all 17s; the dealer never chooses.

6. Wins are paid

   Each hand is settled against the dealer's, and winnings go straight to your balance.

04Your decisions

Hit

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

Stand

Keep the hand you have. Play moves to the next hand.

Double

Double your bet and take exactly one more card. Allowed on any first two cards, including after a split.

Split

Two cards of the same value — a pair, or any two ten-value cards such as a king and a queen — become two hands, each with a bet the size of the first. Both hands are dealt their second card — the first hand, then the second — and then played in turn, the first before the second. You can split again, up to 4 hands. Split aces take one card each and cannot be split again. An ace and a ten after a split is 21, paid 1 : 1, not blackjack.

Surrender

Give up the hand on its first two cards and take half your bet back. Offered after the dealer has checked for blackjack.

Insurance

When the dealer shows an ace you may stake half your bet that the dealer has blackjack. It pays 2 : 1 if so, and is lost if not.

05What the dealer must do

• The dealer draws on 16 or less and stands on all 17s. A soft 17 is an ace and a six, or any hand that makes 17 with an ace counted as 11.
• With an ace or a ten showing, the dealer checks the hole card for blackjack before anyone decides. A dealer blackjack wins at once, and you lose only your original bet.
• Your blackjack against a dealer blackjack is a push: your bet comes back.
• The dealer's play is fixed by these rules, so other players' decisions never change the rules you play by.

06Payouts

A payout is what each unit staked wins: at 3 : 2, a stake of two wins three, and the stake comes back too.

07The table's rules

08Basic strategy chart

Every blackjack hand has a best play: the one that returns the most over time. This chart is that play for every hand you can hold against every card the dealer can show, worked out for this table's own rules (8 decks, dealer stands on all 17s, double after split, late surrender).

Find your hand down the left and the dealer's card along the top. Look up pairs first, then soft hands (an ace counted as 11), then hard totals.

Columns: the dealer's up-card. Rows: your hand.

• HHit
• SStand
• DDouble, or hit if you cannot
• DsDouble, or stand if you cannot
• PSplit
• RhSurrender, or hit if you cannot

09On screen

Chips

Come up on the felt while betting is open. Tap a value, then a seat.

Undo

Takes back your last chip.

Clear

Takes back every bet and leaves your seats.

Double

Doubles every bet you have on the table, before the deal.

Repeat

Places last round's bets again.

Keys

On a keyboard: H hit, S stand, D double, P split, R surrender; Y or N to answer insurance.

Confirm each bet

A setting in the table's menu: the first tap arms a seat and the second bets, so a stray tap never stakes.

10Glossary

Bust

Going over 21. A busted hand loses at once.

Push

A tie with the dealer. Your bet comes back.

Hole card

The dealer's face-down card.

Up-card

The dealer's face-up card, the one the strategy chart reads.

Soft hand

A hand with an ace counted as 11.

Hard hand

A hand with no ace, or with every ace counted as 1.

Shoe

The box the 8 decks are dealt from.

Natural

Another word for blackjack: 21 on the first two cards.

11Questions