Free Blackjack Online
Play Vegas blackjack free, right in your browser. The cards come from a real six-deck shoe, blackjack pays 3 to 2, and you start with $1,500 in play money. No download, no sign-up.
How to play blackjack
It's you against the dealer. Get closer to 21 than the dealer without going over.
- Bet. Tap a betting circle. Bets run from $5 to $5,000, on up to three spots.
- Deal. You get two cards face up. The dealer gets one face up and one face down.
- Play your hand. Hit, stand, double, split or give up (see below).
- The dealer plays. The dealer turns over the face-down card and must hit until reaching 17 or more. At this table the dealer also hits a soft 17.
- Get paid. Beat the dealer and you win even money. Go over 21 and you lose. A tie is a push: your bet comes back.
Cards 2 to 10 count their number, and Jacks, Queens and Kings count 10. An Ace counts 1 or 11, whichever helps. An Ace and a 10-value card as your first two cards is a blackjack, and it pays 3 to 2.
The moves
- Hit
- Take another card.
- Stand
- Keep what you have and end your turn.
- Double
- Double your bet and take exactly one more card. Allowed on any first two cards, even after a split.
- Split
- Turn a pair into two hands, with a second bet the same size. Any two 10-value cards count as a pair. Split up to four hands. Split Aces get one card each.
- Give up
- Also called surrender. Fold your first two cards and get half your bet back. Only once the dealer has checked for blackjack.
- Insurance
- A side bet offered when the dealer shows an Ace. It pays 2 to 1 if the dealer has blackjack.
- Soft hand
- A hand with an Ace counted as 11, like Ace-6 (soft 17). It can't bust on the next card.
- Bust
- Going over 21. You lose right away, even if the dealer busts later.
House rules at this table
| Blackjack | Pays 3 to 2 |
|---|---|
| Other wins | Pay 1 to 1 |
| Insurance | Pays 2 to 1 |
| Decks | Six, reshuffled when the cut card comes out (about ¾ through) |
| Dealer | Hits soft 17, checks for blackjack under an Ace or 10 |
| Double | Any first two cards, after splits too |
| Split | Up to four hands, one card on split Aces |
| Give up | Allowed on your first two cards |
| Bets | $5 to $5,000 on up to three spots |
| Side bets | Perfect Pairs and 21+3, $1 to $100 |
Perfect Pairs wins when your first two cards are a pair: same suit pays 25 to 1, same color 12 to 1, mixed colors 6 to 1. 21+3 uses your two cards and the dealer's upcard as a three-card poker hand: suited three of a kind 100 to 1, straight flush 40 to 1, three of a kind 30 to 1, straight 10 to 1, flush 5 to 1.
Blackjack hand signals
At a casino table you play with your hands, not your voice. Dealers go by hand signals so the cameras over the table record every decision. This table plays the same way on a touchscreen, so you can practice the signals before your first trip. The hand signals page has the full list.
| Move | At a casino | On your phone here |
|---|---|---|
| Hit | Tap the felt behind your cards | Double-tap the felt |
| Stand | Wave a flat hand, palm down, over your cards | Swipe sideways |
| Double | Put a second bet beside the first and hold up one finger | Hold a finger down |
| Split | Put a second bet beside the first and hold up two fingers in a V | Tap with two fingers |
| Give up | Say "surrender" and draw a line behind your bet with one finger | Swipe down |
| Insurance | Put half your bet on the insurance line | Hold to take it, swipe sideways to say no |
The phone versions are simplified: a hit is a double-tap, and doubling or splitting needs no chips pushed out. Those casino signals are for shoe games, where your cards are dealt face up. In a hand-held game of one or two decks you hold your cards: scratch them on the felt to hit, and tuck them under your chips to stand.
Between hands: tap a circle to bet, swipe sideways to change chips, hold for twice the bet, swipe down to clear and swipe up to deal. On a touchscreen, the Gestures button lists every signal, and brings the buttons back if you prefer them.
Basic strategy in a few lines
These fit this table's rules (six decks, dealer hits soft 17). Tap Chart for the full chart, see the strategy chart page for how to read it, or turn on Learn to see the best play for every hand.
- Always split Aces and 8s. The one exception: give up 8s against an Ace.
- Never split 5s or 10s. Play them as 10 and 20.
- Double 11 against anything, and 10 against 2 to 9.
- With a hard 13 to 16, stand against a 2 to 6 and hit against 7 or higher. Hard 12 stands only against 4 to 6.
- Give up hard 16 against 9, 10 or Ace, and hard 15 against 10 or Ace.
- Stand on hard 17 or more (except give up 17 against an Ace).
- Soft 18: double against 2 to 6, stand against 7 or 8, hit against 9, 10 or Ace.
- Never take insurance or even money.
What it costs
Played by the chart, this game keeps about 58¢ of every $100 bet (a 0.58% house edge). Many low-limit Vegas tables now pay 6 to 5 for blackjack, which adds about $1.39 to every $100 the house keeps. The side bets cost more: insurance keeps 7.4%, Perfect Pairs 6.1% and 21+3 4.6%.
Nothing here is rigged. The dealer follows the fixed rules above, and we checked every figure against ten million simulated hands and an exact calculation. How we check the odds.
Questions
Is it really free?
Yes. It's play money only, with no real wagering, no sign-up and no download.
Does card counting work here?
In principle, yes. The cards come from one six-deck shoe that's only reshuffled when the cut card comes out, so the cards already played change what's left, just like at a casino. The discard tray and the shoe show how far through it you are.
What if I run out of chips?
Open the menu (the ? button) and reset your wallet to $1,500. Your chips are shared with the other games and kept in this browser.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. It's built for a phone held upright first, and it plays on a computer too.
More free games
- Bubble Craps: the dice-in-a-bubble craps machine, regular or crapless.
- War Blackjack: blackjack plus a War bet on your first card against the dealer's.
- All Mini Velvet games
Back to the table ↑ Play money only. No real wagering.