Welcome to new Blackjack! How would you like to test your skills against others to make money?

Most of you will know the basics of how to play the game and some of you may even think you've mastered it. Real money can be won here, by beating other players across a set of dealt hands. The following section gives a brief overview, first of basic Blackjack strategy, then a number of Blackjack tips for each of the tournament types we offer.

Overview of Basic Blackjack Strategy
Thousands of books have been written on Blackjack Strategy and there's no substitute for picking up the odd tome to improve your game. Much of it boils down to a few key decisions you have to make on:

when to hit and when to stand

• when to double down
• when to split
• whether to insure against a dealer's blackjack

And most of these will depend on what cards you hold and what face card you can see for the dealer. The following table is a summary of the recommended strategies for playing basic blackjack strategy. If you're looking for a basic how to play guide, see our game instructions page.

Pairs

	Dealer's Upcard
Player	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	A
(A,A)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
(T,T)	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
(9,9)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N
(8,8)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
(7,7)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N
(6,6)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N
(5,5)	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
(4,4)	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
(3,3)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N
(2,2)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N

Y = Split, N = Don't split

Soft Totals

	Dealer's Upcard
Player	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	A
(A,9)	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
(A,8)	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
(A,7)	S	D	D	D	D	S	S	H	H	H
(A,6)	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,5)	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,4)	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,3)	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,2)	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H

H = Hit, S = Stand, D = Double

Hard Totals

	Dealer's Upcard
Player	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	A
17	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H
9	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H

H = Hit, S = Stand, D = Double

Note that strategies vary slightly, depending on Blackjack rules and some books will recommend variations on the above.