Atlassino Academy · Blackjack · Lesson 3 of 21
Hit, stand, double, split, surrender
The five moves a blackjack table offers you, what each one buys, and when the table stops letting you make it — worked out for the rules published in B.C., Quebec and Ontario.
The third lesson of the blackjack track. You need to be able to count a hand and to know roughly how a round goes; Card values, soft and hard hands and How a round goes teach both. Here you get the five moves themselves: what each move does to your cards, what it does to your bet, and the moment the table stops letting you make it. Which of the five to pick on a given hand is lessons 3.6 to 3.9.
Two eights against the dealer’s ten. Before you decide anything: how many different moves do the rules actually let you make right now?
The short answer
Five moves. Hit takes one more card, stand takes none, double adds a second bet and buys exactly one card, split turns one hand into two hands with a bet on each, surrender hands the cards back and the dealer keeps half your bet. Doubling, splitting and surrendering are offered on your first two cards and nowhere else: take one card and you cannot double, split or surrender that hand any more. Splitting is the only move that opens the double again, and splitting opens it because each new hand starts at two cards.
Leoformer dealer · rules and maths
I dealt this game for years, and the commonest mistake I saw was not a poor decision. It was a player who did not know a move existed — who played two eights as one hand of sixteen because nobody had ever told him he could make it two hands.
The five moves, and what each one buys
| Move | What happens to your cards | What happens to your bet |
|---|---|---|
| Hit | You take one more card, to get closer to 21 without going over, and you may keep taking them. | Nothing: the bet stays exactly as it is |
| Stand | You take no more cards and keep the total you are already holding. | Nothing: the bet stays exactly as it is |
| Double down | One more card — exactly one — and then the hand is finished, whatever that card turns out to be. | A second bet goes down beside the first |
| Split | Two cards of the same value become two hands. You finish the first hand before the second hand is played, and each hand takes at least one card. | A second bet the size of the first, one for each new hand |
| Surrender | You hand the two cards back before you have played them, and the hand is over. | The dealer takes half your bet and you keep the other half |
- A double goes on any two cards. Nine, eleven, sixteen: what matters is that you are holding two cards, not what those two cards add up to. The one hand you may not double is a hand that is already a blackjack.
- The second bet on a double is not the same size everywhere. At a table in B.C. it may match your first bet or be smaller, as long as it still clears the table minimum; at a table in Quebec it must be an amount equal to your first bet; and at the casinos of one Ontario operator it may be anything up to your first bet. What a smaller second bet costs you is lesson 3.7.
- If the dealer turns up a blackjack, there is nothing to surrender from. The dealer settles the hand before the choice ever reaches you.
A table will also offer you insurance. Insurance is a bet on the dealer’s hand rather than a move on your own, so it is not one of the five, and it has a lesson of its own, 3.12.
Hit, stand, split and double you make with your hands rather than with your voice: a signal the dealer is watching for, or, for a split and a double, the second bet itself going down on the cloth. Which gesture means which move is lesson 3.4, and if one of the four slips your mind at the table, ask the dealer to show you.
When each move opens and closes
| The moment | Hit | Stand | Double | Split | Surrender |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your first two cards | yes | yes | yes | if a pair | yes |
| After you take one card | yes | yes | no | no | no |
| Each new hand after a split | yes | yes | yes | if a pair | no |
| A split ace, once its one card lands | nothing — the hand is over | ||||
| After a double | nothing — the hand is over | ||||
| A hard 21 | no | yes | no | no | no |
- You may not hit a hard 21, and you may not hit a blackjack. Those two hands are the only place in the game where the rules take an ordinary move away for the total you are holding rather than for the number of cards you are holding.
- In Quebec the dealer takes a second card face down, and nothing at all is open to you until the dealer has looked at that card and found no blackjack there. How a round is dealt is lesson 3.2.
- A hand made by a split can be split again if it is a pair. Where a limit on how many hands you may end up with is printed, that limit is four hands.
- An ace and a ten on a split hand is 21, not a blackjack. The dealer pays a 21 made that way one to one.
Surrender, and the tables that have it
Not every table offers a surrender. The sign at the table says which moves that table takes, and where the sign does not say, the dealer will: the two-deck game in B.C. does not offer a surrender at all. No page we could find beforehand lists which rooms take a surrender, so the sign and the dealer at the table are the two places to ask.
