Blackjack Points: Card and Hand Values. Blackjack uses standard playing cards which value from the numbers 2 thru 10 and have the royal cards such as jacks, queens, kings and aces. The red and black suits include diamond, hearts, clubs and spades. In most cases, the suit doesn't matter unless you are playing a special variation of blackjack. When using the Wong Halves counting method, the 3, 4, and 6 cards are valued at +1, the 2 and 7 cards are valued as +0.5, and the 5 is worth +1.5. All 8s are 0, 9 is valued at -0.5, and all Ace and face cards are valued as -1. If you're having a hard time counting with fractions, double each value for a simplified strategy.

• Poker Card Values In Order
• Blackjack Card Counting Techniques
• Blackjack Card Values

These are the blackjack card values used in almost all blackjack game variations:

• Number cards (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10_ are played at face value.
• Kings, queens, and jacks are worth 10.
• Aces may be used as either 1 or 11

Player hand

One goal of blackjack is to get a hand as close to 21 as possible, but the main goal is to get a better hand than the dealer who is also trying to get to a value of 21 without going over.

The best of all blackjack hand values to have is the “Natural Blackjack” . This consists of an Ace plus a second card worth 10 (either a 10 or a face card). If a player is dealt this hand, then the hand is immediately compared with the dealer’s hand. Unless the dealer also has a natural blackjack, the player wins. If the dealer also has natural blackjack, this would result in a tie, also called a “push”, and the player’s original bet is returned.

Players can also get blackjack with three or more cards, but because there is risk involved in trying to get such a hand, a natural blackjack is obviously preferred.

Dealer hand

Dealers are bound by a few key rules that usually work in the player’s favor. These rules govern when the dealer can stand and when they can hit. They usualy involve a hand of 17, requiring that dealers hit to 17, and stand on any hand of 17 or more.

Sometimes, rules talk of “soft 17” or “hard 17”. A soft hand is one that contains an ace, so a “soft 17” is an ace plus a 6. IF a dealer can hit until hard 17 and they are dealt a soft 17, they must take another card. This is generally bad for players, since another card will force the ace to drop from a value of 11 to a value of 1, which can greatly improve the dealer’s hand.

Point Values in Blackjack

Card and Hand Values in Blackjack

One of the first things a card player needs to understand about blackjack is that suit doesn't matter. The only thing that matters at the blackjack table is the point value of each card and of each hand. The goal of the game is to get a point total that is higher than the dealer's without going bust, or getting a hand value of over 21.

The ace is worth 1 point or 11 points, whichever is most advantageous to the player. A hand with an ace in it is called a 'soft hand' because if the player takes a hit, he will almost never go bust because the ace will be counted as 1 instead of 11.

All face cards, the jack, queen, and king, are worth 10 points each.

All other cards in the deck are worth whatever the numeric value of each card is.

Why the Ten's Are the Most Important Cards

There are a number of reasons that the 10's are more important than any other cards. The first is that there are more 10's in the deck than any other card value. (There are 16 cards worth 10 points in a 52 card deck. All other cards only have 4 cards worth their value.)

10's are a critical ingredient in being dealt a blackjack too, since a 10 and an ace give a total of 21. Getting a blackjack (a natural total of 21) results in a 3 to 2 payout, which makes a big difference in the player edge.

Poker Card Values In Order

Why Five's Are Almost as Important

The five is the least advantageous card in the deck for the player because a five makes it really easy for a player to get a 'stiff hand', or a hand that it's really easy to go bust with. If you took all four of the 5's out of the deck, you'd turn then advantage over from the house to the player instantly with only that one change.

Blackjack Card Counting Techniques

If it weren't for cards like five's and ten's, there would be no such thing as card counting.

The how to play blackjack guide consists of the following pages:

Blackjack Card Values