Blackjack guides
Everything you need to go from learning the rules to playing every hand correctly, written for the same rules as the practice table.
Start here
- How to play blackjackThe rules from the first bet to the payout: hit, stand, double, split, insurance and how the dealer plays.
- Card values and hand totalsWhat each card is worth, how aces switch between 1 and 11, soft and hard hands, and what counts as a blackjack.
- Basic strategy chartThe correct play for every hand against every dealer upcard, and the four patterns that make it easy to remember.
Strategy in depth
- Soft hands: ace-2 to ace-9Why soft 17 is never a stand, when to double soft hands, and the soft 18 decision most players get wrong.
- When to split pairsEvery pair from twos to aces: why you always split aces and eights, never tens or fives, and the nines exception.
- When to double downHard 9, 10 and 11, soft doubles, doubling after a split, and what to do when you can't double.
Odds and myths
How these guides are written
Every guide assumes the rules used at the practice table: six decks, dealer stands on soft 17, blackjack pays 3 to 2, doubling on any two cards including after a split, and no surrender. Where a rule change would alter the advice, the guide says so. Our editorial policy explains how claims are checked and corrected.