Blackjack Rules Without Betting

Without a solid betting plan, a blackjack player is dead in the water. It doesn’t matter how much knowledge and skill you have at the game of blackjack if you don’t know how to bet. You cannot simply sit down and throw money at each hand. Doing this hedges your original bet, which you lose when the dealer has a blackjack. You break even when the dealer has a blackjack. If the dealer doesn’t have a blackjack, you lose your insurance bet, but the rest of the hand plays out normally. If you had 2 to 1 or better odds of winning the insurance bet, it would make sense to take this bet. Learning how to play free bet blackjack is easy. All the rules of American Blackjack run true, but players are offered free doubles on card totals of 9,10 or 11 and free splits on all pairs expect 10s. There is a caveat to these generous rules though – the dealer pushes on 22.

So you want to know how to play blackjack? The basic rules are very simple. Just remember the magic number ’21’ and you will be OK. The goal of the game is to get as close to 21 as possible without going over – actually you want to get closer than the dealer to 21, that’s when you win. How is this done?

First of all, the number cards (2-10) are counted at face value. Kings, Queens, and Jacks are worth 10, and Aces can be worth 1 or 11, it’s up to you. After you bet, you and the dealer each get dealt two cards, with one of the dealer’s card face-up to help you out. Once you add up your total, you can either ‘Hit’, which means you get another card to try to get closer to 21, or you ‘Stand’, which means you are happy with your total and think you can beat the dealer. Your hands are then compared, and the winner gets paid!

There is more to the game than this, but it’s a start. You can find out everything you need to know on this blackjack guide, including some advanced playing tactics that can give you an edge against the house. Blackjack is a fun and extremely popular game, so keep reading and find out the best ways to win!

The Rules of Blackjack

Blackjack is one of the most popular card games on the planet thanks to its deceptively simple rules, and the fact that it is statistically one of the most beatable casino games out there. The rules of blackjack give players ability to use statistics, mathematics, and certain advanced blackjack strategies to beat the dealer and walk away with cash. A good blackjack player will, in the long run, gain an advantage over the house, making blackjack a game worth mastering.

This is intended as a basic overview of the essential black jack rules without detailed descriptions of various types of rules or game variations. Once you understand the basics provided in this simple tutorial you are well on your way to getting started with more advanced tips and tricks.

Blackjack is played with one or more decks of playing cards, each containing 52 cards. Decks used in a single game range from 1 to 8 with 4, 6 and 8 deck games being the most common. The number of players (besides the dealer) ranges from 1 to 6, with 1 to 4 being the average. Single or double card decks may be dealt by hand, however large decks and in more upscale casinos most cards are shuffled using a shoe.

Face Up or Face Down?

There are two ways of playing blackjack. The first is face up. This means that as the cards are dealt out they are face up. Players may not touch the cards in this style of play and this is the rational behind the famous blackjack hand signals used to indicate the players next move. All games played using a shoe are played face up.

Face down is an older style of play and while you are allowed to touch the cards, it can only be with one hand. This is often confusing for players who are used to handling cards with both hands like in poker.

In both variations the dealer’s cards are dealt the same – one is face up, and the other is face down.

The moves

Okay, you’ve made your bet, looked at your cards and now what do you do? Well you have a few options.

Hit (Draw)
To get closer to the number 21, a player may decide to take another card. In land casinos, this is usually done using hand signals rather than by talking, since overhead cameras can’t catch players’ voices. Online, it just takes a single click to hit. Be careful hitting when you have a high hand already, if you go over 21 then you immediately lose.

Stand (Stay)
A player may chose not to accept any more cards if their hand is high, or if they have reason to believe the dealer will go bust. If a player chooses to stand, play moves to the dealer.

Double Down
This is the most complex move in blackjack due to the large number of blackjack rule variations surrounding it. Basically, a double down happens when a player doubles their original bet by placing an equal pile of chips alongside the original bet, then taking one more card (just one) to complete their hand.

