Online blackjack

The four decisions

You and the dealer are each dealt cards. Number cards count face value, picture cards count ten, and an ace counts one or eleven, whichever helps. You want a total closer to 21 than the dealer's without going over. Going over is a bust and loses immediately, whatever the dealer then does.

On your turn you choose between four actions:

Hit

Take another card. You can hit as many times as you like until you stand or bust. Hit when your total is low enough that another card is unlikely to bust you, or when standing would almost certainly lose to the dealer.

Stand

Take no more cards and keep your total. Your turn ends and the dealer plays. Stand when the risk of busting outweighs the gain from improving.

Double

Double your stake and take exactly one more card, then stand automatically. It is offered on your first two cards, and sometimes only on certain totals. Double when one card is likely to give you a strong hand and the dealer is showing a weak card.

Split

When your first two cards are a pair, separate them into two hands and place a second stake equal to the first. Each hand is then played independently. Split when two hands are better than one — a pair of eights being the classic example, since sixteen is a poor total and eight is a reasonable start.

The dealer has no choices. They draw to a fixed rule, usually hitting on sixteen and standing on seventeen, which is printed at the table. That is why blackjack rewards decisions: yours are free, and the dealer's are fixed.

A blackjack — an ace with a ten-value card on the first two cards — normally pays 3 to 2. Tables paying 6 to 5 for the same hand have a noticeably higher house edge, so the payout is always worth checking before you sit down.

Insurance is offered when the dealer shows an ace. It is a side bet on the dealer having blackjack, and it loses money over time at almost every table. Most published strategies decline it.