How to Play Blackjack: The Rules from Your Bet to the Payout

The aim, and who you play against

You try to finish with a higher total than the dealer without going over 21. You do not need exactly 21. SkyCity Adelaide’s page puts the aim this way: “The aim of the game is to score higher than the dealer without going over 21.”

The other players at the table are not your opponents. In SkyCity’s words, “these players don’t play against each other: you’re only ever trying to beat the dealer’s hand.” The Star Sydney’s page says the same: “Everyone at the table plays against the dealer.” So what your neighbour does with a hand does not change the rules for yours.

Blackjack is often called 21. SkyCity’s page opens: “Blackjack is also known as 21, and for good reason.” Pontoon at an Australian casino is a different game, not another name for blackjack: Crown Melbourne plays it with decks of 48 cards, “having had the four (4) tens (10s) removed”. Other versions are covered under blackjack variants.

Card values and soft hands

Cards 2 to 10 count their face value, and jacks, queens and kings count 10. An ace counts 11, except when 11 would take the hand over 21; then it counts 1. Crown Melbourne’s rule 3.2.1 says so for both you and the dealer: an ace “has the value of eleven (11) except when that would give a player or the Dealer a score of more than twenty-one (21), in which case it will have a value of one (1).” The Tasmanian rules say the same (rule 9.1). Suits play no part: none of these rule books gives a suit a value, and BGaming’s rules for its online game say the suit “does not have any influence in the game”.

A hand with an ace counted as 11 is a soft hand. Every other hand is hard: it has no ace, or its aces count 1. One card cannot take a soft hand over 21, because the ace can drop to 1. BGaming’s rules for its online game give a worked example:

• Ace and 7 make 8 or 18. If you stop there, the hand counts 18: a soft 18.
• Draw an 8, and the hand is ace, 7 and 8. The ace must now count 1, so the total is 16: a hard 16.

A blackjack is an ace and a 10-value card as your first two cards. The same two cards after a split are not a blackjack: Crown Melbourne’s rule 7.5.6(f) says split hands “cannot achieve Blackjack”, so they count as an ordinary 21.

One round, step by step

A round has five steps, and you act before the dealer. The steps below follow the basic game in the Australian casino rules we read. The basic game means a casino’s plain blackjack, not a named version such as Crown Blackjack or Star Blackjack, whose own rules change parts of it. American guides and videos often deal it differently, which step 2 explains.

Online, the order is the game’s own. In the two BGaming games we read, the dealer gets a face-down second card at the deal and checks for blackjack, and still plays last (online rules). Check your game’s rules screen for its order.

What happens in a round, in order

The dealer’s second card comes at step 4, after every player

1. 1BetChips down before any card
2. 2The dealYou: two cards. Dealer: one card
3. 3Players actHit, stand, double or split, one player at a time
4. 4Dealer playsSecond card, then draws to 17 or more
5. 5SettlementWin 1 to 1, blackjack 3 to 2, tie: bet back

