BlackJack Rules

By: Harper Whitefield

In this article we will explain the rules of BlackJack. BlackJack is one of the most popular games in the casino, because players have a lot of influence on the outcome of the game. Skills get rewarded in this game!


The origin of the game BlackJack is not totally clear. There are several countries that claim to have invented the game. For example, there are stories that there were games of BlackJack played in Spain as early as 1570. Other sources speak about a similar game at the French court around 1600, while others claim that Italy has the foundation of the game. One thing is clear, the name BlackJack originates from the United States. A producer of card games in the 19th century put his logo ‘Black Jack’ at every package and the game is called BlackJack ever since.


BlackJack is played against the bank. The goal of the game is to get a better result then the bank, and thus to beat it. The winner of the game is the one that comes closest to a score of 21 points. Only scores of 21 and lower are qualified, every score above this is immediately disqualified. The cards are representing the following points:

The following cards all have their own value:

2 of hearts3 of hearts4 of hearts5 of hearts6 of hearts7 of hearts8 of hearts9 of hearts10 of hearts

The Jack, Queen and King all represent 10 points.
Jack of heartsQueen of heartsKing of hearts

The Ace can be both 1 and 11 points.
Ace of hearts

It does not matter it the cards are spades, clubs, diamonds or hearts.

The Game

Before the game is played the player first has to make a bet. You choose the amount to wager and place it at the table. If every player has made a bet the bank will deal everyone two cards, faced up. The bank deals itself one card faced down, and one card faced up. If you have calculated the score of your cards, you have to choose whether to ‘hit’ or ‘stand’. It you decide to hit, the bank will deal you an extra card. You have to recalculate the score, and you can decide again if you want to have an extra card. The total amount of cards you can collect is unlimited, as long as your score will be below 22.
Once you have decided to stand, it is up to the bank to act. The bank will play as long as it does not have 17 points or more. If this score is reached then the score will be compared to yours. If you are closer to 21 then the bank, you win, and the bank will pay you your wager. If the bank has a better score, you lost and he will take your bet. In case the scores are equal, nobody wins, and you will get back your bet. In case you reached a score above 21 you have lost your bet, even if the bank also has a disqualified hand. In the special case that your first two cards make a direct score of 21 (an Ace and a Ten/Face card) you have BlackJack. In this case the bank wil pay you 1.5 times your wager, unless the bank also made BlackJack.

There are a few special cases that can be experienced during the game for which the game goes a bit different. We will now explain those exceptions.


If your first two cards make a total score of 9, 10 or 11 points, you get the choice to double your bet. If you decide to do so, you will only get one chance to improve your score, so you get only one extra card. If you decide to double while one of the first two cards is an Ace, this card will continue to count for one point.


In case your first two cards have the same value you get the choice to spit them. As a consequence, you have to place the same bet on the card you just splitted. You will then play two games, one for each splitted card. In case the splitted cards were Aces, you will only get one extra card for each. For every other splitted card, the will play the game according to the normal rules. When a splitted Ace gets a card with a value of 10, this will not count as BlackJack, but as a score of 21.


In case the first card of the bank is an Ace, you will have the chance to pay an insurance. The price of the insurance is always half the amount of your bet. In case the bank hits BlackJack and you decided you take insurance, you will get your wager plus the insurance back. In case the bank does not hit BlackJack, you will loose your insurance and the game will continue as normal.

BlackJack and the bank has an Ace

In case you hit BlackJack and the bank has an Ace as his first card, there is a significant chance that the bank will also hit BlackJack. This is why the bank will give you a chance to avoid risk. You can get an instant payment of one time your wager, instead of the 1.5 times your wager you normally get for a BlackJack. The result of the bank does not matter anymore then.

BlackJack Bonus

Online Casinos offer a lot of special bonuses for BlackJack players. If you want to play BlackJack online, it is therefore a good advice to search for a bonus that gives maximum profitability at the BlackJack table. To save you time, we have already selected the best BlackJack bonus for you. Check it out at our BlackJack Bonus page.

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