If you’re new to the game of blackjack then there are a couple of important things to remember before you go hell for leather at the table. Blackjack isn’t a game of luck; knowing how to play the game, using developed strategies and tips will all give you an advantage over the house. 

The casino or house has a 2%-3% advantage at the Blackjack table which believe it or not is pretty good given the house advantage over some of the other casino games. But, despite this low advantage, blackjack tables are the second highest source of revenue for casinos. This seems a little strange – how exactly does a game with such good odds for players bring in so much revenue for the casino?

The answer is simple – players make too many mistakes, through arrogance, ignorance or plain errors. Because the odds are in the players favour, many tend to go out with a ‘beat the house’ attitude and end up losing instead. When enough people play this way the errors mount up and so does the casino revenue!

As a beginner you do not want to fall into this trap so remember these tips:

• Find a table whose minimum is no more than 5% of you total stash – if you have £20 to play with then make sure that the minimum you can play with is £1 per hand.
• Since the dealer has to hit (take a card) on any hand 16 or lower, you’ll never win with less than 17 unless the dealer busts.
• Take a hit on your hand below 17 when the dealer shows Ace, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8 or 7
• If you are dealt two cards of the same value, you may “split” them, doubling your bet and playing two hands.
• Never split 10′s or 5′s.
• Always split 8′s or 7′s against a dealer’s card of equal or lower value.

These are only meant as basic beginner tips – if you’ve already gotten a handle on the game you should move on to more advance tips, also available in this section.

The value assigned to cards in Blackjack differs slightly from other casino games like poker or Baccarat. In Blackjack the values of the picture cards (King, Queen, Jack) is 10, The Ace can be valued as 1 or 11, all other cards have same value as is printed on them. See our examples below.

How Cards Score In Blackjack

Here’s our quick guide to card values.

All the cards above are worth the the values written on them. 2,3,4,5,6 etc etc.

All the cards above (King, Queen, Jack and Ten) are worth 10.

The Ace can be worth 1 or 11, suits such as Heart or Clubs have no bearing in a game of Blackjack.

Examples Of Blackjack Hands

Here are some simple examples of hands you might get dealt in Blackjack.

The hand above (7, King) scores 17, with a total of 17 you would normal stand and take no more cards.

The hand above (8, 3) scores 11, with a low total like this you would be wise to take another card from the dealer. As a deck of cards contains more cards with a value of 10 (4 Kings, 4 Queens, 4 Jacks and 4 Tens) than any other number, the odds are you’ll hit a 10 card making a total of 21!

The hand above ( Ace, 8 ) can be worth two different amounts, if you remember that the Aces can be 1 or 11, then the hand is worth 9 or 19.

The hand above (Queen, Ace) scores 21, this is known as a ‘Natural Blackjack’ you will be paid out more for a natural Blackjack.