1. Bet. First read the blackjack payout (3 to 2 or 6 to 5) and whether the dealer draws on a soft 17 on the felt, the table sign or the game’s rules screen. Then you place your chips in a betting area before any card is dealt. The minimum and maximum bets are on a notice at the table (Crown Melbourne rule 6.5).
2. The deal. The dealer deals one card to each player, one card to the dealer, then a second card to each player. Crown Melbourne’s rule 7.3.1 sets this order, and the other five rule sets we read deal the same way. American guides show the dealer taking a second, face-down card at this point, called the hole card; in these Australian rules there is no hole card. If you have a blackjack and the dealer’s card is not an ace or a 10-value card, you are paid 3 to 2 straight away (Crown Melbourne rule 7.4.1, Tasmanian rule 12.1). Against an ace or a 10-value card you wait for the dealer’s second card: a dealer blackjack makes it a tie, and otherwise your blackjack is paid 3 to 2.
3. Players act. One at a time, each player hits, stands, doubles or splits (the next section explains each move). If your total goes over 21, called a bust, your hand loses, even if the dealer busts later: Crown Melbourne’s rule 5.6.5 says a hand “in excess of twenty-one (21)” loses, and rule 5.6.2 pays you on a dealer bust only if your total is 21 or less. With 11 or less, the Tasmanian rules, Crown Perth’s rules and The Star’s page require you to take another card; at Crown Melbourne and Crown Sydney that applies where a sign at the table says so.
4. Dealer plays. After every player has finished, the dealer takes a second card, then draws until the total is 17 or more (the dealer’s rule is explained below).
5. Settlement. A higher total than the dealer’s, or a dealer bust while you are still in, wins. Equal totals are a tie, called a stand-off in these rules and a push in American guides, and your bet comes back. A blackjack and a three-card 21 are not a tie, because the blackjack beats it. Your blackjack wins against a dealer’s three-card 21 (Crown Melbourne rule 5.6.1, Crown Perth rule 3.13). Your three-card 21 loses to a dealer blackjack: Crown Perth’s rule 3.13 and The Star’s and SkyCity’s pages say a dealer blackjack beats any hand that is not a blackjack. What each result pays is in the payout table.

Hit, stand, double down, split, insurance and surrender: when you can use each

You have four moves on your own hand: hit, stand, double and split. Insurance is a separate bet, and surrender is not part of the basic game in any of the six Australian rule sets we read. Each move has a condition:

Rules: Crown Melbourne rules 1.1, 5.7, 7.4.1, 7.5.1, 7.5.5, 7.5.6, 10.2, 10.5.4, 12.2 and 12.4.1; Crown Sydney rule 8.5.5; Crown Perth rules 3.31, 3.32, 3.34 and 3.45; Tasmanian rules 11.1, 12.1, 14, 15.1 and 21; The Star Sydney’s and SkyCity Adelaide’s pages; read 6 November 2026.

Insurance does not protect your hand. It is a second bet on one thing, the dealer’s next card: Crown Melbourne’s rule 5.7 says it wins “if the second card dealt to the Dealer has a value of ten (10)” and loses if not. Whether it is worth taking is covered under side bets and insurance.

When the dealer draws or stands, and what a soft 17 is

The dealer has no choice. In the basic game the dealer draws on 16 or less and stands on 17 or more, and that includes a soft 17, such as an ace and a 6. Crown Melbourne’s rule 7.5.7(a) has the dealer draw “until a hard or soft total of seventeen (17), eighteen (18), nineteen (19), twenty (20) or twenty-one (21) is reached”. The Tasmanian rules and Crown Sydney’s say the same, and so do Crown Perth’s for the table layouts (printed felts) its rules number 1 to 8. The Star’s and SkyCity’s pages write “17 or more” without the word soft. In The Star’s words: “Irrespective of your point totals, the dealer must hit with 16 or less and stand with 17 or more.”

Some versions make the dealer draw on a soft 17, a rule often written H17. The rules name Crown Blackjack at Crown Melbourne, Crown Perth’s tables with layouts 9 to 14, Star Blackjack at The Star, Party Blackjack at SkyCity and Federal Pontoon in Tasmania. We do not know which of these tables are open on a given night, so read the sign at the table you sit at.

A dealer who draws on a soft 17 is the worse rule for you: Wizard of Odds lists it as lowering your expected return. If two tables are otherwise the same, choose the one where the dealer stands. The cost is worked out under which table rules make a game more expensive.

Do you hit on 16 or 17? The dealer does: draw on 16, stand on 17. For you it is a choice, and that is strategy, not a rule: basic strategy says stand on a hard 16 against a dealer 2 to 6, otherwise hit, and always stand on a hard 17 or more. A soft 17 is played differently: see the blackjack basic strategy chart.

