When a player has an Ace in their hand that can be valued at one or eleven, that player is said to have a “soft” hand. While some tables have rules that oblige a dealer to stand on a certain hand value, others do not, and most players and dealers do follow some basic strategic maneuvers, such as holding at set amounts.Īces can change how a player acts because of their flexible value. Standard Blackjack strategy states that most players, and dealers, should look to “stand” on a hand of seventeen or higher. While there are dozens of techniques, strategies and methods of play, a player must do some quick analysis about their hand.įor example, a player who is dealt a four and a five understands that they can take at least one more card without going “bust”, or exceeding twenty-one, while a player who has a Queen and a Jack knows that their hand value of twenty will go bust unless they get an Ace. There are various rules and methods of receiving and handling cards, but each game always begins with two cards to the player.įrom this point a player must assess the value of their initial hand in order to know how to proceed. The Ace has two possible values of either one or eleven depending upon the effect it will have on the player’s handĮach player begins a hand of Blackjack by receiving two cards.Cards two through ten are worth their face value.Face cards of the Jack, Queen and King are worth ten.

Standard values in a game of Blackjack are: In order to reach twenty-one the players and dealer all follow the same set of card values that can add up to the winning figure. The whole point of the card game known as “Blackjack” is to attain a “hand value” of twenty-one, or as near to that figure as possible without going over (“bust”). The Importance of Card and Hand Values in Blackjack

Blackjack jack value