Blackjack

Get close to 21 without going over and beat the dealer, with an advisor and card counting.

Six-deck shoe, doubling, splitting up to four hands, insurance and blackjack paying 3 to 2. An optional advisor teaches basic strategy and Hi-Lo counting.

Players: 1 player
Length: 10 min

Solo
Online with a friend

Play Blackjack

15 days of full access, no account · No download

How to play

Goal of the game

Get a hand closer to 21 than the dealer’s, without ever going over 21. Cards from 2 to 10 are worth their number, face cards are worth 10 and the ace is worth 1 or 11. A hand containing an ace counted as 11 is called soft.

How it works

Place your bet with the chips ($5 to $1,000), then Deal. You receive two face-up cards; the dealer gets one face up and one face down.
Hit: receive a card. Stand: keep your total. Double: double your bet on your first two cards and receive a single card.
Split: two cards of the same value form two separate hands, each with its own bet (up to four hands; doubling after splitting is allowed). Split aces receive only one card each, and a 21 made after splitting is not a blackjack.
The dealer draws until 16 and stands on 17; depending on the option chosen, they stand or hit on a soft 17.

Payouts

Blackjack (an ace and a ten-value card in two cards): 3 to 2.
Winning hand: 1 to 1. Tie: bet returned.
Insurance: if the dealer shows an ace, you may bet half your wager; it pays 2 to 1 if they have a blackjack. With a blackjack of your own, you are offered even money (an immediate 1 to 1).
The dealer checks for blackjack with an ace or a ten showing: you then lose only your original bet.

Shoe

Six decks of 52 cards are shuffled into a shoe. A cut card is inserted about three quarters of the way through: when it comes out, the shoe is reshuffled after the hand. Your bankroll is kept from one session to the next.

Controls

H hit, S stand, D double, P split, Enter deal, Y / N for insurance.

Hi-Lo counting

Each card seen changes the running count: +1 for cards from 2 to 6, 0 for 7, 8 and 9, −1 for tens, face cards and aces. The true count divides the running count by the number of decks remaining in the shoe. The higher it is, the richer the shoe is in high cards, which favour the player: you then raise your bet.

Tip: basic strategy reduces the house edge to about 0.4%. Never take insurance… unless the true count reaches +3.

About the advisor

The advisor applies the exact basic strategy for six decks ("stand" or "hit" variant on soft 17, doubling after splitting allowed). When count training is on, it adds the 17 deviations of the "Illustrious 18" and insurance at a true count of +3. The dealer never cheats: the shoe is shuffled at random and the hole card influences nothing.