Every rule,
every term.
The complete blackjack rulebook: card values, dealer mechanics, all five player actions, payouts, insurance, surrender, plus a glossary of every term you'll hear at the table or in any blackjack reference. Built to be the single answer for "what does this rule mean" without sending you back to Wikipedia.
What you are actually trying to do
The most common misconception is that the goal of blackjack is to get to 21. It is not. The goal is to beat the dealer — either by ending with a higher total without busting, or by surviving while the dealer busts.
A 17 wins as long as the dealer ends with 16 or less, or busts. A 21 loses if the dealer also has 21. There is no bonus for getting closer to 21; the only number that matters at hand-resolution time is who has more, with neither side over 21.
Card values: 2-10 are worth their face value. J, Q, K each worth 10. Ace is worth 1 OR 11, whichever is more useful for the hand at that moment. The flexibility of the ace is the entire reason "soft" hands exist as a category.
Every step of a hand, in order
The five things you can do
Take another card. Available any time you haven't stood, doubled, surrendered, or busted. Cannot be undone.
When your hand cannot beat the dealer's probable result. Hard 12-16 against 7+, soft 17 and below, hard 11 and below.
Decline another card and end your turn. The default action when your hand is strong enough to stop.
Hard 17+ regardless of dealer card. Hard 12-16 against dealer 2-6 (let the dealer bust). Soft 19+.
Double your bet, take exactly one more card, then automatically stand. Most tables only allow doubling on your first two cards.
Hard 11 against anything but ace. Hard 10 against 2-9. Hard 9 against 3-6. Several soft hands against weak dealer cards.
When dealt a pair, double your bet and play each card as the first card of a new hand. Each post-split hand acts independently.
Always split aces and 8s. Never split 5s (you'd give up a strong 10) or 10s (you'd give up a 20). Other pairs depend on the dealer card.
Give up half the bet to end the hand immediately. Available only on the first two cards, and only at tables that offer it.
Late surrender hard 16 vs 9, 10, A. Late surrender hard 15 vs 10. The table's worst hands — better to lose half than play them out.
What the dealer is forced to do
The dealer has no decisions. Every action is mechanical and posted on the table. This is what makes blackjack solvable — you know exactly what your opponent will do from the moment her hand is revealed.
Dealer rules (S17 — most common online live) Dealer total ≤ 16 → must hit Dealer total = 17+ → must stand (including soft 17) Dealer busts (>21) → all remaining player hands win Dealer rules (H17 — Vegas Strip standard) Dealer total ≤ 16 → must hit Dealer total = 17 → stand if hard 17, hit if soft 17 Dealer total = 18+ → must stand Dealer busts (>21) → all remaining player hands win
The H17 distinction is the most consequential rule difference between popular variants. Forcing the dealer to hit soft 17 means she busts more often (good for player) but also makes more 18-21 hands (bad for player). The net is roughly +0.20% to the house edge under H17 vs S17.
Dealer doesn't double, doesn't split, doesn't surrender, and doesn't take insurance. Whatever rules you see for the dealer at this casino, they apply identically to every hand she plays — no judgement calls.
What every result pays
| Result | Pays | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Blackjack (3:2) | +$1.50 per $1 | The standard. Two-card 21 wins immediately unless dealer also has blackjack (push). |
| Blackjack (6:5) | +$1.20 per $1 | The hidden tax. Adds +1.39% to the house edge by itself. Walk past 6:5 tables. |
| Win (no blackjack) | +$1.00 per $1 | Even-money on every non-blackjack win. Includes successful doubles (which pay $2 on the $2 doubled bet) and split hands. |
| Push | Bet returned | Tie. Player and dealer have the same total. Original bet returns to player; nobody wins or loses. |
| Loss | −$1.00 per $1 | Player busts, or dealer's total exceeds player's without busting. Bet is forfeited. |
| Insurance win | +$2.00 per $1 insurance | Pays 2:1 on the insurance bet (which is up to half the main bet) when dealer has blackjack. Most of the time, you lose the main bet anyway. |
| Surrender | −$0.50 per $1 | Half the bet returns; half is forfeited. Player's turn ends immediately. Better than playing out the worst hands (15 vs 10, 16 vs 9-A). |
The 3:2 vs 6:5 distinction is the single biggest rule variable on the floor. See /games/blackjack/odds for the math on why one payout change adds 1.39% to the house edge and is worse than every other rule trap combined.
Why this side bet exists and when to ignore it
When the dealer shows an ace, players are offered a side bet up to half their main bet that the dealer has a 10 in the hole (giving her blackjack). Insurance pays 2:1 when she does.
The math: the chance of a 10 in the hole given a fresh shoe is 16/49 ≈ 32.7%. Insurance pays 2:1, which would require a hit rate of 33.3% to be break-even. Off ~0.6%, so the house edge on insurance at random card composition is ~7.4%.
Skip insurance unconditionally as a non-counter. It is sold to players because it feels like protection when the dealer's ace looks scary, but it's a worse bet than every cell on the basic strategy chart except for a few very-low-EV cells, and crucially it operates independently of your main hand — you can lose both bets.
Even money is the same bet by another name: when you have blackjack and the dealer shows an ace, the dealer offers to pay you 1:1 immediately rather than waiting to see if she also has blackjack (in which case you push). Mathematically identical to taking insurance; same answer applies — skip.
The exception is card counters at true count ≥ +3, where the 10-rich shoe pushes the insurance hit rate above the 33.3% break-even and the bet becomes +EV. See /games/blackjack/card-counting.
The two actions that win you real money
Most of the EV in basic strategy comes from splitting pairs and doubling down. Hits and stands are the default actions; doubles and splits are how you turn strong situations into doubled-up wins.
Always split aces and 8s. Splitting aces takes a 12 (the only way to play A,A as a single hand) and turns it into two new hands, each starting with an 11 — the strongest single-card start in the game. Splitting 8s takes a 16 (the worst hand in the game) and gives you two starts of 8 — much better than playing 16 against most dealer cards.
Never split 5s or 10s. A pair of 5s totals 10 — the second-best doubling start in the game. Splitting them gives up that double for two hands starting at 5, both of which are weak. A pair of 10s totals 20, the second-best total in the game. Splitting throws away a near-certain win for two marginal-at-best hands.
Other pairs depend on the dealer's up card. The full chart on /games/blackjack/strategy shows every cell.
Doubling down: the player adds an equal bet, gets exactly one more card, then must stand. This is the single highest-EV play in the game when the conditions are right — most basic-strategy players miss between 30% and 60% of their +EV doubles, mostly out of risk aversion.
Every term explained
Alphabetized. Internal links from other pages anchor specific entries. If a term you're looking for isn't here, it's either a synonym for something that is, or a side-bet variant that's detailed on the relevant page.