The basics of online Blackjack

The game of Blackjack is one of the most widely played casino games, having been around for centuries in one form or another. Blending random chance with an element of player decision-making, this classic card game is quite simple at its core.

So, if you’re looking to play a game of online Blackjack, read on to discover the basics that every player needs to know.

A quick Blackjack primer

Before we go more in-depth, let’s have a little refresher on the very basics. Blackjack – also known as 21 – is a card game where players aim to have a hand value that’s closer to 21 than the dealer’s.

Even when there are multiple players in a game, they only need to worry about the value of the dealer’s hand rather than each other’s. This means that all players could potentially walk away with a payout, depending on how the game plays out.

Depending on the variant of Blackjack being played, between one and eight decks of playing cards are used. The more decks in play, the lower the odds of players being able to guess which card will be dealt next.

Each card is worth its face value (from two to ten), except for Aces. These are worth either one or 11, whichever value will benefit the overall hand more.

If a player’s hand value exceeds 21, this is known as going bust, meaning that they are out of the game.

How to play online Blackjack

Unlike Blackjack games played in a land-based casino venue, online Blackjack is played against the software rather than a live dealer. But, as the rules of Blackjack very specifically set out the actions of the dealer, this doesn’t make a major difference to how a game works.

Once a player joins an online Blackjack game, they will place their initial wager before the computer dealer deals out their initial two cards. At this point, the dealer will also receive two cards but only one of these will be shown.

Now the player needs to decide how to play their hand – unless they happened to get two cards totalling 21 in the initial deal. In that case, the dealer will reveal their second card without the player having to take any action.

The basic player actions are to hit – taking another card – or to stand – ending their turn and keeping their hand at its current value. Players can hit as many times as they want, at least until they either bust or stand.

When the player’s turn is over, the dealer will run through a specific order of actions. First, they will reveal their face-down card. If their hand value is less than 17, they will then hit until their hand reaches that value.

Either the dealer will go bust – resulting in an automatic payout for players with an active hand – or they will stand and compare their hand value against the player’s, determining the outcome of the game.

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Those are the very basics of online Blackjack. There’s plenty more detail to go into and options to explore, with many different varieties of the game available online.