The dealer shows the ten of clubs, and you hold the ten of diamonds and the six of spades. Each amount below is what the hand loses on average if you make that move.
The dealer shows the six of hearts, and you hold the ten of spades and the six of diamonds. Each amount below is what the hand loses on average if you make that move.
Amounts are in Canadian dollars. Each amount is an average per hand on an example bet of $10 — an example, not a suggested bet — and a longer bar is a dearer choice. The bar for handing the cards back is the same in both pictures: half a bet is half a bet whatever the dealer is showing.
Half of your bet is a fixed price; what the hand would have been worth if you had played it is not. A sixteen against a ten is a hand you are going to lose most of the time however you play it, so handing it back for half is the cheapest thing the rules let you do with it. The same sixteen against a six is a hand worth standing on: standing on the sixteen costs far less than half a bet, so handing that hand back throws money away. Which hands fall on which side of that line is lesson 3.6.
A surrender is worth more to you than it looks, and the price of the whole game says so. Take the surrender off this table, change nothing else about it, and playing every hand by the full chart costs more on every bet you make.
Both bars are the price of playing every hand by the full chart: the share of each bet the house keeps on average. The shaded piece on the second bar is what taking one single move off the table adds to that price — one clause, across a whole chart. What the rest of the rules on the sign do to that price is lesson 3.11.
What a move you do not know costs
The chart that answers which move to make holds 330 answers — one for every hand you can be dealt against every card the dealer can show. The squares a move you have never heard of would have answered are squares you cannot reach, however well you know the other four moves. Which answer goes in which square is lessons 3.6 to 3.10.
Every square in the chart is one answer to one hand against one dealer card, and the bars count the squares each move answers. Taking a card and standing answer most of the chart between them. The three moves that close after your first card answer far fewer squares, and the surrender answers the fewest squares of all — so a table that takes no surrender leaves the rest of the chart alone and changes the answer on those few squares only.
What it costs to play a hand without one of those moves depends entirely on which hand it is: on some hands a few cents, on others most of the bet.
| The hand | The move you do not know | What playing it out instead costs | Where that choice is taught |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fifteen against a ten | Surrender | $0.03 | 3.6 |
| Sixteen against a ten | Surrender | $0.35 | 3.6 |
| Nine against a three | Double | $0.26 | 3.7 |
| Eleven against a six | Double | $3.37 | 3.7 |
| Two eights against a ten | Split | $0.60 | 3.9 |
| Two eights against a six | Split | $8.14 | 3.9 |
| Two aces against a six | Split | $4.90 | 3.9 |
One last thing, for the split. A pair reaches you oftener than it looks as though it should, because a ten, a jack, a queen and a king are all ten points and so pair with one another.
- A pair you may splitabout once in 6.9 hands
- A pair of the same rankabout once in 13.5 hands
- Pairs that are two ten-value cards64.7%
- A pair of acesabout once in 176 hands
The second bet, with Maya
- Count bets, not hands. Three splits and two doubles in an evening are five more bets out of the same limit.
- A strategy card at the table is normal. Ask the dealer for one, or pick one up in the building.
What knowing the moves does, and what it does not
Playing a hand correctly does not decide how it ends. What it does is make the game cost less.
The house keeps its edge; the chart only makes it smaller. Play every hand by the full chart and the house still keeps a share of every bet you place. That is the price of the game, lowered and not removed.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Set your time and your budget before you sit down (Game plan walks you through it), and count the second bets inside that budget rather than beside it.
A run of poor hands is not a debt the table owes you, and doubling your way out of one only makes the hour dearer. If the money on the cloth starts to feel like money you need, stop there and call one of the lines below — that is what they are for.
If it stops being fun
If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. 19+ in most of Canada; 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. More on responsible gaming.
Practice table
A hand is dealt and you say what the rules allow right now — not which move is wisest, which is the next few lessons. Level 1 deals hands of two cards, where the list is at its widest. Level 2 deals hands where a card has already been taken, or where a split has just opened a window again. The lesson is one run: every square on the strip below is one moment of it, and they are all there from the start. Only your first answer on each moment counts, and when a level’s squares are full the next level begins by itself. Each answer is explained with the clause it rests on.
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Level 1 · Two cards on the cloth
Blackjack · B.C. · rules of play published by BCLC
Dealer
You
What do the rules of this table let you do right now?
