How to play Double Deck Blackjack

Blackjack is a casino card game played against the dealer, in which you try to finish closer to 21 than the dealer without going over, here with virtual chips.

Two decks, dealer hits soft 17, double on any two cards.

About Double Deck Blackjack

Double Deck Blackjack differs from Classic in three rules: it deals from two decks instead of six, the dealer hits soft 17, and any two ten-value cards can be split, such as a jack and a king. It shares Single Deck's dealer rule but none of its limits on doubling and splitting. Two decks hold only 8 aces and 32 ten-value cards, so each card dealt changes what is left in the shoe more than at a six-deck table. The smaller shoe also shifts one double: a hard 9 is doubled against a dealer 2 to 6 here, where the six-deck chart used at Classic doubles it only against 3 to 6.

The dealer peeks for blackjack. You may double after a split and split up to four hands, and any two ten-value cards count as a pair. Split aces get one card each, and there is no surrender.

Because the dealer hits soft 17 and any first two cards can be doubled, a few extra doubles are worth making: double a hard 11 against an ace, a soft 18, an ace and a seven, against 2 to 6, and a soft 19, an ace and an eight, against a 6.

With up to four hands and doubling allowed after a split, split twos, threes and sevens against a dealer 2 to 7.

The reshuffle comes sooner than three quarters of the way through: 40 of the 104 cards stay behind the cut, enough that four split hands and the dealer can always draw, so a new shoe starts after 64 cards rather than 78.

Two decks make insurance a smaller loss than at Classic, but a loss all the same. After a shuffle, against a dealer ace with two cards below ten in your hand, the 101 unseen cards hold 32 ten-value ones. A 2 to 1 payout on 32 winning cards against 69 losing ones costs about 5 chips per 100 staked.

The goal of Blackjack

Beat the dealer by finishing closer to 21 without going over. Number cards count their face value, jacks, queens and kings 10, and an ace 11, or 1 if 11 would take the hand past 21. An ace and a ten-value card as your first two cards is a blackjack.

How to set up Blackjack

You start with 1000 chips. Bet 5 to 500 chips, then deal: you get two cards face up, the dealer one. Except in European, the dealer also takes a face-down card and checks it for blackjack at once, ending the round before you act if it has one.

When the dealer shows an ace, you are offered insurance for half your bet. It pays 2 to 1 if the dealer has blackjack and is lost otherwise.

Blackjack rules

Hit to take another card, or Stand to keep your total. Double doubles your bet and gives you exactly one more card. Split turns a pair into two hands, each with its own bet and a new second card. Going over 21 is a bust and loses that bet.

When your hands are finished, the dealer completes its hand, drawing until it reaches 17 or more. Whether it also draws on a soft 17, a 17 with an ace counted as 11, depends on the variant.

The full Blackjack guide, with strategy tips and common questions