Blackjack card values

Blackjack card values at a glance

Every card in a standard 52-card deck has a fixed blackjack value except the ace. The table below is all you need to count any hand. Wizard of Odds’ summary of the rules (opens in a new tab) gives the same values: aces count as 1 or 11, cards 2 to 9 at their pip value, and tens and face cards as 10.

That last row is the most important number in blackjack. Almost one card in three is worth 10, so when you guess what the dealer’s hidden card might be, or what your next card will be, 10 is the single most likely value. Our blackjack odds page builds on it.

How the ace works: 1 or 11

The ace is the only flexible card. It counts as 11 whenever that does not take the hand over 21, and as 1 when it would. You do not choose or announce it; the hand simply takes the better value. Many online games show both totals, such as “7/17”, until the higher one is no longer possible.

• Ace + 6 = 17 (or 7). The ace counts as 11.
• Ace + 6 + 9 = 16. Counting the ace as 11 would make 26, so it drops to 1.
• Ace + ace = 12 (one ace as 11, the other as 1). Two aces can never both be 11.
• Ace + ace + 9 = 21. One ace at 11, one at 1, plus 9.

A pair of aces is one of the strongest starting holdings precisely because each ace can become the base of an 11. That is why basic strategy always splits them; see splitting aces and eights.

Soft and hard totals explained

A soft total contains an ace currently counted as 11. A hard total has no ace, or has an ace that must count as 1. The difference matters because a soft hand cannot bust on the next card: if the new card would take it past 21, the ace drops to 1 and the hand carries on. More detail is on our soft hands and hard hands pages, plus the soft hand and hard hand glossary entries.

Soft 18 and hard 18 are not the same hand. Ace-7 can safely take another card; ten-8 cannot. The dealer’s rules care about the difference too, because some tables make the dealer hit soft 17 while others make the dealer stand. See the dealer soft 17 rule.

How to add up a blackjack hand quickly

Counting a hand becomes automatic within a few rounds. This order avoids mistakes with aces:

1. Add up every card except aces, counting picture cards as 10.
2. Count each ace as 1 and add them on.
3. If the hand holds at least one ace and adding 10 more keeps it at 21 or less, add 10: that ace now counts as 11 and the hand is soft.
4. If adding 10 would pass 21, leave the aces at 1: the hand is hard.
5. After each new card, repeat from the start. A soft hand can turn hard, but a hard hand never turns soft again.

Example: you hold 4, ace and 3. Non-aces make 7, the ace adds 1 for 8, and adding 10 gives 18, which is fine, so you have soft 18. You hit and draw a 9. Non-aces are now 16, the ace adds 1 for 17, and adding 10 would make 27, so the ace stays at 1: hard 17.

Card values that make a blackjack

A blackjack, or natural, is an ace plus any 10-value card as your first two cards: A-10, A-J, A-Q or A-K. All four are equal. There is no bonus for a black jack or a particular suit in the main game; the old story that the name came from such a bonus is a popular tale rather than established history, as our history of blackjack page explains.

A natural usually pays 3 to 2, so £10 wins £15, though some tables pay 6 to 5 (£12). A 21 made with three or more cards, such as 7-7-7 or 5-6-K, is not a blackjack. It is a strong total but pays even money. See our blackjack payouts guide and what is the best hand in blackjack.

From a single deck, the chance of a natural is 2 × 4/52 × 16/51, about 4.83%; from six or eight decks it is about 4.75%, roughly once every 21 hands.

Ten-value cards and splitting

Because all picture cards count as 10, a king and a jack form a pair for splitting purposes at many tables. Under the standard rules Wizard of Odds describes, any two 10-point cards may be split into two hands. Basic strategy says never do it: hard 20 is already a strong total, and splitting it swaps a likely winner for two hands that each start from 10. Our when to split page covers the other pairs, and the split entry defines the move.

Some free-split variants exclude ten-value pairs entirely. In Evolution’s Free Bet Blackjack, for example, free splits apply to all pairs except 10, J, Q and K.