The answer: Hit, stand, double, split and surrender.
All five. Two cards is the widest the list ever gets: everything a blackjack table offers you is available on the first two cards, and each card you take afterwards only narrows it.
In our words: you may double on any first two cards by adding a second bet.
In our words: A doubled hand gets exactly one more card.
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.3 to 4.3.4.a · readDOUBLE DOWN, i.e. bet an additional amount equal to their initial bet on a two-card hand, except if the hand is a blackjack.
In any event, once the player doubles down, they are dealt one last card.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read
In our words: if your first two cards have the same value, you can split them into separate hands.
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9 · readSPLIT, i.e. separate two cards of the same value (e.g. king and 10, pair of 9s) to play more than one hand, for a maximum of four hands.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read
In our words: after your first two cards and before you act, you may surrender.
In our words: When you surrender, the house keeps half your bet and returns the rest.
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.5 to 4.5.2 · readLevel 2 · After a card, and after a split
Blackjack · B.C. · rules of play published by BCLC
Dealer
You
You held nine, took a card and now hold thirteen. What do the rules let you do right now?
The answer: Hit and stand.
Two. This is the sentence to carry away: the first card you take ends the double and the surrender for that hand, whatever the cards turn out to be.
You can only double down after you receive your first two cards and before drawing another card.OLG PlaySmart · Blackjack — how to play · read
In our words: after your first two cards and before you act, you may surrender.
In our words: When you surrender, the house keeps half your bet and returns the rest.
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.5 to 4.5.2 · read| The hand | What the rules allow | The words it rests on |
|---|---|---|
| What do the rules of this table let you do right now? | Hit, stand, double, split and surrender All five. Two cards is the widest the list ever gets: everything a blackjack table offers you is available on the first two cards, and each card you take afterwards only narrows it. | In our words: you may double on any first two cards by adding a second bet. In our words: A doubled hand gets exactly one more card. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.3 to 4.3.4.a · readDOUBLE DOWN, i.e. bet an additional amount equal to their initial bet on a two-card hand, except if the hand is a blackjack. In any event, once the player doubles down, they are dealt one last card.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read In our words: if your first two cards have the same value, you can split them into separate hands. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9 · readSPLIT, i.e. separate two cards of the same value (e.g. king and 10, pair of 9s) to play more than one hand, for a maximum of four hands.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read In our words: after your first two cards and before you act, you may surrender. In our words: When you surrender, the house keeps half your bet and returns the rest. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.5 to 4.5.2 · read |
| The same two eights, at a table whose published rules never use the word surrender. Which moves does that book name for you? | Hit, stand, double and split Four. Of the three rule books this track follows, one names surrender and two do not use the word at all. A book that says nothing about a move has not refused it; it has said nothing. | In the event that the house does not get a blackjack and the house's second card has not yet been revealed, players may:Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read In our words: if your first two cards have the same value, you can split them into separate hands. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9 · readSPLIT, i.e. separate two cards of the same value (e.g. king and 10, pair of 9s) to play more than one hand, for a maximum of four hands.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read In our words: you may double on any first two cards by adding a second bet. In our words: A doubled hand gets exactly one more card. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.3 to 4.3.4.a · readDOUBLE DOWN, i.e. bet an additional amount equal to their initial bet on a two-card hand, except if the hand is a blackjack. In any event, once the player doubles down, they are dealt one last card.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read |
| What do the rules of this table let you do right now? | Hit, stand, double and surrender Four: everything except the split, because a six and a five are not of equal value. Note that the double is open on any two-card hand — the rule counts cards, not totals. | In our words: you may double on any first two cards by adding a second bet. In our words: A doubled hand gets exactly one more card. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.3 to 4.3.4.a · readDOUBLE DOWN, i.e. bet an additional amount equal to their initial bet on a two-card hand, except if the hand is a blackjack. In any event, once the player doubles down, they are dealt one last card.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read In our words: if your first two cards have the same value, you can split them into separate hands. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9 · readSPLIT, i.e. separate two cards of the same value (e.g. king and 10, pair of 9s) to play more than one hand, for a maximum of four hands.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read In our words: after your first two cards and before you act, you may surrender. In our words: When you surrender, the house keeps half your bet and returns the rest. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.5 to 4.5.2 · read |
