How Many Cards Do You Get for Blackjack?

In blackjack, each player is dealt two cards face up from a shoe. The dealer also receives two cards, but one of these is dealt face down.

Players can look at their own cards but sharing information is not allowed. After looking at their cards, players must decide whether to hit (take another card), stand (keep their current hand), double down (double their bet and take one more card), split (if they have two cards of the same value, they can split them into two separate hands), or surrender (give up half their bet and end their turn).

In a standard game of blackjack, the aim is to get as close to 21 as possible without going over. If the player goes over 21, they ‘bust’ and lose their bet.

If the player gets to 21, they ‘stand’ and win their bet if the dealer doesn’t also have 21. If the dealer goes over 21, they ‘bust’ and all players still in the game win their bet.

The value of each card is as follows:

Aces are worth 1 or 11

2-10 are worth their face value

Jacks, queens and kings are all worth 10.

The suits of the cards (hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs) have no bearing on the game.

After all players have taken their turn, the dealer reveals their face down card. If the dealer has 16 or less, they must hit until they reach 17 or more.

If the dealer has 17 or more, they must stand. .

If you are dealt a pair of cards of equal value (e.g. two 9s), you can choose to split them into two separate hands by placing an additional bet equal to your original bet. You then play each hand independently. For example, if you split a pair of 9s and are dealt a 3 and a 7 on each hand, your total for that hand would be 19 (9+3+7).

If you are dealt aces after splitting, you can choose to receive just one more card on each hand or ‘hit’ for more cards until you reach 21 or ‘bust’. You cannot ‘re-split’ aces in most blackjack games.

In blackjack, each player starts with two cards and receives more if they ‘hit’ during their turn. The maximum number of cards in a blackjack hand is four unless Aces are involved – in which case players can receive up to five cards without going over 21 (‘busting’).