Blackjack basics

The goal

You’re not trying to get 21. You’re trying to beat the dealer’s hand without going over 21. If you stand on 17 and the dealer busts, you win. If you draw to 21 but the dealer also has 21, it’s a push and you get your bet back.

Card values

• 2 to 10: face value.
• Jack, Queen, King: 10 each.
• Ace: 1 or 11, whichever helps your hand.

A hand with an ace counted as 11 is a soft hand (ace and 6 is “soft 17”). A hand without an ace, or with the ace forced to count 1, is a hard hand.

A blackjack (or “natural”) is an ace and a 10-value card as your first two cards. It beats any other 21 and normally pays 3:2.

How a round works

1. Place your bet within the table’s limits.
2. You get two cards face up. The dealer gets one face up (the up-card) and one face down.
3. You make your decisions (below), one hand at a time.
4. The dealer reveals the hole card and draws by fixed rules: usually hit on 16 or less, stand on 17 or more.
5. Hands are settled. Over 21 loses. Otherwise the higher total wins, equal totals push.

The dealer has no choices. That’s important: it means you can work out the best response to every situation.

Your options

• Hit: take another card.
• Stand: keep your total and end your turn.
• Double down: double your bet, take exactly one more card, then stand. Best when you’re likely to win with one card, such as 11 against a weak dealer card.
• Split: if your first two cards are a pair, split them into two hands with a second bet of the same size.
• Surrender: where allowed, give up half your bet and fold the hand. Useful on very bad hands, like hard 16 against a dealer 10.
• Insurance: offered when the dealer shows an ace. Don’t take it (see below).

Basic strategy, simplified

Full basic strategy is a chart that covers every hand. The rules below cover most of it and get you close to the full value. “Weak” dealer cards are 2 to 6; “strong” dealer cards are 7 to ace.

Hard hands

• 8 or less: always hit.
• 9: double against dealer 3 to 6, otherwise hit.
• 10: double against dealer 2 to 9, otherwise hit.
• 11: double against everything except, on some rules, an ace.
• 12: stand against dealer 4 to 6, otherwise hit.
• 13 to 16: stand against dealer 2 to 6, hit against 7 to ace.
• 17 or more: always stand.

Soft hands

• Soft 13 to 17 (A-2 to A-6): hit, or double against dealer 4 to 6 (5 to 6 for A-2 and A-3, 3 to 6 for A-6).
• Soft 18 (A-7): stand against 2, 7 and 8; double against 3 to 6; hit against 9, 10 and ace.
• Soft 19 or more: stand.

Pairs

• Always split aces and 8s.
• Never split 10s or 5s. Treat 5-5 as a hard 10.
• Split 2s, 3s, 6s, 7s and 9s against weak dealer cards (with some exceptions in the full chart).

The logic is simple once you see it: when the dealer shows a weak card, they’re likely to bust, so you stand on stiff hands and let them take the risk. When the dealer shows a strong card, you need to improve your hand.

Rules that change the odds

Blackjack tables differ in small rules that make a real difference. Before you sit, check the info screen for:

The single most important one is the payout on blackjack. A 6:5 table can be four times as expensive as a good 3:2 table, even with perfect strategy.

Side bets and insurance

Insurance is offered when the dealer shows an ace. It’s a separate bet, half your stake, that pays 2:1 if the dealer has blackjack. With roughly 4 ten-value cards in every 13, the dealer completes blackjack less than a third of the time, so 2:1 isn’t enough. Over time insurance loses about 7% of what you put on it.

Side bets like Perfect Pairs and 21+3 pay big multiples but carry house edges from roughly 3% to over 10%. They turn a low-edge game into a high-edge one.

A worked example in Rands

Say you bring R1,000 to a live blackjack table and bet R50 a hand for 80 hands (about an hour). That’s R4,000 in bets.

• With basic strategy on a 3:2 table: expected loss about R20 (0.5%).
• Guessing, or copying the dealer’s rules: expected loss around R80 to R220 (2% to 5.5%).
• On a 6:5 table with basic strategy: expected loss about R76 (about 1.9%).
• Adding a R10 Perfect Pairs side bet every hand: another R800 bet at roughly a 4% to 6% edge, so about R30 to R50 more.

A single session swings far more than these averages, up or down, because each hand is worth R50. But the strategy and the table you choose change the cost of an hour by several times.

Online and live blackjack

• RNG blackjack is dealt by a random number generator and reshuffles every hand. It’s fast and often has low minimums.
• Live blackjack has a real dealer and shoe, streamed from a studio. Seats are limited and minimums are often R20 to R50. Our live casino guide covers how it works.

Card counting doesn’t work in either. RNG games reshuffle each hand, and live tables use deep shoes or shuffle early.

Blackjack and bonuses

Blackjack usually counts very little towards bonus wagering, often 0% to 10%, because its house edge is so low. Some casinos exclude it entirely. If you want to play blackjack, it’s often better to play without a bonus than to take one you can only clear on slots. Our guide to bonus terms explains game weighting.

Myths to ignore

• “The dealer is due a bust.” Every hand is independent.
• “Always assume the hole card is a 10.” It’s a rough shortcut, not a strategy; the chart above is better.
• “Raise your bet after a loss to win it back.” That’s the Martingale, and a short losing streak at a table maximum ends it. See our bankroll management guide.

The bottom line

Blackjack rewards good decisions more than any other casino game, and basic strategy gets you within half a percent of an even game. It still favours the house, and short-term results are mostly luck. Learn the strategy, choose a 3:2 table, skip insurance and side bets, and set your budget before you sit down. If it stops being fun, help is free on 0800 006 008.

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