✅ Blackjack Odds

Blackjack odds are some of the best in the casino, giving you an excellent chance to win in each session.

✅ Optimize Strategy

If you like skill-based games, blackjack allows you to optimize your strategy to get the best results possible in the long run.

✅ Win Real Money

These games allow you to win real money, which is something you can’t do when you play in free or practice games.

✅ VIP & Loyalty Rewards

Playing for real money gives you the chance to earn VIP and loyalty rewards at your favorite online casinos.

✅ Special Bonuses

Special blackjack bonuses offered by some of our top casinos make playing this game even more lucrative for new players.

✅ You can perfect your strategy in a risk-free, low-stress environment before moving on to real money play.

✅ Free blackjack is a great way to learn the rules and strategies of new variants that you’re not yet familiar with.

✅ You can also play free blackjack games as a way to test a new casino and decide if you want to spend more time at that site.

✅ Be more aggressive with soft hands than hard hands. Soft hands are those with an ace that still counts as 11 points – meaning you can’t bust by taking another card – while all other hands are “hard” because their total can never go down.

✅ Always split when your starting hand has a pair of eights or aces. Conversely, you should never split hands that start with a pair of fours, fives, or tens, as these hands have too much value to break up.

✅ You should always double down if you have a hand of 10 or 11 and your hand is worth more points than the dealer’s up card. This is the best way to maximize your advantage with these strong hands.

✅ Never take insurance. That includes the offer of taking even money on a blackjack, which is just another form of the insurance offer. In the long run, you’ll win more by just letting the hands play out.

✅ Some online blackjack games offer surrender, allowing you to take half your bet back to end the hand. This is the right move in some of the worst possible spots, such as having a hard 16 against a dealer 10.

✅ Every hand starts with you placing a single bet. However, keep your bets small, as you may want to make additional bets later in the hand.

✅ If you start with a hand of 21 points (an ace and a 10-point card), then you have a blackjack. This hand pays out at 3-2 odds rather than the normal even money payouts. Only a dealer blackjack will result in a tie (or push), which means that you get your bet back but earn no winnings.

✅ When it is your turn to make a bet, you may have up to five options. The common options are to hit, in which case you’ll be granted an additional card, or stand, which will mean you are sticking with your current hand.

✅ You can also choose to double down, in which case you will make a second bet to take exactly one more card, then stand. If your hand has two cards of the same value, you can split those cards into two separate hands that will each be played for one bet. And if you find yourself in a particularly poor position, you can surrender to give up only half your bet.

✅ Be mindful of busting, or going over a total of 21. If you bust, you immediately lose that hand. It also means you won’t be able to see if the dealer busts, which results in an automatic win for you as long as you didn’t bust first!

✅ Traditional 21

Also known as a blackjack, this hand is an instant winner, and pays out at 3-2 odds!

✅ Hard 20

This hand is extremely strong, as it can only be beaten by a dealer 21. You’ll want to stand with this total, no matter what the dealer is showing.

✅ Soft 18

This hand allows you to consider doubling against bad dealer cards (anything from 2 to 6), while also giving you an opportunity to safely hit against the strongest dealer cards.

✅ Hard 11

If you start with a hand of 11 points, you’ll almost always want to double down – unless the dealer is showing an ace themselves!

✅ Stand

To “stand” means to decide not to take any more cards on the current hand. Once you stand, you’ll end your turn and stick with whatever your total is.

✅ Hit

When you “hit,” you ask for an additional card to add to your hand. You’ll do this when you have a low total, or if you think your best chance to win is to improve your hand.

✅Split

You can only split if your opening hand has two cards of the same value, such as two eights. When you “split,” each card becomes the start of its own hand, each of which will be played as normal for one bet.

✅ Blackjack

This is not only the name of the game, but also the name of the best possible hand, one in which you start with an ace and a 10-point card.

✅ Double

Doubling or “doubling down” is an option only available on your initial two-card hand. You’ll double your bet for one more card, after which you must stand.

✅ Up Card

This is the name for the dealer’s card that is face up, which you can see and use to help guide your decisions.

✅ Insurance

If the dealer has an ace as their up card, players will be offered insurance as a side bet. You can take insurance for half the price of your original bet, and pays 2-1 if the dealer has blackjack.

✅ Even Money

A version of the insurance offer, this allows you to collect an even money payout if you have a blackjack but fear that the dealer might have one too because they are showing an ace.

✅ First Base

This term, which comes from baseball, refers to the seat directly to the dealer’s left. The player at first base gets the first hand and acts first in a blackjack game.

✅ Hole Card

Also known as a “down card,” this is the face down card the dealer receives at the start of the hand.

✅ Soft Hand

A soft hand is one in which you hold an ace that is still worth 11 points. With a soft hand, you can’t go bust immediately by hitting, as your ace can always convert to 1 point.

✅ Hard Hand

A hard hand is one without an ace, or one in which the aces in your hand are already worth only one point. You are potentially at risk of busting if you hit with a hard hand.

✅ House Edge

The house edge is the advantage held by the casino in any game, including blackjack. It is expressed as the percentage of each bet the casino expects to win in the long run.

✅ Surrender

You can surrender if you don’t like the position you’re in when you get your first two cards and see the dealer up card. To do so, you “surrender” half of your bet, but get to take the other half back.

✅ Bust

This means that a hand has gone over the total of 21. Players immediately lose if they “bust,” while they automatically win if the dealer busts – provided the player didn’t bust first