Blackjack Online: Where & How to Play Blackjack

When you sit down at a blackjack table, the first thing you’ll have to do is make a bet. Depending on the amount you have in your bankroll and the table you choose, bet anywhere from 50 cents to hundreds of dollars on any given hand. While playing blackjack online, you simply click on the denomination you want to bet.

Once the bet has been made, the dealer will give everybody at the table two cards face-up, while the dealer will receive one card face up and one card face down.

Based on the total of the cards in your hand and an idea of the dealer’s hand strength, you decide whether to stick with the initial two-card hand, also known as stand, ask for another card, also known as hit, or in rarer cases, split ’em and play two hands or double down and receive one more card. We’ll go into how and why you would make these decisions later.

When the value of your cards is close to or at 21, you will stand and the dealer will reveal their hand. Whichever hand is closest to 21 without going over will win the round. If your hand ever exceeds 21, or “bust”, you immediately lose the game.

A “hit” is simply asking for another card from the dealer.

Depending on what the dealer is showing and the online casino’s rules, a general strategy would be to ‘hit’ when your cards total fourteen or less.

“Standing” is choosing to receive no more cards from the dealer.

A player would “stand” when they’re confident they have a high enough hand to beat the dealer, typically on hands that total fifteen or more (depending on what the dealer is showing.)

“Doubling down” is choosing to double your original bet and committing to receiving only one more card from the dealer.

As an example, a player should generally “double down” if their hand totals 10 or 11, as the odds of the next card being a ten or face card is in the player’s favor in the long run. Again, this will depend on what the dealer is showing as well as the casino’s dealer rules.

Remember – doubling down doubles a player’s bet, and they only get one more card. If the player gets a good card and win, they win double, but if they get a bad card and lose, they’ll lose double.

A “split” is only an option when a player is dealt a pair. “Splitting” a pair turns the original pair into two separate hands, doubling the amount of hands the player has on the table and doubling the player’s current bet.

For example, if a player was dealt two 8s, they could split these. They would then have two hands worth 8 each, and receive an additional card for each hand. They’d then play these hands the same way they’d play one – choosing to hit, stand, double down, or even to split again.

Choosing when to split is a bit complicated, and depends on which pair you receive, and what the dealer’s showing. When you’re choosing to split, remember these three things:

• Don’t split a winning hand. If you’re dealt two 10s, it’s tempting to double down, but don’t. If you’re dealt two 10s, you know you have twenty, which is likely a winning total. Hold tight.
• Only split good cards. Remember, you’re turning these cards into new hands, so only split cards that you actually For example, if you’re dealt a pair of fours (a low, mathematically unfriendly card) there’s no point in splitting – you’ll just end up with extra hands full of fours.
• Each time you split, your wager doubles. Just try to remember what you’re getting into – splitting doubles your potential winnings, but also your potential losses.