Online blackjack rules

Blackjack is one of the simplest card games you can play online. There are a certain set of rules – which although not vast – must be adhered to. You won’t normally have to learn these rules inside out, since the computer takes care of that for you automatically. Still, it is beneficial to know when you can do certain things, and when you can’t. Here’s a quick guide to online blackjack rules.

Placing your bet

Before anything can happen, the player must make a bet. You will have a series of chips before you on the screen. You can place chips down on the betting circle in any order, although your bet must fall somewhere between the table’s minimum and maximum stake limits.

The deal

The dealer will hand you two cards (face up, so you can see them), whilst one of the dealer’s two cards will be exposed. This should give you a good idea of what the dealer has. In some blackjack variants, either both of the dealer’s cards, or none of them may be exposed. In classic blackjack, it is always just the one card exposed.

Insurance bets

If you can see that the dealer has a 10-card showing, then you are allowed to make an Insurance Bet if you wish. You cannot take insurance bets if the dealer has anything other than a 10-point card showing.

Points

Blackjack uses the same point’s total, no matter which variant you are playing. Cards are always worth their numerical point’s value, whilst faces are always valued at 10 points, and Aces can either be worth 1 point or 11 points.

Standing

When it comes to standing, there are all sorts of strategies involved. When a player stands, they are agreeing to stick with the point’s total they have. Ideally, you’ll want to stand as close to 21 points as possible.

Hitting

A player may choose to hit, as long as they have less than 21 points. Of course, the closer you are to 21 points, the less you will want to hit. As long as a player has 11 points or less, they cannot go bust in blackjack.

Going bust

If a player goes over the maximum amount of 21 points, they are bust. When a player is bust, they instantly lose their money, and the game.

The dealer

Blackjack is always played against the dealer. There are different rules regarding when the dealer will stand or hit. Generally the dealer will stand on either 16s or 17s, depending on the game. They will hit with anything less.

Doubling Down

Under certain conditions, a player may be entitled to double their bet. They must make a bet equal to the amount they first staked. The rules of when you can double down vary from game to game.

Splitting

Splitting is another rule which varies from game to game. So games allow a player to split at any time, and others do not permit splitting aces. When a player splits, they pay another bet, equal to their first. Their cards are then split into two hands, giving them twice the chance to beat the dealer. Some games allow re-splitting, which involves splitting a hand which has already been split.

Ties

In most cases, a tied game will see the player’s bet returned to them. However, some blackjack variants will see the dealer win all ties. The blackjack table will usually let you know which rules the game you are playing has adopted.

Winning

If a player wins, most blackjack games offer pay-outs of 1:1. Should they win with blackjack (21 points), the player will win pay-outs of 3:2. The player is considered to have won if they have a better hand than the dealer (without going over 21 points), if they have blackjack.