Blackjack Rules — Splits, Doubles, Surrender & Dealer Variants

This is the complete rules reference for blackjack — every option, every dealer obligation, every variant that changes the odds. The goal of blackjack is straightforward: finish the hand with a higher total than the dealer without exceeding 21. If your total goes above 21, you bust and lose your stake immediately, regardless of what the dealer subsequently holds. If you beat the dealer’s total without busting, you win even money on your stake. Simple in concept, layered in execution — and that layering is what this guide covers in full.

Card values

Blackjack uses one or more standard 52-card decks. Each card carries a fixed point value:

• Number cards (2–10): worth their face value. A 7 is worth 7, a 4 is worth 4, and so on.
• Face cards (Jack, Queen, King): each worth 10 points.
• Ace: worth either 1 or 11, whichever is more favourable to the holder at the time.

Because the ace is flexible, blackjack hands fall into two categories:

• Hard hand: a hand that contains no ace, or one where the ace must be counted as 1 to avoid busting. Example: 9 + 7 = 16 (hard 16). Or: ace + 9 + 8 = 18, where the ace must count as 1 (hard 18).
• Soft hand: a hand that contains an ace currently counted as 11, meaning you cannot bust on the next card. Example: ace + 6 = soft 17. Drawing a 10 gives you ace + 6 + 10 = 17, with the ace dropping to 1 — still a valid hand.

This distinction matters because the dealer’s rules treat soft and hard totals differently, and basic strategy recommends different plays for soft versus hard totals of the same number.

How a hand is played

A standard blackjack hand follows this sequence:

1. All players place their bets before any cards are dealt.
2. The dealer deals two cards to each player, face up, and two cards to themselves — one face up (the upcard) and one face down (the hole card).
3. If the dealer’s upcard is an ace, players are offered insurance before play continues (covered below).
4. If the dealer’s upcard is a 10-value card or an ace, the dealer checks the hole card for blackjack. If the dealer has blackjack, the round ends immediately.
5. Each player acts on their hand in turn, choosing from the options described in the next section.
6. Once all players have completed their hands, the dealer reveals the hole card and plays out their hand according to fixed rules.
7. Hands are settled: wins pay even money (1:1), a player blackjack pays 3:2, busted hands lose, and ties (pushes) return the original stake.

Blackjack (natural): a two-card hand totalling 21 — an ace plus any 10-value card. This is the best possible hand and typically pays 3:2 on the original stake. If both the player and the dealer hold blackjack, the hand is a push.

Push: a tie between player and dealer. Neither wins; the stake is returned.

Bust: any hand exceeding 21. A player who busts loses their stake immediately, before the dealer reveals the hole card.

Player options explained

After receiving their initial two cards, each player has up to five options. Not all options are available on every hand or at every table.

Hit

Take one additional card from the dealer. You may hit as many times as you choose, as long as your total remains below 21. Hitting is automatic if you reach exactly 21 — the hand is complete. If you exceed 21, you bust.

Signal at a physical table: tap the felt with a finger, or wave toward yourself.

Stand

Take no more cards. Your total is final. The dealer will then proceed to the next player or reveal the hole card.

Signal at a physical table: wave your hand horizontally, palm down, over the cards.

Double down

Doubling means increasing the original stake by the same amount and receiving exactly one more card. Under many common rulesets, strategy tables call for this option with some starting totals of 9, 10 or 11. The exact decision also depends on the dealer’s upcard and the table rules.

Some casinos restrict doubling to totals of 9, 10, and 11 only. Others allow doubling on any two-card total. Doubling after a split (DAS) is a separate rule, covered under variants below.

Signal at a physical table: place an additional chip stack beside (not on top of) the original bet.

Split

If your first two cards are of the same value — two 8s, two 7s, two aces, a Jack and a King (both worth 10), and so on — you may split them into two separate hands. You place an additional stake equal to your original bet, and each card becomes the first card of an independent hand. The dealer then deals a second card to each hand, and you play them out individually.

