♠ Blackjack Strategy Guide ♥

How to play, and the basic-strategy chart — everything on one page

🂡 Practice with the Blackjack Trainer →  ·  🃏 Play together at TABLE SEVEN →

Blackjack: The Goal

Get a hand total closer to 21 than the dealer without going over ("busting"). You're only playing against the dealer, never the other players.

Card values

  • 2–10 = face value
  • Jack, Queen, King = 10
  • Ace = 1 or 11, whichever helps you (a hand with an Ace counting as 11 is called "soft")

Key payouts

  • Win a hand: paid 1:1 (bet $10, win $10)
  • "Blackjack" (Ace + 10-card on your first two cards): paid 3:2 (bet $10, win $15)
  • Tie ("push"): keep your bet, nobody wins

A Hand, From Sitting Down to Cashing Out

  1. Pick the right table. Check the small sign: minimum bet ($5, $10, $15...) and "Blackjack pays 3 to 2." Bonus points if the sign or dealer says the dealer stands on soft 17.
  2. Buy in. Sit down, wait for the current hand to finish, then lay your cash flat on the felt — never hand it to the dealer directly. Say "changing $100." The dealer converts it to chips.
  3. Place your bet. Put chips in the betting circle in front of you before the deal. Once cards are out, never touch your bet.
  4. The deal. Everyone gets 2 cards face-up. The dealer gets one face-up ("upcard") and one face-down. In these face-up "shoe" games, never touch your cards.
  5. Insurance offer (decline it). If the dealer shows an Ace, they'll offer insurance. Wave it off or say "no thanks." If the dealer has blackjack, the hand ends; you lose your bet (push if you also have blackjack).
  6. Your turn — pick one action (check the Strategy Chart tab):
    • Hit — take another card. Signal: tap the felt behind your cards.
    • Stand — keep what you have. Signal: wave your hand flat over the cards.
    • Double down — double your bet, take exactly one more card. Signal: put a matching stack of chips next to (not on top of) your bet, hold up one finger.
    • Split — if your two cards match (e.g., 8-8), put up a second equal bet and play them as two separate hands. Signal: matching chips beside the bet, two fingers in a "V".
    • Surrender (only some tables) — give up the hand, get half your bet back. Say "surrender" out loud and draw a line behind your bet with your finger.
    Hand signals are required — cameras need to see your decision. If you go over 21 you bust and lose immediately.
  7. Dealer plays. The dealer flips their hole card and follows fixed rules: hit until reaching 17 or more, then stop. No decisions, no reading you — it's pure procedure. If the dealer busts, every player still standing wins.
  8. Payouts. Beat the dealer: paid even money next to your bet. Blackjack: 3:2. Tie: push. Then the next hand starts — bet again or sit one out (just say "I'll sit this one out").
  9. Leaving. Push your chips forward and ask the dealer to "color up" (exchange small chips for big ones). Take the big chips to the cashier's cage to turn them into cash. Chips from one casino generally can't be cashed at another.

Etiquette (So You Look Like a Regular)

Do

  • Use hand signals for every decision
  • Tip the dealer now and then — easiest way: place a small side bet "for the dealer" in front of your circle
  • Ask the dealer questions! Say "first time at a table, help me out" — most dealers are happy to coach at a quiet, low-limit table
  • Wait for the shuffle to join a game if the table asks for it

Don't

  • Touch your cards (in face-up games) or your bet after the deal
  • Use your phone at the table — printed strategy cards are fine, phones are not
  • Hand cash directly to the dealer — lay it on the felt
  • Blame other players for "taking the dealer's bust card" — it's superstition, ignore it

Basic Strategy Chart

This is the mathematically best play for every hand vs. every dealer upcard (multi-deck shoe, the standard Vegas game). It's not a guess — it's a solved table. Print this page and take it to the table (allowed everywhere; phones are not).

How to read it: Find your hand on the left, the dealer's upcard across the top. Check in this order: ① Is it a pair? Use the Pairs table. ② Do you have an Ace counting as 11? Use Soft Totals. ③ Otherwise use Hard Totals.
H Hit S Stand D Double (if not allowed: hit — except soft 18: stand) P Split

Hard Totals (no Ace, or Ace counted as 1)

Soft Totals (Ace counted as 11)

Pairs

* If the table offers surrender: surrender 16 vs 9, 10, or Ace, and 15 vs 10 (otherwise hit). † If the dealer hits soft 17 (common in Vegas — the felt will say): also double 11 vs Ace, double A,7 vs 2, and double A,8 vs 6. These tweaks are worth pennies — don't stress them.

The "Never Forget" Short List

Always

  • Split Aces and 8s
  • Double 11 (vs everything but an Ace)
  • Stand on hard 17+
  • Stand on 13–16 when the dealer shows 2–6 (let the dealer bust)
  • Hit soft 17 (A,6) — never stand on it

Never

  • Split 10s or 5s
  • Take insurance or "even money"
  • Play any side bet
  • Stand on 12–16 vs dealer 7 or higher — you must hit, even though it feels scary
Why hit 16 vs 10? It feels wrong because you'll often bust. But the dealer's 10 makes them a huge favorite to reach 17+, so standing loses more often than hitting. Basic strategy is full of plays that feel wrong and are right. Trust the chart over your gut, every single time.