How to play Blackjack well once you know the rules: the decisions that matter, and the habits that win.
Every decision in blackjack comes from two numbers: your total and the dealer's face-up card. A dealer showing 2 to 6 has to draw to 17 from a weak start and busts often, so you can afford to stand on stiff totals and let them take the risk. A dealer showing 7 to ace is likely to finish on 17 or better, so a total of 16 is usually a loser if you stand.
The rules below are basic strategy for a dealer who stands on soft 17, which is the default at this table. They do not beat the house, but they cut its edge to well under one percent, which is as close as the game allows.
Always stand on 17 or more, and always hit on 8 or less. On 13 to 16, stand against a dealer 2 to 6 and hit against 7 to ace. On 12, stand only against 4, 5 or 6 — against a 2 or 3 the dealer busts less often than it feels.
Hitting 16 against a 10 feels wrong, and it loses more often than it wins. Standing loses more still. When both choices are bad, take the less bad one.
Doubling is where you win back what the house takes elsewhere, so do not shy away from it. Double on 11 against anything except an ace, on 10 against 2 to 9, and on 9 against 3 to 6. You get exactly one card, which is why the good doubles are the totals where one card most often makes a strong hand.
Soft hands double too. Double soft 17 and soft 18 against a dealer 3 to 6, soft 15 and 16 against 4 to 6, and soft 13 and 14 against 5 or 6. Otherwise hit soft 17 or less, and on soft 18 stand against 2, 7 and 8 and hit against 9, 10 or ace.
Always split aces and eights. Two aces are a soft 12 as one hand and two chances at 21 as two; two eights are 16, the worst total there is. Never split tens — 20 is already a winning hand — and never split fives, which are a 10 to double on.
Split nines against 2 to 6, 8 and 9, and stand on them against 7, 10 and ace. Split sevens against 2 to 7, twos and threes against 4 to 7, and sixes against 3 to 6. Fours are played as a hard 8. A hand here can be split only once, and split aces take one card each and are finished.
Insurance is a side bet that the dealer's hidden card is worth ten. Four of the thirteen ranks are, so it wins a little under a third of the time and pays two to one — a losing bet over any number of hands, even when you hold blackjack yourself.
The same goes for any system that changes your bet after a loss. Doubling up after every losing hand does not change the odds of the next one; it only makes the losing streak that comes eventually much more expensive.
Even perfect basic strategy loses slowly, and swings of ten bets or more are ordinary. Keep each bet a small share of your stack — a twentieth or less — so an unlucky run is something you sit through rather than the end of the evening.
If you want a simple rule for the table: bet the same amount every hand, make every decision by the rules above, and judge a session by whether you played it right rather than by whether you won.