Key points about splitting:

• Aces: many rulesets allow only one additional card on each split ace, with no option to hit again.
• 10-value pairs: a split changes one total of 20 into two separate starting hands. Basic-strategy tables normally classify these cards as a stand rather than a split.
• Resplitting: if you split and one of the new hands immediately forms another pair, some tables allow you to split again (resplit). The number of permitted resplits varies by table rules.

Signal at a physical table: place the additional chip beside the original bet and hold up two fingers to indicate a split, not a double.

Surrender

Forfeit your hand and recover half your original stake. This option is not available at all tables, and where it is offered it comes in two forms:

• Late surrender: available after the dealer has checked for blackjack. If the dealer has blackjack, surrender is not available — you simply lose. This is by far the more common form.
• Early surrender: available before the dealer checks for blackjack. Because you can surrender even when the dealer ultimately holds blackjack, early surrender is significantly more valuable to the player. It is rare in modern casinos.

Late-surrender decisions vary by ruleset. A strategy chart written for the table’s number of decks, S17/H17 rule and surrender rule shows whether surrender is included for a particular hand.

Signal at a physical table: draw a line behind your bet with your index finger while saying “surrender.”

The dealer’s rules

The dealer operates under strictly fixed rules and makes no independent decisions. There is no bluffing, no tactical adjustment — only mandatory actions:

• If the dealer’s total is 16 or lower, the dealer must take another card.
• If the dealer’s total is hard 18 or higher, the dealer must stand.
• The treatment of soft 17 depends on the table rules in force:

S17 — stand on soft 17: the dealer stands on all totals of 17, including soft 17 (for example, ace + 6).

H17 — hit soft 17: the dealer must take an additional card on soft 17. H17 adds about 0.22 percentage points to the house edge compared with S17, according to the Wizard of Odds blackjack rule analysis.

The dealer never doubles down, never splits, and never surrenders. The hole card is revealed only after all players have completed their hands. If the dealer busts, all players who have not already busted win automatically at even money.

Insurance

When the dealer’s upcard is an ace, the casino offers insurance before play continues. Insurance is a separate side wager of up to half your original stake. If the dealer’s hole card is a 10-value card — completing a blackjack — insurance pays 2:1, effectively cancelling the loss on the main hand. If the dealer does not have blackjack, the insurance bet is lost and play continues normally.

Insurance pays 2:1. In a six-deck game, its house edge is about 7.4%, according to the Wizard of Odds blackjack probabilities. The figure changes with the number of decks and the cards already visible.

“Even money” — an offer of 1:1 when the player holds blackjack and the dealer shows an ace — is mathematically equivalent to placing insurance on that hand.

Common rule variants

The rules above describe the standard game, but specific rule configurations vary considerably between casinos and tables. These are the variants that most affect the player’s expected return:

Number of decks: blackjack can be played with different numbers of decks shuffled together in a shoe. The number of decks affects the probabilities, so strategy tables state which deck configuration they cover.

Blackjack payout — 3:2 versus 6:5: the standard payout for a natural blackjack is 3:2: a stake of 10 credits produces 15 credits in winnings. At 6:5, the same stake produces 12 credits. The 6:5 rule adds about 1.39 percentage points to the house edge compared with 3:2, according to the Wizard of Odds blackjack rule analysis.

Double after split (DAS): whether the rules permit doubling on a hand formed after splitting a pair. The effect depends on the full ruleset; the Wizard of Odds rule analysis lists about 0.14 percentage points for allowing DAS in its reference game.

Resplitting aces: if splitting aces is allowed and one of the resulting hands forms another pair of aces, some tables allow you to split again. The option to resplit aces (RSA) lowers the house edge slightly.

Early versus late surrender: as described above, early surrender is significantly more valuable to the player and is rarely offered. Late surrender, which is more common, still has value when used according to basic strategy.

European no-hole-card rule: under this rule, the dealer does not take a hole card until after all players have acted. If the dealer then reveals blackjack, the rules may also expose additional stakes placed through doubling or splitting. The settlement rule changes some basic-strategy decisions.

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The blackjack basic-strategy guide explains how a defined ruleset changes the chart. The blackjack overview describes the full round and provides a free simulation of the game mechanics.