Blackjack

What you need & setup

1. Choose one player to be the dealer, or rotate the dealer role each round.
2. Give every player an equal stack of scoring chips (for example, 50 chips each). Chips are just points — nothing of value.
3. Shuffle a standard 52-card deck thoroughly.
4. Each player places a small chip wager into their scoring circle before cards are dealt — this is the amount of points the round is worth.
5. Deal each player two cards face up. Deal the dealer one card face up and one card face down (the hole card).
6. Check for naturals: any two-card 21 (an ace plus a ten-value card) is a blackjack and is resolved first.

Turn sequence

1. Starting at the dealer's left, each player acts on their hand in turn.
2. Hit: take another card. You may keep hitting until you stand or bust (go over 21).
3. Stand: keep your current total and end your turn.
4. Double down: take exactly one more card and double the points at stake for the round (allowed only on your first two cards in most rules).
5. Split: if your first two cards are a pair, separate them into two hands, each played independently.
6. After all players finish, the dealer reveals the hole card and plays by fixed rules.
7. Compare each player's total to the dealer's total and settle the round's points.

The Goal

You are only ever playing against the dealer, not the other players. You win the round if your hand total beats the dealer's total without going over 21, or if the dealer busts while you do not.

Going over 21 is called busting, and a bust loses immediately — even if the dealer later busts too. That single rule drives almost every decision in the game.

Card Values

Number cards 2 through 10 are worth their face value. Jacks, queens, and kings are each worth 10.

Aces are special: an ace counts as either 1 or 11, whichever helps your hand more. A♥ + 6♣ can be 7 or 17; you decide as you play.

Some quick examples: K♠ + 7♦ = 17. 9♣ + 5♥ + 7♠ = 21. A♦ + K♣ = 21 on two cards, which is a blackjack (also called a natural).

Playing Your Hand

On your turn you choose to hit (take a card) or stand (stop). You may hit as many times as you like until you stand or bust.

Doubling down lets you take exactly one more card in exchange for doubling the points riding on the round. It is a commitment: you cannot hit again afterward.

Splitting turns a pair — like 8♠ + 8♦ — into two separate hands, each getting a new second card and its own chip stake. Split aces usually receive only one extra card each.

How the Dealer Plays

The dealer has no choices. After all players act, the dealer reveals the hole card and must hit until reaching at least 17, then must stand.

In this guide the dealer stands on all 17s, including soft 17 (a 17 that uses an ace as 11, like A♣ + 6♥). Many rooms instead have the dealer hit soft 17 — always check the local rule.

Because the dealer must keep hitting to 17, dealers bust fairly often when their face-up card is weak (2 through 6). Smart players factor that in.

Blackjack (the Natural)

A two-card 21 — an ace with a 10, J, Q, or K — is a blackjack. It beats any three-or-more-card 21.

A player blackjack is traditionally rewarded at a premium: score it as 3 chips for every 2 staked. If both the player and dealer have blackjack, the round is a push (tie) and no points change hands.

Ending and Settling the Round

Once the dealer finishes, compare totals. Beat the dealer and you win the chips you staked; lose and you forfeit them; tie and the round is a push, returning your chips.

If the dealer busts, every player still standing wins automatically, regardless of their total.

Collect the cards, reshuffle when the deck runs low, and deal the next round. A session usually runs as many rounds as the group likes, with the biggest chip stack as the overall winner.

Scoring & how the game ends

• Chips are points only — each round, players stake chips and win or lose that amount against the dealer.
• A standard win pays even: stake 2 chips, win 2 chips. A blackjack (natural) pays 3 chips for every 2 staked.
• A push (tie with the dealer) returns your stake with no gain or loss.
• For a session, play a set number of rounds and count final chip stacks; the highest stack wins the session.

Winning: Win a round by holding a total closer to 21 than the dealer without busting, or by still standing when the dealer busts.

Common variations

These are genuine regional and house-rule differences — none of them is “the one true way” to play. Agree with your table before starting.

• Dealer hits soft 17

  Instead of standing on all 17s, the dealer draws again on soft 17 (A + 6). This slightly strengthens the dealer, so player strategy shifts a little.

  Common: Very common in American rooms and many home rule sets

• European no-hole-card

  The dealer takes only one face-up card at the start and draws the second card after all players finish. Players can lose doubles and splits to a dealer blackjack revealed later.

  Common: Standard across much of Europe

• Multi-deck shoe

  Two to eight decks are shuffled together and dealt from a shoe. It reduces reshuffling and slightly changes the math of some plays.

  Common: The norm in most large card rooms; home games usually use one or two decks

• Double after split (DAS)

  Whether you may double down on a hand created by splitting a pair. Allowing it favors the player and makes more pairs worth splitting.

  Common: Varies house to house — agree on it before dealing

• Five-card Charlie

  A hand of five cards that has not busted wins automatically. A fun, player-friendly house rule rarely found in formal rooms.

  Common: Common in casual home games

A little history

Blackjack is generally traced to European card games known as vingt-et-un (French for twenty-one), which by most accounts were played in the 1700s.

The modern name is commonly said to come from an early bonus paid for a hand containing the ace of spades and a black jack, though accounts of the exact origin vary.