How to Play Blackjack

The goal

Blackjack is you against the dealer. Each of you builds a hand of cards, and the hand whose total is closer to 21 wins. Go over 21 and you bust, which loses at once. The dealer plays by fixed rules with no decisions, so the whole game is in your choices: when to take another card and when to stop.

On CardCouch you play with play-money chips. You start with 1,000, they are remembered on your device, and if you run out you reload them for free. Nothing real is ever wagered.

Card values, soft and hard hands

• 2 to 10: face value.
• Jack, Queen, King: 10 each.
• Ace: 11, or 1 when 11 would take you over 21.

Suits do not matter. A hand with an Ace still counting as 11 is soft (Ace-6 is soft 17); it cannot bust on the next card because the Ace will drop to 1. Once the Ace counts as 1 the hand is hard. CardCouch shows the total next to every hand as “Soft 17” or “Hard 16” so you always know which you hold. See the card values page for worked examples.

Betting and the deal

1. Put chips on the table: tap 5, 25, 100 or 500 (minimum bet 5). Deal again repeats your last bet.
2. You receive two cards face up. The dealer receives one card face up (the up-card) and one face down (the hole card).
3. If your first two cards are an Ace and a ten-value card you have a Blackjack, paid 3 to 2 immediately unless the dealer also has one.
4. If the dealer's up-card is an Ace or a ten, the dealer peeks at the hole card for Blackjack before you act, so you never pour more chips into a hand that was already lost.

Cards come from a six-deck shoe, reshuffled when about a quarter of the cards remain. The table tells you when a shuffle has just happened.

Hit, stand, double, split

• Hit: take one more card. You may keep hitting until you stand or bust.
• Stand: keep your total and end your turn on that hand.
• Double: double your bet and take exactly one more card, then stand automatically. Allowed on any first two cards, including after a split.
• Split: with a pair (two cards of the same value, including any two ten-value cards) split them into two hands, each with a bet equal to the original. Each hand then plays on its own; you may split again up to three hands in total. Split Aces receive one card each and cannot hit, and a 21 made after a split counts as an ordinary 21, not a Blackjack.

There is no surrender on CardCouch. Turn on the basic-strategy hint in the sidebar and the table shows the mathematically best action for every hand.

Insurance and even money

When the dealer's up-card is an Ace you are offered insurance: a side bet of half your stake that pays 2 to 1 if the dealer has Blackjack. If you hold a Blackjack yourself, the same offer is called even money: take a guaranteed 1 to 1 instead of risking a push. Both are legal in the rules here, and both are bad bets in the long run: the dealer has Blackjack less than a third of the time, so the side bet loses money. The strategy page shows the arithmetic.

How the dealer plays

Once every one of your hands has stood, doubled or bust, the dealer turns over the hole card and draws cards one at a time until the total is 17 or more, then stands. The dealer stands on soft 17 as well as hard 17. The dealer has no choices and never looks at your cards; if all your hands have already bust, the dealer does not draw at all.

What each hand pays

A doubled hand wins or loses double. A player Blackjack against a dealer Blackjack is a push.

Frequently asked questions

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