| A king and a ten. What do the rules let you do right now? | Hit, stand, double, split and surrender All five. The clause says two cards of equal point value, so every ten-value card pairs with every other: about two thirds of all pairs are these (64.7% of them). Splitting them is another question, and it belongs to lesson 3.9. | In our words: if your first two cards have the same value, you can split them into separate hands. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9 · readSPLIT, i.e. separate two cards of the same value (e.g. king and 10, pair of 9s) to play more than one hand, for a maximum of four hands.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read In our words: you may double on any first two cards by adding a second bet. In our words: A doubled hand gets exactly one more card. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.3 to 4.3.4.a · readDOUBLE DOWN, i.e. bet an additional amount equal to their initial bet on a two-card hand, except if the hand is a blackjack. In any event, once the player doubles down, they are dealt one last card.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read |
| What do the rules of this table let you do right now? | Hit, stand, double, split and surrender All five. What is special about aces is not whether you may split them but what happens next: one card each, and no further hit. | In our words: if your first two cards have the same value, you can split them into separate hands. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9 · readSPLIT, i.e. separate two cards of the same value (e.g. king and 10, pair of 9s) to play more than one hand, for a maximum of four hands.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read In our words: A pair of aces can be split one time, and each ace then gets just one card. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9 · readIn the case of a pair of aces, players can split only once and hit for only one additional card for each hand.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read When splitting aces, each ace gets only one card.OLG PlaySmart · Blackjack — how to play · read |
| What do the rules of this table let you do right now? | Hit, stand, double and surrender Four. Surrender buys you out of the hand for half the bet, and this is the hand where that half is the smallest loss on the table. Which cells it applies to is lesson 3.6. | In our words: after your first two cards and before you act, you may surrender. In our words: When you surrender, the house keeps half your bet and returns the rest. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.5 to 4.5.2 · readIn our words: if your first two cards have the same value, you can split them into separate hands. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9 · readSPLIT, i.e. separate two cards of the same value (e.g. king and 10, pair of 9s) to play more than one hand, for a maximum of four hands.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read |
| Nine on two cards. What do the rules let you do right now? | Hit, stand, double and surrender Four. People learn the double as a rule about totals; the rule book makes it a rule about the number of cards you hold. Which totals are worth doubling is lesson 3.7. | In our words: you may double on any first two cards by adding a second bet. In our words: A doubled hand gets exactly one more card. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.3 to 4.3.4.a · readDOUBLE DOWN, i.e. bet an additional amount equal to their initial bet on a two-card hand, except if the hand is a blackjack. In any event, once the player doubles down, they are dealt one last card.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read You can only double down after you receive your first two cards and before drawing another card.OLG PlaySmart · Blackjack — how to play · read |
| Twenty-one, made with three cards. What do the rules let you do right now? | Stand, and nothing else Stand, and nothing else. Two different reasons meet on this hand: the extra card closed the double and the surrender, and a separate line closes the hit on a hard 21. | In our words: no more cards on a blackjack or on hard 21; BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.1 to 4.2.1 · readYou can only double down after you receive your first two cards and before drawing another card.OLG PlaySmart · Blackjack — how to play · read |
| You held nine, took a card and now hold thirteen. What do the rules let you do right now? | Hit and stand Two. This is the sentence to carry away: the first card you take ends the double and the surrender for that hand, whatever the cards turn out to be. | You can only double down after you receive your first two cards and before drawing another card.OLG PlaySmart · Blackjack — how to play · read In our words: after your first two cards and before you act, you may surrender. In our words: When you surrender, the house keeps half your bet and returns the rest. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.5 to 4.5.2 · read |
| You split a pair of aces and a nine came to the first one. What do the rules let you do to that hand? | Nothing: this hand is finished Nothing: the hand is finished. Twenty or not is beside the point; the window closed with the card, not with the total. | In our words: A pair of aces can be split one time, and each ace then gets just one card. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9 · readIn the case of a pair of aces, players can split only once and hit for only one additional card for each hand.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read When splitting aces, each ace gets only one card.OLG PlaySmart · Blackjack — how to play · read In our words: Doubling is allowed on hands that came from a split. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9 · readPlayers may also double down on each hand after SPLITTING two cards of the same value, except in the case of a pair of aces.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read You may also "double down" on the first two cards of each hand after the split, except when splitting Aces.Fallsview Casino Resort · Playing Blackjack · section Blackjack terms · read |