How many of each value are in a blackjack shoe

Blackjack uses between one and eight decks. More decks scale up the numbers but keep the proportions, which is why card values give almost the same probabilities whatever the shoe. The table helps when you want to estimate how likely a particular value is. See how many decks are used for how deck count affects the house edge.

In an eight-deck shoe, the first card dealt is a 10-value card 128 times in 416, the same 30.8% as a single deck. Proportions only shift as cards are dealt, and RNG games reshuffle every round, so in digital blackjack the values start fresh each hand.

Variants that change the card mix

A few games remove cards, which changes how often each value appears even though the values themselves stay the same.

• Spanish 21 uses decks of 48 cards with the four 10s removed (picture cards stay), so 10-value cards fall from 16 to 12 per deck, 25%. The game offers bonus payouts to compensate; see Wizard of Odds’ Spanish 21 rules (opens in a new tab).
• Power Blackjack from Evolution plays with eight decks from which the 9s and 10s are removed, 64 cards in all, as Evolution’s game page (opens in a new tab) describes. Picture cards remain, so jacks, queens and kings are the only 10-value cards.
• Pontoon, the British cousin of blackjack, uses the same card values; its differences are in payouts and how ties are settled.

Removing 10-value cards makes naturals and strong doubles rarer, so these games change other rules to balance the books. Always read the help screen of a variant before assuming the usual strategy applies.

When suits and ranks matter: side bets

In the main game, suit and rank beyond the point value are irrelevant: a queen and a 10 are identical. Side bets are the exception. Perfect Pairs pays more for two cards of the same rank and suit than for a mixed-colour pair. 21+3 pays on poker hands, flushes and straights included, made from your two cards and the dealer’s up card, so suits and exact ranks count. These bets carry much higher house edges than the main game; see Perfect Pairs, 21+3 and our overview of blackjack side bets.

Card value mistakes and myths

• “Picture cards are worth more than tens.” They are all worth exactly 10.
• “You have to declare your ace.” The game always counts it the best way automatically.
• “Soft 17 is the same as hard 17.” It plays very differently; you can hit soft 17 without risk of busting.
• “A five-card 21 is a blackjack.” Only a two-card ace-and-ten hand is a blackjack, although a few variants pay bonuses on multi-card hands.
• “Tracking card values will beat online blackjack.” Card counting, a technique from the era of hand-dealt shoes, gave point values to cards to follow how a shoe changed; its background is in Wikipedia’s card counting article (opens in a new tab). It has no use in RNG games, which reshuffle every round, and casinos can refuse service to suspected counters. Our card counting page covers it as history.

Getting comfortable with blackjack card values

Demo games at UK-licensed casinos are a sensible way to practise counting hands, though age verification is required even for free play. Once totals feel automatic, move on to how to play blackjack and the strategy chart. Keep any real-money play within a budget you have set in advance.

Card values, real tables and our partner offers

Card values are the same at every UK casino. Our partner offers are largely slot offers, and table games such as blackjack are often excluded from wagering or count for less, so check the terms and the casino’s table game lobby before signing up for a bonus. 18+ and terms apply.

• Casumo: new customers who opt in and deposit at least £20 receive a 50% bonus up to £100; wager it 10x within 7 days, stake no more than £5 per bet while it is active, and note the game, play and payment restrictions.
• 10bet Casino: new UK customers who select the casino welcome bonus at sign-up and deposit within 7 days get a 100% match up to £25, to be wagered 10x on slots within 3 days; bonus winnings max out at £1,000 and Skrill and Neteller deposits are excluded.
• Coral Casino: after a qualifying deposit, new players who bet £10 or more on slots receive 100 free spins on selected games at 10p each with no wagering on winnings; accept within 48 hours and use within 7 days, during the 1 October 2026 to 1 February 2027 offer period, with some payment methods excluded.

18+. Every casino game has a built-in house edge, so over time you should expect to lose what you stake. Set a budget before you play and stop when it’s gone: safer gambling tools and support. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.