Blackjack: Card Values, a Basic Decision Table and House Rules
By PH365 Editorial Team
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An entry that needs no seasonal revision, since dealers still stand and bust by the same arithmetic: how to play blackjack hand by hand, and which rules on the table change the cost. Among the common tables, blackjack alone lets your own decisions move the price. Each round the goal is to outscore the dealer without passing 21, and how you handle each total decides whether you pay about half a percent or several percent. The moves below are the standard ones for multi-deck tables.
How a blackjack hand runs
- Place your stake inside the countdown.
- Two cards reach you and two reach the dealer, one of those face down.
- You hit, stand, double (one more card, stake doubled) or split a pair (two hands, a stake on each).
- The dealer reveals the second card and draws by fixed rules.
- Totals are compared and bets settle. Going over 21 loses at once, before the dealer plays.
Number cards keep their printed value, jacks, queens and kings carry 10 each, and an ace takes 1 or 11. An opening ace with any ten-value card is a blackjack, also called a natural.
The basic blackjack decision table
Read down your hand, then across the dealer’s face-up card.
| Your hand | Against dealer 2 to 6 | Against dealer 7 to ace |
|---|---|---|
| Hard 8 or less | Hit | Hit |
| Hard 9 | Double on 3 to 6, otherwise hit | Hit |
| Hard 10 | Double | Double against 7 to 9, otherwise hit |
| Hard 11 | Double | Double against 7 to 10, otherwise hit |
| Hard 12 | Stand on 4 to 6, otherwise hit | Hit |
| Hard 13 to 16 | Stand | Hit |
| Hard 17 or more | Stand | Stand |
| Soft 13 or 14 | Double on 5 and 6, otherwise hit | Hit |
| Soft 15 or 16 | Double on 4 to 6, otherwise hit | Hit |
| Soft 17 | Double on 3 to 6, otherwise hit | Hit |
| Soft 18 | Double on 3 to 6, otherwise stand | Stand on 7 and 8, hit on 9, 10 and ace |
| Soft 19 or more | Stand | Stand |
Pairs have two standing rules: always split aces and eights, and never split tens or fives. Exact basic strategy changes slightly with deck count and house rules, so treat this as the common version and follow a room’s printed chart if it supplies one.
Common table rules and what they cost
| Rule | Better version | Worse version |
|---|---|---|
| Blackjack payout | 3 to 2: a ₱100 natural pays ₱150 | 6 to 5: a ₱100 natural pays ₱120 |
| Dealer on soft 17 | Stands | Hits |
| Doubling | Any two cards | Restricted to 10 or 11 |
| Splitting aces | Resplitting allowed | One card each, no more |
The first row matters most: ₱30 less on every natural, on hands you were always going to win. Played correctly on a good table, blackjack costs about half a percent, which the house edge comparison ranks against the other live bets.
Blackjack mistakes that cost the most
- Problem: taking insurance. Fix: a dealer’s ten is underneath about 31% of the time, while the 2 to 1 payout needs 33.3%, so the bet loses on average.
- Problem: standing on hard 12 to 16 against a dealer’s 7 or more. Fix: hit: stopping there loses more often than drawing does.
- Problem: splitting tens because a pair looks like two chances. Fix: keep the 20, one of the strongest totals you can hold.
- Problem: side bets on every hand. Fix: side bets are usually the most expensive items on the table, so read their help text before adding one.
If you prefer fewer decisions, baccarat’s fixed drawing chart plays the hand for you, and the live casino list holds the rest. An account lives on PH365’s own site; its casino login page explains how to reach it, whereas a Join 76JL label points at 76JL, another casino.
How to Get Started
-
Learn the three card values
Numbers score what they show, pictures are worth 10, and the ace is 11 until that would bust the hand, then 1.
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Keep the decision table open
Nobody has to play from memory. Follow the table for each hand until the moves come naturally, and ignore advice from the room's chat.
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Read the payout line for blackjack
A natural should pay 3 to 2. A table paying 6 to 5 costs noticeably more, so check before your first bet.
