However, a soft hand is not guaranteed to improve after you’ve hit.

Players can request an extra card, or ‘hit’, or double on a soft hand without the risk of busting. Whenever an ace is valued at 11, the higher total is often referred to as a ‘soft’ total, so in the given example, 15 would be a ‘soft 15’. For example, when you combine an ace and four, your hand can be worth either five or 15. Aces can have two different values, of either one or eleven (you can choose which). In Blackjack, tens, jacks, queens and kings each have a value of ten. It can, however, be tied if the dealer's hand is also Blackjack. Blackjack must be dealt on your two first cards to count, and is unbeatable. The game’s best hand pays more than any other combination (up to 3:2 on your wager, depending on which game variant you are playing), and is made up of an ace and any card valued at ten - including any jack, queens, king or ten. The best hand in Blackjack is, unsurprisingly, ‘Blackjack’. Make sure you understand each variant’s rules, as this is a major aspect of how Blackjack is played and allows you to make important strategic decisions in each hand. There are strict rules as to how they do so, which differ depending on the Blackjack variant you are playing. When you have finished drawing cards, the dealer will complete their hand. When prompted, you can draw cards to your hand(s) in order to increase its total value. When the total value of your hand is 22 or more, this is more commonly known as ‘busting’, and you will automatically lose any money wagered.

Alternatively, you can win by having a score lower than 22 when the value of the dealer's hand exceeds 21. To do this, you must have a hand that scores higher than the dealer's hand, but does not exceed 21 in total value. The goal in any hand of Blackjack is to beat the dealer. After all wager(s) are placed, players will be dealt two cards face-up in front of their boxes, and the dealer will receive either one card (European style) or two cards with one face-up and one face-down (Atlantic City style), depending on the variant they are playing. Each table clearly states the minimum and maximum stakes that players can bet, and bet sizes can be chosen by clicking on the chip icon which denotes the correct value of a desired wager. In each round of Blackjack, players seated at the table begin by placing a bet into their respective betting positions, also known as ‘boxes’.

Casino blackjack dealer rules