Blackjack Basics — Rules for Brick-and-Mortar & Online Casinos

Overview

1) Hit

Place your wager on the layout. The dealer then deals two cards to each player and two to themselves, alternating player–dealer.

• Players’ two cards are dealt face up.

• The dealer receives one face-up card and one face-down card (the “hole” card).

• K, Q, J, and 10 each count as 10.

• A may count as 1 or 11 at the player’s discretion.

  • If A counts as 11, the hand is soft (e.g., A-6 = soft 17).

  • If A counts as 1, the hand is hard (e.g., A-6-Q = hard 17).

• Cards 2–9 count at face value.

2) Comparing Hands

• A starting hand of A + any 10-value is a blackjack.

  • If the dealer does not have blackjack, a player blackjack pays 3:2.

  • If the dealer does have blackjack and the player does not, the dealer takes the player’s wager.

• Players without blackjack may hit to get as close to 21 as possible without busting. The hand closest to 21 wins; equal totals push.

• If a player busts (exceeds 21), the dealer takes the wager without exposing their hand.

• If the dealer busts, the dealer pays even money on remaining player wagers.

• Dealer drawing rules: the dealer must hit with a total below 16 until reaching more than 16 or busting, unless holding a soft 16. With 17 or more, the dealer must stand.

3) Split

If your first two cards are the same rank, you may split them into two independent hands; you must place an additional wager equal to your original bet.

• If a third card of the same rank appears, you may split again (permitted re-split).

• A fourth matching card may not be split again and must serve as the second card of the first hand (maximum of three hands total).

• Aces: when splitting A,A, you receive one card only to each Ace. A total of 21 after splitting Aces is not blackjack—it counts as 21.

• Further splitting beyond the permitted limit is not allowed.

4) Double Down

After receiving your first two cards, if you believe one additional card will give you an edge against the dealer, you may double down: increase your wager up to double the original and take exactly one more card.

• Doubling is not allowed on a natural blackjack.

5) Insurance

When the dealer’s up-card is an Ace, and the hole card could be a 10-value, players may buy insurance for half the original wager.

• If the dealer has blackjack, the insurance bet pays 2:1 (covering your original loss).

• If the dealer does not have blackjack, the dealer collects the insurance and the hand proceeds as normal.

• If you hold 21, you still receive the full blackjack payout according to the table rules.

Choosing Bet Size (Online Casino Bonus Example)

Larger bets reach wagering requirements faster but produce higher variance (bigger up-and-down swings). Smaller bets take longer but keep swings modest.

Example: You deposit $1,000 at Casino A and Casino B. Both offer a 20% bonus ($200) with a 10× bonus wagering requirement ($2,000 in action).

• Casino A: bet $50 per hand → 40 hands to complete wagering.

• Casino B: bet $1 per hand → 2,000 hands to complete wagering.

Swing (Variance) Snapshot

• Casino B: Even in a rough patch, to clear the bonus you might be down about $72, plus the house edge (assume 0.6%) on $2,000 of action ($12) → total $84 down—yet you receive a $200 bonus, finishing $116 up.
  Playing 300 hands/hour, 2,000 hands ≈ 6 hours, or about $20/hour in bonus EV.

• Casino A: Swings are far bigger; you might be down about $473, plus $12 in expected loss = $485 down. Even with a $200 bonus, you could finish $285 behind.
  Conclusion: If you’re grinding for bonuses, prefer smaller bet sizes to control variance.