Online Blackjack Rules

As one of the oldest forms of gambling in the casino industry, blackjack is a very easy game to learn and extremely fun to play – but there is a few rules to the game of blackjack all players should memorize when first learning to play.

Rules Of Playing Blackjack Games Online

Would you believe there is actually more than 3,000 possible situations in blackjack without even mentioning different variations or rules of different blackjack games? In this article about the rules of blackjack, we will focus on the more popular “basic” blackjack rules.

How To Play Online Blackjack

Blackjack is a game for single or multiple players. Unlike the card game of poker, blackjack players are competing only against the dealer to win. It does not matter what the sum of any other player’s cards are – the object of playing blackjack is to beat the dealers draw by achieving a higher number of draw cards or by simply allowing the dealer to “bust” (hit over 21) depending on which rules of blackjack strategy you are following.

Let’s start with the fundamental rules of Blackjack…

Online Blackjack Rules – Overview

The rules of Blackjack are designed so the desired outcome is to develop a hand that is closer to 21 than that of the dealer’s hand, without going over the sum of 21.

Blackjack Rules – Card Values

Each card in the blackjack deck has a specific value. The values of all your up cards are combined into a total sum which hopefully culminates in blackjack or a sum of 21. Every blackjack player and the blackjack dealer start out with two dealt cards, and the highest possible sum one can achieve with two cards is 21. This would be done by being dealt an “ace and a face” or one of 4 aces in each deck combined with one of the 16 other face cards in the deck to make a total blackjack card value of 21.

A “face card” is any of the 16 cards with a value of ten or more – specifically any ten, jack, queen, or king. There are four of each cards in every blackjack deck. Below is a list of card values in relation to basic blackjack rules:

2-9 = Respective Card Value (2 =2, 3=3, 4=4, etc.)
10, J, Q, K = 10 or “face”
Ace = 1 or 11

The Ace is the most versatile card in Blackjack because it can actually have two values, either 1 or 11. When combined with a 10 or Face Card (Jack, Queen or King), the sum is 21 – Blackjack baby!

The most valuable hand in Blackjack is 21 because it pays out higher than 1:1 (1-to-1), normally paying 3:2. When not using the ace to make blackjack or a “stand hand” you can assign the value as one. A great example of using this in blackjack strategy would be to assign the value of one to an ace and a 8 as dealt cards. With this hand, your value is 8 or 18 and against a dealer upcard of 9 or higher this would be a good time to hit when following the rules of basic blackjack strategy. Standing on 18 might seem like the proper play, but the blackjack rule allowing the Ace to e used as a value of 1 gave you a more profitable option, in this case “hit”.

What Is A Blackjack?

We just touched on an overview but what is a blackjack really? To avoid confusion, I must state that a 21 Blackjack is only a real “Blackjack” if the sum of 21 is achieved with only two cards (A-10, A-J, A-Q or A-K). If you start with something like 5-6, and are then dealt a 10, the sum is 21. While still a guaranteed win or push and a nice draw, it is not actually blackjack and pays out normal odds of 1:1 as defined in usual blackjack rules.

Online Blackjack Rules

Before the blackjack cards are dealt, all players must place a bet. There is commonly a table minimum and table maximums associated with betting on blackjack. For example: one blackjack table may have betting limits of $1-$100, where the player may wager anywhere from $1 to $100 per hand. Another blackjack table may have a $100-$1,000 table limit, and so on. Millionaires Online Casino allows bets of up to $1,000 per hand of blackjack.

Once a blackjack bet is placed, all players receives two cards, both face-up (it doesn’t matter if the dealer can see them). All blackjack players then have several options for action, depending on what the rules of the game are. Any players dealt blackjack will automatically stand. If not dealt blackjack a player may choose to Hit, Stand or Double Down. If the two cards are Paired (2-2, 3-3, 4-4, etc.) players may also choose to the split the single wager into two seperate bets.

Online Blackjack Terms

Hit: To take another card. There is no limit to the amount of times a player can Hit, unless he Busts (goes over 21).

Stand: To keep the total sum as is, taking no more cards.

Double Down: To take one more, and only one more, card, doubling your original bet.

Split: To split your cards into two separate hands, each containing one of the Split cards. Splitting requires placing another bet, equal to the first bet, for the second hand. Both hands are then played out normally, one at a time.

Bust: When a player or dealer’s sum exceeds 21, it is a Bust, resulting in an automatic loss.

Note: Some Blackjack rules do not allow players to Split Aces. Blackjack rules may also limit the number of times a player can Split in a single hand, usually limited to 3 or 4.

Blackjack Rules: Dealer’s Hand

The dealer receives two blackjack cards dealt one face-down and the other face-up. There are strict Blackjack rules in place that define how a dealer must play his hand usually standing on hard seventeen.

If the Dealer’s Hand is 16 or Below, he must Hit.

If the Dealer’s Hand is 17 or Above, he must Stand.

Soft 17: Not all online blackjack casinos invoke the “Soft 17” rule, but by many online Blackjack rules the Dealer is required to Hit a Soft 17. A Soft 17 is when there is an Ace involved that is counted as 11, such as A+6.

Blackjack Rules – The Winner

Player: If the player’s hand is closer to 21 than the dealer’s hand without Busting, the player wins.

Dealer: If the dealer’s hand is closer to 21 than the player’s hand without Busting, the dealer wins.

Push: If the dealer and player have equal hands, it is a Push (nobody wins). Depending on the Blackjack rules invoked by the casino, the dealer may win when it is a Push.

Blackjack Rules – Insurance Bet

If the dealer is showing an Ace, you may be asked if you want to buy Blackjack Insurance. The player may wager up to half of his original bet amount on the Insurance line. If the dealer does in fact have Blackjack, the Insurance bet pays 2:1, so by betting half of the original bet, the player effectively breaks even. If the dealer does not have Blackjack, the Insurance bet is lost, and normal game play resumes.

Blackjack Rules – Surrendering

Not all Blackjack rules include the Surrender options, but for those that do – a player may Surrender his hand (usually only allowed before taking any extra cards, or after one card at most). To Surrender is to give up half of your bet, keeping the remaining half.