About Blackjack
Blackjack is a card game where you try to finish closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. This version uses play-money chips only: you start with 100, nothing can be bought or cashed out, and running out simply resets the table.
How to play
- Cards 2 to 10 count their face value, Jacks, Queens and Kings count 10, and an Ace counts 11 or 1, whichever is better for the hand.
- The cards come from a four-deck shoe that is reshuffled when fewer than 20 cards remain. You start with 100 play chips and can bet 5, 10, 25 or 50 per hand, as long as you have that many chips.
- You and the dealer get two cards each; one dealer card stays face down. If either side has 21 on the first two cards, the hand is settled at once.
- On your turn you can Hit to take a card or Stand to stop. On your first two cards you can also Double: your bet doubles, you take exactly one more card and then stand. Reaching 21 stands automatically.
- If you go over 21 you bust and lose straight away. Otherwise the dealer reveals the hidden card and must keep drawing until reaching 17 or more, standing on every 17, including a soft 17 made with an Ace.
- A two-card 21 pays 3 to 2, rounded down to whole chips. Beating the dealer, or the dealer busting, pays 1 to 1. A tie is a push and your bet is returned. There is no splitting, insurance or surrender.
- If your chips fall below 5, the game ends and you start again with 100. Your Best is the highest chip total you have ever reached.
Controls
- Pick a bet from the drop-down menu and press Deal.
- Use the Hit, Stand and Double buttons during your hand. Double only appears on your first two cards and only when you have enough chips to cover twice the bet.
- All controls are normal buttons, so you can use a mouse, touch, or Tab plus Enter.
Tips and strategy
- Stand on hard 17 or more. The chance of busting with another card is too high.
- With hard 12 to 16, stand when the dealer shows 2 to 6 and hit when the dealer shows 7 or higher. The dealer's weak cards often lead to a bust.
- Always hit soft 17 or lower; with an Ace counted as 11 you cannot bust on the next card.
- Double on 11 unless the dealer shows an Ace, and on 10 when the dealer shows 9 or lower. These are the hands most likely to finish strong with one card.
- Keep bets small relative to your chips. Even with good decisions the house keeps a small edge, and bigger bets make swings larger.
Background
Blackjack descends from a family of European card games called twenty-one, including the French vingt-et-un, which was popular in the eighteenth century. The name blackjack came into use in the United States in the twentieth century. The game is famous among mathematicians because Edward O. Thorp's 1962 book Beat the Dealer showed that tracking which cards had been played could tilt the odds, and basic strategy tables like the tips above come from computer analysis of every possible hand.
Questions
- Is this real gambling?
- No. The chips are play money with no cash value. They cannot be bought, won or withdrawn, and the game simply resets to 100 chips when you run out.
- Does the dealer hit on soft 17?
- No. The dealer draws while below 17 and stands on any 17, soft or hard.
- Can I split pairs?
- Not in this version. The only options are Hit, Stand and Double.