Because of the advantage that this gives to players, some casinos have rules that restrict doubling down to hands that have a value of 10 or 11. Be sure to check the Double Down rules of every new blackjack variation you play to be sure.

Split
If the first two cards a player receives are the same (a pair), the player can elect to split the pair into two separate hands. To do so, place a second bet equal to the original to the side according to betting blackjack rules. The game continues as usual, with the player focusing on one hand, and then the other.

Insurance
An insurance can sometimes be placed when the player suspects that the dealer has a blackjack, and wishes to minimize the loss to his or her original bet. Insurance is tricky – it can pay off well, but if abused it can lead to big losses. Unless you are an experienced card counter and know with great certainty the dealer has blackjack, try to avoid insurance bets.

Surrender
Surrender is forfeiting 50% of the original wagered to end the game at the current hand. Many casinos have specific rules forbidding surrender, or allowing it only at certain times, such as late in the game (e.g. no early surrender).

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If you’re new to blackjack, you might not understand that to get the best odds, you must play with the appropriate strategy. You should probably memorize a basic strategy chart, and if you can’t do that, buy one at the casino gift shop and refer to it at the table.

Even that might be too much work for some people, so I’m happy to offer some blackjack rules of thumb to help you do well even if you haven’t mastered basic strategy.

1- Never Take Insurance – It’s a Sucker Bet

It’s safe to assume that you’re not a card counter. If you were, you wouldn’t have any use for these rules of thumb. Card counters know when to take insurance and when not to – based on the count.

If you’re not counting cards, you should never take insurance. The odds offered on that bet are terrible.

It’s a side bet you can make when the dealer has an ace for her up-card. The size of the bet must be half of your original bet, and it pays off at 2 to 1 if the dealer has a blackjack.

Doing this hedges your original bet, which you lose when the dealer has a blackjack. You break even when the dealer has a blackjack.

If the dealer doesn’t have a blackjack, you lose your insurance bet, but the rest of the hand plays out normally.

If you had 2 to 1 or better odds of winning the insurance bet, it would make sense to take this bet.

But you don’t.

A standard deck of playing cards has 16 cards valued at 10, so the odds of getting a 10 for your next card are 35 to 16.

They’d need to be 32 to 16 (or 2 to 1) for this bet to not have an edge for the house.

2- Always Stand If You Have a Hard 17 or More and Always Hit If You Have a Hard 11 or Less

What’s a Hard 17?

When you have a blackjack hand that includes an ace, that ace can count as 1 or 11. This is, by definition, a soft hand. You play soft hands more aggressively – hitting more often – than hard hands.

If you have a hand that would bust if the ace were counted as 11, you must count it as 1, and you now have a hard hand.

Any hand lacking aces is also a hard hand.

With a hard total of 17 or higher, your probability of busting is so high that you should never take a hit.

You’ll also always hit a hard 11 or less, because it’s impossible to bust with that total. The highest value card in the deck is the ace, which would give you a total of 22 if you had a hard 11, but you can also count that ace as 1 – giving you a total of 12.

The next highest card is 10, which gives you a 21.

Every possible card improves your hand with a hard total of 11.

3- Always Stand With a Soft 19 or Higher, and Always Hit a Soft 17 or Lower

A soft total of 19 is so good that even though it’s a soft total, you probably won’t improve the hand by getting another card. An ace or a 2 will give you a 20 or 21, but any other card you get only gets you the same total or lower.

On the other hand, a soft 17 isn’t that impressive a total, so you might as well hit it and try to improve it. The worst-case scenario is that you wind up with a slightly lower total, but that’s not as likely as improving your total or having the same total.

With a soft total of 18, you have a decision to make, but it’s an easy one:

  • If the dealer has a 9, 10, or ace showing, you’ll hit. Otherwise, stand.
  • That’s your entire basic strategy for soft totals in less than 200 words.

Show me another blackjack strategy guide that keeps it that simple.