| You split a pair of eights and a three came to the first one: eleven. What do the rules let you do to that hand? | Hit, stand and double Three. After a split, each hand is a two-card hand again and the double is open on it; the surrender is not, because it belongs to the original two cards only. | In our words: Doubling is allowed on hands that came from a split. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9 · readPlayers may also double down on each hand after SPLITTING two cards of the same value, except in the case of a pair of aces.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read You may also "double down" on the first two cards of each hand after the split, except when splitting Aces.Fallsview Casino Resort · Playing Blackjack · section Blackjack terms · read In our words: after your first two cards and before you act, you may surrender. In our words: When you surrender, the house keeps half your bet and returns the rest. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.5 to 4.5.2 · read |
| You split a pair of eights and a third eight came to the first hand. What do the rules let you do to that hand? | Hit, stand, double and split Four. The re-split is the same clause doing the same work a second time; the limit on how many hands you end up with is a table rule, and two of our three books name four. | In our words: A pair that turns up after a split can be split again. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9 · readIn our words: A pair that turns up after a split can be split again. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9 · readSPLIT, i.e. separate two cards of the same value (e.g. king and 10, pair of 9s) to play more than one hand, for a maximum of four hands.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read This may be done to a total of four hands except for Aces. Aces receive only one card and may be split only once.Fallsview Casino Resort · Playing Blackjack · section Blackjack terms · read |
| You split a pair of eights. The first hand holds thirteen and you have not finished with it. What may you do to the SECOND hand right now? | Nothing to this hand yet Nothing yet. Split hands are played one after the other, and each must take at least one card. It is worth knowing before you sit: two hands means twice the decisions and twice the money on the cloth. | In our words: Each hand made by splitting gets at least one more card. In our words: You finish the first hand of a split before you play the second. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9 · read |
| You doubled on eleven and a four came: fifteen. What do the rules let you do right now? | Nothing: this hand is finished Nothing: the hand is finished. A double is the one move you cannot change your mind about halfway through — you buy one card, sight unseen, and live with it. | In our words: A doubled hand gets exactly one more card. BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.3 to 4.3.4.a · readIn any event, once the player doubles down, they are dealt one last card.Loto-Québec · Game rules: Blackjack · section The player options · read |
How the practice table works
One strip, no rounds. Every square on the strip is one moment of this lesson, and they are all there from the start. The square keeps your first answer on that moment: right first time, or a mistake. When a level’s squares are full the next level begins by itself, with no button in between.
What is being asked. Always the same question — which moves the rules of that table allow at that instant. The answers are sets of moves, because that is the shape of the real answer: the table does not offer you one move at a time. The chip above each hand names the province and the document the hand is being played under.
Why some mistakes carry a figure and some do not. Missing a move that exists has a price, and where the engine can work it out the explanation gives it. Claiming a move that does not exist has no price at all: the dealer simply does not take the gesture, and inventing a number for that would be inventing a number.
Practice. Each mistake goes on your list. Practising deals those moments again; when you answer one right it leaves the list. Practice does not change the count: only first answers do.
Jumping ahead. The level buttons above the table are all live: press one and the run carries on there. The squares you left empty stay empty on the strip.
Progress stays in this browser and nothing is sent anywhere.
Check yourself
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Five quick ones. Pick an answer, then check it. No timer, no points: just whether it stuck.
The question we opened with. Five — and two eights against a ten is the hand that shows why. Two cards, so the double is on. Two cards of the same value, so the split is on. Nothing done yet, so the surrender is on. Take one card and three of the five are gone for good. The list is at its widest before you touch the hand.
Where to play, and further reading
Which of the five moves your table offers is written on the table, and the rest of this track works out which of them to use.
19+ (18+ in AB, MB, QC) · Play responsibly · help, day or night: Gambling Support BC 1-888-795-6111, 24 hours
Further reading
- Rules of Play for Table Games: Blackjack · British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC)The rules this track follows section by section: six decks, the dealer on soft 17, doubling, splitting and surrender.
- Game rules: Blackjack · Loto-Québec (Société des casinos du Québec)Québec’s rules: one to eight decks, a face-down dealer card, and the soft-17 rule left to the sign at the table.
