Learn to Play: A Beginner's Guide to Blackjack

Blackjack—often called 21 or vingt-un—is a classic card game with roots dating back to the 17th century. It’s fun, easy to learn, and, when you win, you can score yourself some healthy earnings with each hand.

Live card games can seem intimidating at first, but Blackjack is perhaps the most intuitive and approachable table game on the casino floor. If you can add numbers up to 21, you can keep pace with the best of them. 

From placing bets to winning hands, let’s learn the essentials of casino Blackjack. With this guide in mind, you’ll be prepared to walk into Ocean Casino Resort and start hitting your way toward 21s.

The Essential Rules of Blackjack

The entire point of Blackjack is to combine card values until you reach 21 or the closest possible number you can without going higher. Once your hand hits 22 or more, you lose—but it’s called busting or breaking in Blackjack terms. 

In casino Blackjack, every player competes against the house. That means you don’t have to worry about what other players have in their hands. You only have to be closer to 21 than the dealer. Of course, to get your hand to 21, you’ll have to know each card’s value.

Blackjack uses a fairly simple counting system. All numbers are worth the value you see on the card—twos are worth two, threes are worth three, and so on. The face cards, however, are scored differently:

• Kings, Jacks, and Queens are all worth ten points.
• Aces are variable in value. They can be worth either one or eleven points—whichever gets your hand closest to 21.

Those are, in essence, the overarching rules of Blackjack. Now, let’s deal out a hand and dive a little deeper into how a round plays out on a live casino table.

How to Play a Round of Blackjack

Before the dealer doles out a single card during a round of Blackjack, all players must place their bets. The minimum and maximum bets vary by table. You can make your own bet by placing your chips into your marked betting area.

After all the bets are down, the dealer proceeds to dish out a round of cards. Each player—including the dealer—gets two cards for their hand. How they’ll come, however, varies between the guests and the house:

• The dealer receives one face-down card and one face-up card.
• All the other players—including you—get two face-up cards.

Since you’re only competing against the dealer, it doesn't matter that the other players know your hand. All that matters is that, in the end, you’re closer to 21 than the dealer. Though you can’t see all of the dealer’s cards, they’re subject to more stringent rules about when they can get cards and when they have to stay to level the playing field.

After the initial cards are dealt, you’ll have the chance to double down on your bet. This means betting twice as much on the hand. If you do so, you'll only be able to receive one more card at maximum. You can also surrender your hand at this point, which means backing out of the round to receive half of your original bet back.

After this round of betting, the dealer will go around in a circle asking players what they’d like to do with their hand. At this point, you have up to three courses of action:

• Hit – When you hit, you request another card to add to your total and, hopefully, bring you closer to 21. If you hit and go above 21, however, you’ll bust and automatically lose the hand.
• Stay – Called standing, staying, or checking, this means you don’t want another card and are happy sticking to your current total.
• Split – If you happen to get two cards with the same value from the original deal, you can split them and play two hands. You must put down at least the same amount on the second bet as you did on the first and, if you split aces, you can only take one hit for each new hand. 

There’s plenty of strategic debate over when to hit or stand. Remember, however, you’re playing against the dealer. They must hit if they have 16 or less and stay once they reach 17. Consider your own betting, hitting, and staying techniques with these rules in mind when you play the tables at Ocean Casino Resort.

Blackjack and Beyond: Tantalizing Table Games and More Wait at Ocean Casino Resort

Now that you know the ins and outs of Blackjack, it’s time to put your skills to the test at Ocean Casino Resort. 

If you’re not ready to sit down at a live table yet, don’t worry—we’ve got virtual games galore so you can test the waters and get ready for the big show. Then, once the training wheels are off and you’re geared up to give live Blackjack a go, hit the table games for heart-pumping betting action.

Whether you’re a Blackjack veteran or a first-timer, there’s always a table waiting for you at Ocean Casino Resort.