What blackjack pays: 1 to 1, 3 to 2 (3:2), a tie, insurance and 6 to 5 (6:5) tables

In the basic game a blackjack pays 3 to 2, insurance pays 2 to 1 and every other win pays 1 to 1. That is Crown Melbourne’s payout table (rule 8.1); Crown Sydney’s rules give the same table, and the Crown Perth and Tasmanian rules also pay a blackjack 3 to 2. “3 to 2” is what you win on top of your bet: 3 for every 2 staked, so A$15 on A$10. SkyCity’s page works an example of a 20-dollar blackjack that keeps its stake and wins 30 more. A tie returns your bet, and a blackjack against a dealer blackjack is a tie too (Crown Melbourne rule 5.6.4). A blackjack against a three-card 21 is not a tie: the blackjack wins (step 5 above).

Our arithmetic from the odds above, on a A$10 bet: a 3 to 2 win is A$10 × 3 ÷ 2 = A$15, a 6 to 5 win is A$10 × 6 ÷ 5 = A$12.

A 6 to 5 table pays A$3 less on every A$10 blackjack. Such tables exist in Australia as separate versions: Crown Melbourne’s Sports Blackjack pays “Blackjack 6 to 5”, its 6 to 5 Pontoon pays “Pontoon 6 to 5”, and SkyCity’s Party Blackjack pays 1.2 times the bet. The rules allow these versions; whether one is on the floor when you visit, we do not know. A 6 to 5 table can look the same as a 3 to 2 one, so read the payout line before you sit down. How much more it costs over many hands is worked out under which table rules make a game more expensive.

Two hands played out on A$10

The cards in both examples are made up to show the rules; the rules are Crown Melbourne’s.

Example 1: 10 and 6 against a dealer 10.

1. You bet A$10. You get a 10 and a 6, a hard 16. The dealer gets one card, a 10.
2. Your options: hit or stand. You cannot double, because 16 is not 9, 10 or 11, and you cannot split, because 10 and 6 are not a pair. Basic strategy says hit a hard 16 against a 10 (see the chart); here you stand, so the example can show the dealer’s turn.
3. The dealer takes a second card, a 7, for 17, and must stand.
4. 17 beats 16, so you lose A$10. Had the dealer drawn a 6 instead, 16 would mean another card; if that took the dealer over 21, you would win A$10 and get A$20 back.
5. Had you hit and drawn a 6, your 22 would lose, whatever the dealer then made.

Example 2: you double on 11, and the dealer makes blackjack.

1. You bet A$10 and get a 6 and a 5, a hard 11. The dealer’s card is an ace. You are offered insurance; here you decline.
2. 11 is one of the totals you may double on, so you add A$10 and take one card. A$20 is now on the hand.
3. After every player has finished, the dealer’s second card is a King: a blackjack.
4. Under Crown Melbourne’s rule 7.5.5(b), “the player will only lose an amount equivalent to their original wager”. You lose A$10 and your extra A$10 comes back.

This happens only because the dealer takes the second card after you act. Not every casino whose rules we read settles it the same way: see the next section.

Blackjack rules in Australian casinos: what differs from American guides

We read six sets of rules on 6 November 2026: the approved rules of Crown Melbourne, Crown Sydney and Crown Perth, the Tasmanian Liquor and Gaming Commission’s rules for the state’s casinos, and the pages The Star Sydney and SkyCity Adelaide publish for players. In all six, the basic game differs from a typical American guide in two ways:

• No hole card. The dealer takes one card at the deal and the second after the players. So nobody knows whether the dealer has blackjack until after you act.
• Doubling on hard 9, 10 or 11 only. American guides often let you double on any two cards.

The third point is where the six differ: what you lose when you have doubled or split and the dealer then makes blackjack. For SkyCity and The Star we have only what the casino’s page says, not the approved rules.

