The Rules of Online Casino Blackjack

The rules of blackjack are incredibly simple and easy to learn. The blackjack table features between five and nine playing positions around a semicircular table. At online casinos, this is usually between one and five playing positions. A single player can control and bet on as many playing positions as are available.

Blackjack Betting and the Deal

First, you must make a bet, by placing chips in the betting area in front of your playing position. The blackjack dealer then deals the cards, dealing two cards face up to each playing position. The blackjack dealer also deals two cards to himself, one face up and one face down. This face-down card is known as the ‘hole’ card.

At a casino the dealer deals from a ‘shoe’, and deals a single card clockwise to each player, and his face-up card, then a second card to each player, and his hole card. At an online casino, the cards are dealt automatically by the software.

Standing and Busting

The dealer does not reveal his hole card to himself, you, or any other player until all the players’ decisions have been made and each hand has been played out, with each player either ‘standing’ (choosing to take no further cards), or ‘busting’ (scoring more than 21 and automatically losing the hand).

The object of the game is to end up with a card total higher than the dealer’s, but without scoring higher than 21. If a blackjack hand goes higher than 21 it has ‘bust’ and automatically loses. All face cards (jacks, queens and kings) count as a 10, while aces can score as either an 11 or a 1.

Hitting, Standing, Doubling and Splitting

After the deal, each player, starting with the player immediately on the dealer’s left and rotating in a clockwise direction, is given a choice to ‘hit’ (taking another card adding to his total) or ‘stand’, and take no further cards. Depending on the first two cards, players also have the option to ‘double’ (doubling the bet and taking one more card only), or ‘split’ (making two hands out of a pair). If the dealer has an ace as his face-up card, you have the option of buying ‘Insurance’ which will protect your bet against the dealer having Blackjack.

After all players have either chosen to stand or busted, the dealer reveals his hole card. The dealer has no choice in his actions, and must deal himself cards until his hand is worth 17 or higher, at which point he must stand. The dealer never splits or doubles.

If you have a hand higher than the dealer’s, you win. If the dealer busts, every player that hasn’t also busted wins, regardless of the value of his hand. If the dealers hand is equal to a player’s hand, the hand is called a ‘push’ and the player’s bet is returned to him.

Casino.com is one of the world’s premier online casinos. To start playing blackjack at Casino.com, download our great software and create a real-money account. Make sure you read our How to Play Blackjack page first. For more information on the game, visit our History of Blackjack page, and to read more about the particular terms and phrases used while playing blackjack, see below. Have fun playing blackjack at Casino.com – the only place to play.

If you have any questions about Blackjack, please don’t hesitate to contact our customer service team.

Online Casino Blackjack Terms

Burn Card(s): Cards that are not given out to players in casino blackjack.
Bust: If a player’s hand value exceeds 21, he has bust and his hand automatically loses.
First Base: The first position to act in a round of online blackjack.
Flat Bet: Betting the same amount as the previous blackjack hand.
Hard Hand: A hand that does not have an ace.
Heads Up: A blackjack game in which only the dealer and a single player are playing.
Hit: The act of drawing a new card to add to the hand.
Hole Card: In casino blackjack, this refers to the face-down card that belongs to the dealer.
Natural: Two cards with the exact value of 21 in blackjack. Also called ‘blackjack’.
Push: In online casino blackjack, this refers to a tied round. The player’s original bet is returned.
Soft Hand: A blackjack hand that has an ace card, which is the equivalent to the number 11, and any other card whose value does not bring the total above 21. If the player’s hand does score higher than 21, the value of the ace is reduced to a 1 to prevent him from busting.
Split Hand: In online blackjack, this term refers to a hand with two cards of the same value that can then be split into two independent hands and played separately.
Spread: When a player places more than one bet in advance.
Stand: The decision not to draw any more cards.
Stiff (hand): This refers to a hand in online blackjack that has little or no chance of winning no matter what card is drawn next. This usually refers to hands that have the value of 12 to 16.
Face-up card: The dealer’s first card which is dealt face up.