Blackjack has the best odds of any game on the casino floor — and the shortest distance between playing it well and playing it badly. Everything here is worked out rather than asserted: the right play for every hand, what a set of table rules actually costs you, and where the game is worth playing.
Three ways in. Pick the one that sounds like you.
Played correctly, a normal six-deck game costs about 0.46% — better than any other game in the building. Two rules can take that to over 2% without changing anything you can see happening at the table.
You act first. Bust, and your bet is gone before the dealer turns a card — that single ordering is where the entire house edge comes from, and it is why every decision you make is really a question about the card the dealer is showing.
A dealer showing a five or a six busts more than four times in ten. Showing an ace, fewer than two times in ten. Same deck, same rules, wildly different hands to be sitting across from.
Dealer bust rates by upcard, six decks, dealer standing on soft 17: 2 35.4% · 3 37.4% · 4 39.4% · 5 41.6% · 6 42.3% · 7 26.2% · 8 24.5% · 9 22.8% · 10 23.0% · A 16.7%.
Table rules are not decoration. The payout on a natural is the one that matters: a table paying 6 to 5 instead of 3 to 2 costs 1.36% on its own — roughly three times the entire house edge of the game you were about to play, and nothing you do with the cards gets it back.
Against a six-deck game where the dealer stands on soft 17: blackjack paying 6 to 5 costs 1.36%, a dealer who hits soft 17 costs 0.22%, no double after split costs 0.12%, doubling restricted to 9–11 costs 0.10%, and late surrender gives back 0.07%.
Every figure in this section is solved in your browser when the page loads, by the same engine behind our two calculators — each possible opening deal played out optimally and weighted by how often it comes up. House edges assume basic strategy throughout.
Your hand down the side, the dealer’s card across the top. Every cell below is worked out when this page loads — by the same solver behind our calculators — for the most common game you will sit down at: six decks, dealer stands on soft 17, double on anything, double after split, blackjack pays 3 to 2.
The chart needs JavaScript, because it is solved here rather than stored. The decisions people look up most, for the game described above:
No email, no signup. Both of these solve the maths in your browser rather than reading a stored chart.
Six decisions make up the whole game. These are they.
In order. Each one assumes the one above it.
Everything the casino puts next to the blackjack table, priced honestly.
These guides are being written. Until they land, our house edge calculator will price any rule set you meet on one of these tables.
Blackjack counts 10% toward wagering almost everywhere, which turns a 25× bonus into 250× of blackjack action. These are ranked by what they actually ask of you rather than by the headline.
The casinos we recommend whose blackjack terms we have actually read. Check the rules at the table once you are inside — the payout and the soft-17 rule matter far more than the brand on the door.
Good — Best US poker site, solid casino, crypto-first
Strong casino library with 500+ games, fast crypto, but no poker room
Good — Poker + casino + sportsbook under one roof, crypto-first
We have affiliate agreements with sites listed here. Commission never affects the scores or the order. Affiliate disclaimer →