- Playing Blackjack · Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino NiagaraOne Ontario operator’s own booklet, including both blackjack payouts and both dealer rules it may post.
- Blackjack: how to play · OLG PlaySmartOntario’s beginner page: the moves, the hand signals it describes, and what insurance is.
- Know the game: Blackjack · Casinos Regina & Moose Jaw (SaskGaming)A Saskatchewan operator on what the chart does and does not do, and where to pick one up in the building.
- Blackjack basics · Wizard of OddsWhat three common ways of playing blackjack without the chart cost, on that author’s own table.
How it’s worked out
Rules, numbers and hosts
Rules. The moves and their windows come from three published documents: the rules of play issued by British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) for B.C. casinos, the game rules published by Loto-Québec for Quebec, and the blackjack booklet of Fallsview Casino Resort in Ontario, with one page from OLG PlaySmart where it states a rule more directly than the others. Where the three differ, the page says so rather than choosing.
Numbers. Every figure is worked out when the page is built, by the same engine as our Blackjack strategy tool, for one preset of table rules: six decks, the dealer drawing on soft 17, a blackjack paid 3 to 2, doubling on any two cards and after splitting, surrender, and no face-down dealer card. It is a preset for learning, not a statement about any one casino — check the sign at your table. An average per hand is shown in dollars for an example bet, with each amount rounded to the cent first, so a cost is always the difference of the two amounts shown. The figure for a table without surrender is the same preset with that one rule changed and nothing else, so the difference belongs to that rule alone. How often a pair reaches you is counted from a full six-deck shoe rather than modelled; at a live table some cards are already out, so those shares drift a little.
What we could not source. No document we could read says which rooms offer surrender: it is a table rule, and the page says so instead of guessing. Two of the three rule books never use the word at all, which tells you about those documents and not about those tables.
Hosts. Leo and Maya are illustrated characters. Their backstories, a former dealer and a former floor supervisor, are written for the course: neither is a real person, and neither speaks for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from their experience.
No promise. Blackjack is played against the house. Knowing every move lowers the price of playing; nothing on this page removes that price or says how an evening will end.
What a split costs to make
In our words: Each new hand from a split needs its own bet, the same size as the first.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Each time players split a hand, they must place an additional bet equal to their initial bet.
Section The player options
In our words: Each hand made by splitting gets at least one more card.
In our words: You finish the first hand of a split before you play the second.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
When the double closes
You can only double down after you receive your first two cards and before drawing another card.
In our words: you may double on any first two cards by adding a second bet.
In our words: A doubled hand gets exactly one more card.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.3 to 4.3.4.a
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
DOUBLE DOWN, i.e. bet an additional amount equal to their initial bet on a two-card hand, except if the hand is a blackjack.
In any event, once the player doubles down, they are dealt one last card.
Section The player options
Split aces
In our words: A pair of aces can be split one time, and each ace then gets just one card.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
In the case of a pair of aces, players can split only once and hit for only one additional card for each hand.
Section The player options
When splitting aces, each ace gets only one card.
In our words: Doubling is allowed on hands that came from a split.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Players may also double down on each hand after SPLITTING two cards of the same value, except in the case of a pair of aces.
Section The player options
You may also "double down" on the first two cards of each hand after the split, except when splitting Aces.
Section Blackjack terms
A two-card 21 after a split
In our words: Two cards adding to 21 after a split count as plain 21 and pay even money, not as a blackjack.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
There can be no blackjack on split hands.
Section The player options
If the player gets a ten and ace after splitting, then it counts as 21 points (not a Blackjack).
The two moves that change the bet
In our words: Once play starts, your bet stays as it is, apart from adding chips to split or double.
In our words: Once the dealer starts dealing, keep your hands off your chips.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 5.1 to 5.3
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Once the dealer calls “no more bets”, that’s your cue to not touch your chips until the play on the hand is completed.
Hit and stand
In our words: Hit means taking more cards.
In our words: Stand means taking no more cards.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.1 to 4.2.1
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
HIT for one or more additional cards to get closer to 21 without going over.
STAND if they are satisfied with their hand.
Section The player options
Doubling down
In our words: you may double on any first two cards by adding a second bet.
In our words: A doubled hand gets exactly one more card.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.3 to 4.3.4.a
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
DOUBLE DOWN, i.e. bet an additional amount equal to their initial bet on a two-card hand, except if the hand is a blackjack.
