The simple reason why blackjack has remained the most popular table game in this country is mainly because it is easy for people to learn how to play blackjack online.
The rules are simple, the payouts are simple, and even the strategy is simple. One-part strategy to equal parts luck, and simple to learn are all the ingredients one needs for a very popular game.
Blackjack Rules: What Is the Goal?
When discussing how to play blackjack for beginners, it’s best to start with the basic blackjack rules. First and foremost, you want to be as close to twenty-one as possible without going over.
If you do go over, you “bust” and lose money. You can find lots of places to play blackjack online that help you learn simple blackjack rules.
Understanding the Blackjack Cards
Knowing what each card is worth can explain why having cards closest to twenty-one wins:
- Cards two through nine are worth their face value
- All Tens, Jacks, Queens, and Kings are worth ten
- Aces can be worth either one or eleven
So, if you have a king and a six, you have sixteen. If you draw and get a four, you now have twenty, which is good, but if you hit it and get a six, you have twenty-two, and you bust.
Probably the biggest takeaway as far as the rules of blackjack go is that about a third of all cards in the deck are worth ten, or there are 16 tens per 52-card deck.
And also, that mercurial ace will take some getting used to. If you have an ace and a five, you have either six or sixteen, depending on which is better for you. An ace and a nine would be either a ten or a twenty.
How to Play Blackjack For Beginners
You can visit a website and learn how to play blackjack online using the casino blackjack rules mentioned above.
To learn how to play online blackjack, you can choose either free blackjack sites or very low-limit ones so that you don’t have to risk a lot of money while learning what the blackjack game rules are.
The Player Places a Wager
First, you need to place a wager. A good starting point is to take the entire bankroll you want to play with and divide it by twenty. Twenty units make for a reasonable session limit for blackjack, and if you double that, you can cash out. Lose it, and you are done for the day.
So, 20 dollars means one unit, and 100 dollars means five units. Since you are unlikely to find either of these limits in a real-world casino, it’s better to consider learning online.
The Deal of the Two Cards
Once you’ve made your bet, the dealer will deal clockwise around the table, starting with the player on the dealer’s left. Everyone gets a card; then, the dealer gets a card, followed by a second card for each player in turn. The dealer then receives their second card, which is tucked away under their first card and not exposed to the player. This is the dealer’s hole card.
If you got an ace and a face, that is a blackjack and an automatic winner as long as the dealer didn’t also get a blackjack. Ideally, that should pay 3 to 2, meaning that if you bet $10, you get $15. If you bet a dollar, you get $1.50. Some tables only pay 6 to 5; simply don’t play on those tables.
If the dealer has an ace, they will ask for insurance; it’s a bad bet and shouldn’t be taken. They will then peek under their ace, and if they have blackjack, they will take everyone’s money unless, of course, you also have blackjack, in which case it’s a push.
If they have a ten-up, they won’t offer insurance but will again peek under their top card. If they have an ace under, they again take everyone’s money unless you also have blackjack.
If you are playing online, it may just be you and the dealer. Otherwise, the dealer will, after checking for blackjacks, proceed to ask the player on their left whether they would like to hit or stand.
Player Plays Hand
Once it’s your turn, you need to evaluate your hand. The easiest and best way to do this, if you are still trying to learn the blackjack card game rules, is with a Basic Strategy card. Blackjack is what is referred to as a solved game. Once you know the rules and the number of decks in play, you can work out exactly how to play every hand.
You may sometimes hear this referred to as the book, as in the book says hit. But in fact, it’s just computer code that tells us mathematically the best way to play. Fortunately for us, you can easily find these strategy cards online and print them out or even purchase them.
You then simply look at your two cards and the dealer’s up card, find it on the chart, and it will tell you whether to hit, stand, double, or split. For instance, if you have a pair of eights and the dealer has a six, our basic strategy card will tell us to split.
What does splitting mean? If you have two cards of the same value in our first two cards, you can split them and make two hands. In this case, if you split eights, each of our eights will get a new card, and you will have two hands in play. You can only split for the same amount as your initial wager. You can even split any ten-value cards, though you shouldn’t.
If you have a ten or an eleven total with your first two cards, the card will probably tell you to double. Doubling down, as it is also referred to, is the ability to double your wager, but in return, you only get one more card.
And you have to take another card, there’s no doubling on twenty or the like. It’s normally done on ten and eleven because you are likely to get a ten, giving us twenty or twenty-one. Though there are many other hands, our chart will tell us to double. Interestingly, you may double up to your initial wager, so if you want to double for less, it is allowed.
If you have a good hand, like twenty, obviously, you are going to want to stand, but what about a hand like a sixteen? That depends largely on what the dealer has for a top card. If the dealer has what many refer to as a bust card up top, ostensibly meaning a two through six, you will likely stand on anything more than a twelve. The rationale is basically to let the dealer bust.
