Blackjack strategy

Put simply, Blackjack has a 300 year history but has never been as big as now in it's online form. A simple game to learn, the basic strategy is straightforward and once this is mastered, you are ready to apply some more advanced strategies to try and beat the dealer.

Basic Strategy

The main objective of the game is to have a ' blackjack ' hand (which totals 21), or beat the dealer's hand by coming as close to 21 as possible without going over, or " busting ".

If your first two cards are an ace and a ten, that's "blackjack" or "a natural" 21! Blackjack always beats a hand that totals 21 by adding the values of more than the first two cards.

The picture cards are always 10, a card from 2-10 is counted at its face value, and an ace can be counted as either 1 or 11. A "hard hand" is a hand that does not contain an ace or contains an ace that can only be counted as 1 so as not to bust. A dealer's ace always counts as 11.

You will usually play on a table that looks something simialr to the one below, where the dealer deals the cards from the top of the image:

So what are the most common terms you need to know in order to play and win?

Hit : Give player another card!
Stand : No more cards!
Double Down : Give player ONLY one more card, and double player's bet!
Split : Make two hands out of player's pair of cards with the same value. Player's initial wager will be placed on one hand, and a second wager of equal value will be placed on the second hand. However, if you split two aces, you get only one additional card for each hand. If you split two aces and one of your hands totals 21, this is not considered blackjack, but 21. You cannot split a split hand.

So, with all of that in mind, you're almost ready to go. Just remember there's ways to increase your odds by considering the number of 10's (including the picture cards) in the pack in relation to what's showing. Above all this is probably the game where you have most chance of making money as opposed to losing it!