4- If the Dealer Has a 6 or Lower as Her Up-Card, She’s Liable to Bust

When the dealer has a 6, 5, 4, 3, or 2 showing as her up-card, she’s more likely to bust her hand than usual. This means you’re more likely to stand, because if she busts, you only need to stay in the game.

If you have a hard 13, 14, 15, or 16, you’ll stand when the dealer has a 6 or lower showing.

And, of course, you always stand on a hard 17 or higher, so you’ll stand on almost every total when the dealer has a 6 or lower showing.

Your goal is to still be in the hand when the dealer busts.

Keep in mind that the dealer busting isn’t inevitable; it’s just likely.

Blackjack Rules Without Betting Odds

Don’t get made when you lose real money playing blackjack. It’s a random game, and that’s going to happen sometimes.

Betting

5- Always Split Aces and 8s but Never Split 4s, 5s, or 10s

Splitting means using the 2 cards you’ve been dealt to start 2 hands. You need to place an extra bet to get the extra hand into action. Also, the 2 cards you have must be the same.

Splitting aces should make obvious sense – who wouldn’t want to have a blackjack hand where the first card is an ace?

Splitting 8s might not be as obvious, but think about it this way:

  • What’s the Most Common Card in the Deck? It’s a card worth 10, which means that the most common result you’ll see after splitting 8s is a total of 18, which is a solid hand anyone at the blackjack table is happy to see.
  • Why Would You Never Split 4s, 5s, or 10s? If you have a couple of 4s, you have a hard total of 8. If you hit and get a 10, you have a total of 18, which is great.

But if you split the 4s, you’re likely to get a 10 and wind up with a hard total of 14, which isn’t nearly as exciting.

The same logic applies to 5s. Would you rather start with a total of 10, where you’re liable to wind up with a total of 20? Or would you rather have a hand starting with a 5 that’s liable to turn into a 15?

And if you have a pair of 10s, you have the 2nd best total in the game – 20.

Why would you want to screw that up?

Blackjack Rules Without Betting Rules

6- For Other Pairs, Split If the Cards Are the Same as the Dealer or Lower

For Example: If you have a pair of 7s, you would split if the dealer has a 7 or lower showing for her up-card.

If you have a pair of 6s, you would split if the dealer has a 6 or lower showing.

Betting

Blackjack Rules Without Betting Against

This goes back to the logic that if the dealer has a low card showing, she’s more likely to bust. If she’s likely to bust, you want to get more money into action.

With a pair of 9s, you’d split against a 9 or less for a slightly different reason:

You have a total of 18, but the dealer is likely to have a 19, which means your 18 will lose.

And since the 10 comes out more often, when you split those 9s, you’ll often wind up with a total of 19 on the 2 subsequent hands – which will at least push.

If the dealer has something much lower than that, she’s likely to bust, so again, you just want to get more money into action.

7- Always Double Down on a 10 or 11, Unless the Dealer Has a 10 or an Ace

Blackjack Rules Without Betting Poker

Doubling down is taking one more card and doubling the size of your bet at the same time. You cannot take additional cards after doubling down.

If you have a 10, you double down unless the dealer has a 10 or an ace.

If you have an 11, you double down unless the dealer has an ace.

You’ll also double down with a 9 if the dealer has a 6 or lower.

Blackjack

You’ll sometimes double down with soft totals, but these are meant to be rules of thumb, not a complete guide to basic strategy, so I won’t get into that.

Conclusion

These 7 blackjack rules of thumb cover most hands and situations you’ll see at the blackjack table. This isn’t meant to replace basic strategy at all – I still think you should memorize basic blackjack strategy and make the right play on every hand.

The average blackjack player in Vegas makes so many mistakes that the house edge might as well be 4% or 5%. If you stick to playing by the rules of thumbs above, you’ll only be dealing with a house edge of 1.5% or so.

Blackjack

That’s far better than 5%.

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