In any event, once the player doubles down, they are dealt one last card.
Section The player options
In our words: A doubled hand gets exactly one more card.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.3 to 4.3.4.a
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
In any event, once the player doubles down, they are dealt one last card.
Section The player options
A second bet, and the order of the hands
In our words: Each new hand from a split needs its own bet, the same size as the first.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Each time players split a hand, they must place an additional bet equal to their initial bet.
Section The player options
In our words: Each hand made by splitting gets at least one more card.
In our words: You finish the first hand of a split before you play the second.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Surrender, as the rules of play for B.C. set it out
In our words: after your first two cards and before you act, you may surrender.
In our words: When you surrender, the house keeps half your bet and returns the rest.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.5 to 4.5.2
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
What a split is
In our words: if your first two cards have the same value, you can split them into separate hands.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
SPLIT, i.e. separate two cards of the same value (e.g. king and 10, pair of 9s) to play more than one hand, for a maximum of four hands.
Section The player options
No double on a blackjack
In our words: You cannot double on a blackjack.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.3 to 4.3.4.a
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
A double for less than the first bet
In our words: The extra bet for a double can be up to the size of your first bet, and no less than the table minimum.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.3 to 4.3.4.a
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
A double for the same amount as the first bet
DOUBLE DOWN, i.e. bet an additional amount equal to their initial bet on a two-card hand, except if the hand is a blackjack.
Section The player options
A double up to the amount of the first bet
you may place a wager up to the amount of your original beside your bet.
This indicates to the Dealer that you are doubling down and you only get one more card.
Section Blackjack terms
Surrender against a dealer blackjack
In our words: Surrender is not available when the dealer holds a blackjack.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.5 to 4.5.2
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
The moves you signal for
In our words: You choose to hit, stand, split or double with a hand signal or by putting out the right chips.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 8.5 to 8.9
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Asking the dealer
Ask your Dealer for the proper signals.
Section Blackjack terms
The double closes with the first card you take
You can only double down after you receive your first two cards and before drawing another card.
Doubling after a split
In our words: Doubling is allowed on hands that came from a split.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
Players may also double down on each hand after SPLITTING two cards of the same value, except in the case of a pair of aces.
Section The player options
You may also "double down" on the first two cards of each hand after the split, except when splitting Aces.
Section Blackjack terms
Split aces
In our words: A pair of aces can be split one time, and each ace then gets just one card.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
In the case of a pair of aces, players can split only once and hit for only one additional card for each hand.
Section The player options
When splitting aces, each ace gets only one card.
One card after a double
In our words: A doubled hand gets exactly one more card.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.3 to 4.3.4.a
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
In any event, once the player doubles down, they are dealt one last card.
Section The player options
The one hand you may not hit
In our words: no more cards on a blackjack or on hard 21;
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.1 to 4.2.1
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
When the list of moves opens at a table in Quebec
In the event that the house does not get a blackjack and the house's second card has not yet been revealed, players may:
Section The player options
How many hands a split may become
In our words: A pair that turns up after a split can be split again.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
In our words: A pair that turns up after a split can be split again.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
SPLIT, i.e. separate two cards of the same value (e.g. king and 10, pair of 9s) to play more than one hand, for a maximum of four hands.
Section The player options
This may be done to a total of four hands except for Aces. Aces receive only one card and may be split only once.
Section Blackjack terms
A 21 made after a split
In our words: Two cards adding to 21 after a split count as plain 21 and pay even money, not as a blackjack.
Section 1.0 Basic Blackjack, 4.4 to 4.4.9
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
There can be no blackjack on split hands.
Section The player options
If the player gets a ten and ace after splitting, then it counts as 21 points (not a Blackjack).
The game with no surrender in it
In our words: Double Deck games do not offer surrender.
Section 5.0 Double Deck Blackjack, 1.1 to 5.5
BCLC · Rules of Play for Table Games — Blackjack · read
A strategy card at the table
Ask the dealer for a Basic Strategy Card or pick one up at the GameSense Info Centre.
What the correct play does not do
Blackjack has an element of skill, but making the statistically correct play does not ensure a winning outcome.
What basic strategy does do
By following basic strategy you can reduce the house advantage and your cost of play.
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