Read on 6 November 2026 from an Australian connection, without an account. Crown Perth has no rule like Crown Melbourne’s 7.5.5(b); its rule 3.36 says a double wager shall “lose if the corresponding Blackjack Wager loses”, and rule 3.13 says that wager loses when the dealer has blackjack and you do not. That is how the rules read; we have not seen it applied at a table. SkyCity’s approved rules and The Star’s were not available to us.

What it means for you. An American video in which the dealer checks for blackjack before you act does not describe these tables, and neither does a friend’s rule from another casino. Online it can be closer: both BGaming games we read deal the dealer a face-down second card and check for blackjack, so go by your own game’s rules screen, not this table. Before you double against a dealer ace or 10, know which row your table follows. The other casinos in Australia, such as The Star Gold Coast or Casino Canberra, we have not read, so do not assume they match any row. Not in the table? Read that casino’s rules or ask before you double.

Are blackjack rules the same online? Reading a table’s rules before your first bet

No. An online table plays by the rules of its own game, and two games from one studio can differ. BGaming publishes the rules files its games load. We read two of them on 6 November 2026:

Source: BGaming’s rules files for the two games, read 6 November 2026 from an Australian connection. Where a cell says a rule is not in the rules file, we searched that file for the word and did not find it. The studio’s figures for the Multihand game’s return differ between its page and its rules file, so we give no number. The Multihand game also lets you double only on 9, 10 or 11, and not after a split.

The first game prints two of its rules on the table itself. On the first screen of BGaming’s Multihand Blackjack demo (play chips, 6 November 2026), the felt read “Blackjack Pays 3 to 2” and “Dealer Must Stand on all 17's”, and a sign showed “Min 1 / Max 100”. That is the studio’s own demo; a casino may run the game with other settings.

The casino lobbies did not help. When we looked at nine casino lobbies without an account on 27 October 2026, their table listings had no field for the blackjack payout, the soft 17 rule, the number of decks, doubling, splitting, surrender or bet limits. So you see a table’s rules only once you open the game. Before your first bet, check five things on the felt or in the game’s rules or help screen:

1. The blackjack payout: 3 to 2, or 6 to 5.
2. The dealer on soft 17: stands or draws.
3. Doubling, splitting and surrender: on which totals, how many times, whether surrender exists, and what you lose on a double if the dealer has blackjack.
4. Insurance: whether it is offered and what it costs.
5. Bet limits: the minimum and maximum per hand.

Where to play online from Australia, and what the law says about it, is on our online blackjack page.

Hit or stand on 12 to 16, and can you win?

The rules leave hands of 12 to 16 to you, so what follows is strategy, not a rule. Wizard of Odds’ basic strategy for four to eight decks, with the dealer standing on soft 17, says: stand on hard 13 to 16 against a dealer 2 to 6, otherwise hit; stand on hard 12 against a dealer 4 to 6, otherwise hit; always stand on hard 17 or more. Soft hands and pairs have their own lines in the blackjack basic strategy chart, and that page also lists what changes at a table with no hole card.

Knowing the rules does not make you a winner. The casino keeps an edge even when you play every hand well. Why betting systems do not remove it is covered in our section on betting systems, and counting cards under card counting.

Practising without money

A studio demo lets you play rounds with play chips. BGaming’s Multihand Blackjack demo opened without an account when we tried it on 6 November 2026 from an Australian connection, with a balance of 1000.0 in play chips. A second demo, Surrender Multihand Blackjack, loaded but did not draw its table in our test browser. That was one check on one day: a demo may not open for you, it pays nothing, and the casino’s version of the game can have other rules, so read the rules screen there too.

Hand signals at a casino table

At a land-based table you show your decision with your hand. Crown Melbourne’s rules give two signals:

• Stand: “A horizontal movement of the hand by the player indicates their intention to stand.”
• Hit: scratching the table towards you. Crown Sydney’s rules add tapping: “The player tapping or scratching the table layout towards the player indicates their intention to draw.”

