Blackjack Player Guides – Everything You Need To Know

Blackjack is an absolutely classic game you can find at every casino. Its fast play and low house edge make it the most popular casino game, regularly taking up over 30% of the table kbo77 game action in any given casino. And while the rules are easy to understand, it takes a lot of concentration and strategy to really get great at the game.

How To Play Blackjack
The rules of how to play blackjack are really quite simple: Try to get your cards to total the highest sum without exceeding 21.

The game starts with each player being dealt two cards (depending on the casino, they can be dealt face-up or face-down). The dealer also receives two cards, and one of them is face-up while the other is face-down.

Cards are valued by their pip value (2 through 10), while face cards (Jack, Queen, and King) are all valued at 10. The ace card can be worth either 1 or 11. Your hand’s value is the sum of all the card values in your hand. You can continue to draw additional cards to improve your hand, but you automatically lose if your total goes above 21.

After all of the players have completed their hands, the dealer’s turn begins. They reveal their face-down card and draw individual cards until their hand’s value reaches 17. At 17 or higher, the dealer must stop. Whoever has the highest-valued hand that doesn’t go over 21 is the winner.

Here is what can happen with different hands:

If the player gets dealt an ace and a 10 card, that is called a “blackjack.” If the dealer doesn’t also get blackjack, then the player wins and gets a bonus payout.
If the player’s hand goes over 21, that’s a “bust.” The player loses, even if the dealer’s hand also exceeds 21.

If the dealer busts but the player does not, the player wins.
If the player gets a final sum that’s higher than the dealer but doesn’t bust, the player wins.

If both the player and the dealer get blackjack or otherwise have hands with the same sum, this is a “push” and no one wins.

Soft Hands vs. Hard Hands

If one of the cards in your hand is an ace, then you have what’s called a “soft” hand because the ace card can be either a 1 or an 11.

Meanwhile, a hard hand doesn’t have an ace — the value of your hand is rigid and can’t be changed. Or, your soft hand can become hard when your ace automatically transitions to a 1 to prevent a bust.

As an example, let’s say that you were initially dealt an ace and a 6. That’s a soft hand that could be either 7 or 17 in value. You hit, and then you get dealt a 7. To keep your hand from busting, your hand becomes a hard 14.

Of course, dealers can get soft hands, too. While dealers must hold when their hand reaches 17, they oftentimes must continue to draw more cards when they have a soft 17. This gives the dealer a chance to get a hand valued above 17 after all.