If the dealer has a seven-through ace up, you will likely be hitting any hand that is not a seventeen or better. Here, you are told to assume the dealer has a ten under, which is theoretically true only about a third of the time, but close enough, as your strategy chart will tell you.
If you have a soft hand, basically a hand containing an ace, and hitting it wouldn’t break it, you may also need a hit, depending on your total. For instance, an ace-six could be seven or seventeen; you would generally be told to hit that, as you have an opportunity to make a so-so hand much stronger.
There are some unusual exceptions, such as the rule that you should hit a twelve or a thirteen against a dealer’s two. However, that’s why you use the strategy chart, so you don’t have to remember details like that.
Dealer Reveals the Hole Card
Once everyone at the table has completed playing their hands the way they wish, the dealer will turn over their bottom card. Dealers have some hard and fast blackjack rules that they must follow; they don’t make any decisions but instead play the hand according to the house rules.
They must hit until they have at least seventeen and stand on anything seventeen and up. There is no splitting or doubling for dealers, and if they have blackjack, they only win your original wager.
Winning the Game and Payout
Once the dealer has their hand to at least seventeen, they will begin taking and paying off the player’s bets. If you and they have the exact total, then that is a push, and they leave your money.
Otherwise, if they are closer to twenty-one, they win, and if you are closer, you win. All bets are paid at even money, though if you win, double and split hands are also paid at even money for each bet.
And that’s it; you are ready to start the whole process all over again.
Blackjack Rule Variations
There are several key factors to consider when evaluating whether to play on a specific blackjack table. The biggest of these is probably whether blackjack pays 3 to 2 or 6 to 5. The three-to-two game will see you keep more than twice as much of your money over a given time frame.
There is simply no reason to play the six-to-five game, especially online. A busy night at the Borgata, and all the $25 games are six to five. But a $1 game on BetMGM had better be paying three to two. They don’t have the overhead or labor costs to offer such high-house edge games.
Other rules involve the number of decks, with the lowest number of decks you can find generally being the best. Some casinos like BetMGM may offer late surrender, where you can give up half your bet before you hit or stand and just elect not to play your hand.
Other rule changes to consider include whether the dealer hits or stands on a soft 17. Much as it favors you to hit this hand, it also favors the dealer, so play on games where the dealer stands on soft seventeen.
Most games still allow you to double after split and double on any first two cards. You shouldn’t play games that forbid it.
Many, if not most, blackjack games now, even online, will have a wide variety of side bets. These should be ignored, as many have a house edge of almost ten percent.
Outside of the Rules of Blackjack
As we discussed earlier, blackjack is a solved game; however, one of the interesting aspects of it is that the odds actually change as the game progresses. Unlike craps or roulette, where the dice have no memory, it turns out that a blackjack shoe kind of does.
Well, not a memory, but as cards are dealt and depleted out of the shoe, the odds the player faces with the remaining cards change.
Ten cards, in particular, are suitable for the player and bad for the house, partly because you get the time and a half on blackjack, whereas the house doesn’t, but also due to the rules of the game, which require the dealer to hit to seventeen no matter what.
By keeping track, or “counting” the ratio of small cards to big ones, you may find that the math indicates that you have the advantage. That advantage will be larger or smaller depending on how many cards are left and how many ten cards are remaining.
So, there may come a time when you want to bet double our average bet, and there might come a time when you want to bet 15x our usual bet, depending. This is what card counting is, and it is remarkably easy.
However, the same math that tells the player when to increase their bet can easily be followed by the casino. If the bet goes up as the count goes up, then it won’t be long before you are asked to leave.
And some plays that you take for granted, such as never taking insurance or hitting a sixteen against a dealer’s ten, also need to change. So, you can bet the house is watching for players who only hit sixteen against a ten when they have a big bet up or only take insurance when the count has gone higher.
The same math that you need to follow to have the advantage can also trap you. The jaws will spring tight, and the casinos will take action. Once you are marked as a card counter, your picture will be circulated nationwide. The second you walk into most casinos, someone will be on their way to put you out. It’s hardly worth it in the day and age of facial recognition.
Etiquette in Playing Blackjack
Basic etiquette in blackjack is pretty simple. Never touch the money once you put it in the circle until the hand is complete. Never touch the cards in shoe games.
If you are in a pitch game and the cards are pitched in front of you, pick them up with just one hand. Need to switch hands? Set them down, then pick them up with the other hand.
Never berate another player for the way they choose to play; never touch another player’s chips or cards. Keep cell phones and pretty much everything off the table.
And just try to be a decent human being. The dealer deserves a modicum of respect, and they will politely let you know if you are out of line or if something isn’t being done according to the house rules.
Conclusion
Now that you know how simple it can be, get out there and practice. Remember, the best way is to explore online for free. And then start with small stakes until you have the hang of it. The next time someone asks, “How do you play blackjack?” then you can teach them.
