It also gives them a good chance of getting a hand with 5 or more cards, which can result in a side bet victory or a bonus win in many modern blackjack variants. If they hit a 6 or higher then it automatically becomes a 1.Īs you can imagine, this gives them a lot to play with. If they hit a 5 or less, that ace can still count as an 11, giving them anything from an 18 to a 21. They can choose to stand, in which case the hand becomes 16, or they can choose to hit. Secondly, it gives the players more options as they are the one who decide how much the hand is worth.įor instance, if they get an ace and a 5 then they have either a hand of 16 or a hand of 6.
Firstly, it means that an ace is essential to make a winning hand from just 2 cards (a picture card + an ace or 10 + 11 = 21). The ace is the only exception here as it can equal both 1 and 11, which effectively means that ace is both high and low in a game of blackjack.
The cards are all assigned a number value, with all picture cards valued at 10 and all cards from 2 to 9 given their face value. If the hand hits 21 in 2 cards, then it’s an immediate win for the player if the dealer hits 21 in 2 cards, then it’s an immediate loss. As you probably know, the goal of blackjack is to get as close to 21 as possible.