The rules we read describe no signal for doubling or splitting. You tell the dealer and place the extra bet, the same size as your first one for a split; for a double, up to that size at Crown Melbourne and Crown Sydney and exactly that size at Crown Perth. If you are not sure, say it out loud.

What beginners get wrong

Each bold line below is a common wrong belief; the text after it gives the rule above that answers it.

• Wrong: you need exactly 21. You need a higher total than the dealer without going over (the aim).
• Wrong: you play against the other players. Everyone plays against the dealer only (the aim).
• Wrong: an ace is always 11. It counts 1 whenever 11 would take the hand over 21 (card values).
• Wrong: the dealer decides whether to draw. The dealer draws to 17 by a fixed rule (the dealer’s rule).
• Wrong: if the dealer busts after you, your bust is saved. A hand over 21 loses, whatever the dealer does later (step 3).
• Wrong: every table pays 3 to 2. Some versions pay 6 to 5 (payouts).
• Wrong: insurance protects your hand. It is a separate bet on the dealer’s next card (moves).
• Wrong: the rules in an American video are the same at Crown or The Star. The dealer’s second card and the fate of a double differ (Australian rules).
• Wrong: every online table plays the same. Two games from one studio already differ (online rules).
• Wrong: knowing the rules, or a system, wins. The house keeps its edge (can you win).

Blackjack rules FAQ

Sources and method

We read four sets of approved blackjack rules and two casino rules pages on 6 November 2026 from an Australian connection, without an account, and compared what they say about the deal, the moves, the dealer and the payouts. We did not play at these casinos. The online examples are BGaming’s rules files for two games and one look at its demo on the same day; the lobby check was on 27 October 2026. Money examples are our arithmetic from the published odds.

• Crown Melbourne, Blackjack Rules, version 29.0, VGCCC approved 5 May 2026, effective 20 May 2026 (card values, deal, moves, dealer, payouts, Sports Blackjack, Pontoon, signals), read 6 November 2026
• Crown Sydney, Game Rules – Blackjack, version 4.5, NSW Independent Casino Commission order signed 24 June 2026 (deal, doubling, splitting, dealer, payouts, signals), read 6 November 2026
• Crown Perth, Rules of the Authorised Games of Blackjack and Blackjack Plus, and Tournament Blackjack, updated 18 May 2026 (deal, wagers when the dealer has blackjack, doubling, splitting, dealer by layout), read 6 November 2026
• Tasmanian Liquor and Gaming Commission, Blackjack Rules, Variation 03/18, effective 1 October 2018, the version the commission’s rules page links on 6 November 2026 (card values, deal, moves, dealer, payouts, Federal Pontoon), read 6 November 2026
• The Star Sydney, Learn To Play Blackjack page and its “How to Play Blackjack” guide (the casino’s summary, not the approved rules; deal, doubling, dealer, Star Blackjack, Pontoon, help line), read 6 November 2026
• SkyCity Adelaide, How to Play Blackjack page (the casino’s summary, not the approved rules; aim, deal, doubling, payouts, Party Blackjack, help line), read 6 November 2026
• BGaming, rules files of Multihand Blackjack and Surrender Multihand Blackjack, and the Multihand demo’s first screen, read 6 November 2026 from an Australian connection
• Wizard of Odds, Blackjack basic strategy, 4 to 8 decks, page updated 3 August 2026 (hit and stand on hard totals; this is strategy, not a casino rule), read 28 October 2026
• Wizard of Odds, Blackjack basics, rule variations table (a dealer who hits soft 17 lowers the player’s expected return), page updated 3 August 2026, read 28 October 2026
• Bicycle Cards, How to play blackjack (the American word push), read 28 October 2026
• Casino lobbies: table listings of nine offshore casinos, read without an account on 27 October 2026
• Money examples (A$10, A$20, A$5 insurance) are our arithmetic from the odds above

Written by: Helene Berner · First published: 6 November 2026