Bust means your hand has gone over 21 in blackjack, and a bust hand loses straight away, whatever the dealer later does. The word also turns up for a player who has run out of money and for a gambling business that collapses. Below are the exact odds of busting on each hit and the rules that pay or protect around it.
A blackjack hand that goes over 21 is bust and loses at once.
You lose even if the dealer busts afterwards, which is where most of the house edge comes from.
From a large shoe, hitting hard 16 busts about 8 times in 13 (61.5%).
Baccarat hands can't bust, because only the last digit of the total counts.
Meaning
Hand total over 21
Result
Bet loses immediately
Bust chance hitting hard 12
4 in 13 (30.8%)
Bust chance hitting hard 16
8 in 13 (61.5%)
Bust It side bet edge
6.18% (8 decks, S17)
What bust means in blackjack
In blackjack, a hand is bust (sometimes called broke) when its cards add up to more than 21. Picture cards count 10, an ace counts 1 or 11, and every other card counts its face value. Once you pass 21 your stake is taken and your hand is finished. You can't take the card back and there is no second chance.
The term is mostly a blackjack one, and this casino glossary entry focuses there, but it has a few other uses covered further down: running a bankroll down to nothing, and a gambling company going out of business.
How going bust works at the table
Players act before the dealer. Each time you hit, you take another card, and if it pushes a hard hand past 21 you are bust. A soft hand can't bust on one card, because the ace simply drops from 11 to 1. Soft 17 (ace and six) plus a ten becomes hard 17, not 27.
The order of play is the key point. As the Wikipedia blackjack article (opens in a new tab) puts it, if a player goes over 21 they lose automatically, and most of the house's edge comes from the player losing when both player and dealer bust. The dealer's own bust only pays the players still in the hand.
The dealer has no choices. Under the usual rule the dealer draws on 16 or less and stands on 17 or more, with some tables hitting soft 17 instead. A dealer who busts pays every hand still standing at even money (a player blackjack has normally been settled already). Our how to play blackjack guide walks through the full order of a round.
Bust odds: your chance of busting on the next card
You can work out the chance of busting with simple counting. In a big shoe each rank turns up about 1 time in 13, and four ranks (10, jack, queen, king) are worth 10, so a 10-value card arrives about 4 times in 13. On a hard total, the ace counts as 1. The table uses that large-shoe approximation and ignores the cards already on the table, so a real shoe will differ slightly.
Chance of busting with one more card (hard totals, large shoe)
Hard total
Cards that bust you
Chance of busting
Chance of staying in
11 or less
None
0 in 13 (0%)
100%
12
Any 10-value card
4 in 13 (30.8%)
69.2%
13
9 or 10-value
5 in 13 (38.5%)
61.5%
14
8 or higher
6 in 13 (46.2%)
53.8%
15
7 or higher
7 in 13 (53.8%)
46.2%
16
6 or higher
8 in 13 (61.5%)
38.5%
17
5 or higher
9 in 13 (69.2%)
30.8%
18
4 or higher
10 in 13 (76.9%)
23.1%
19
3 or higher
11 in 13 (84.6%)
15.4%
20
2 or higher
12 in 13 (92.3%)
7.7%
Busting isn't the only risk in a decision, though. Standing on 16 avoids a bust but leaves you needing the dealer to break, so the right play depends on the dealer's up card as well as your total. That trade-off is what basic strategy settles: it lowers the house edge but never removes it.
Blackjack rules and side bets built around busting
Several variants change what a bust means. In Free Bet Blackjack, a dealer who busts with exactly 22 doesn't pay: if you have 21 or less, your bet pushes. Standard game maths puts the cost of a dealer-22-pushes rule at 6.91% on its own, which is why the game gives back value through free doubles and splits. Infinite Blackjack adds a Six Card Charlie rule, under which six cards without busting wins automatically; our five-card Charlie entry explains the older version of the idea.
Bust It paytable (Evolution version, as listed by Wizard of Odds)
Dealer busts with
Pays
8 or more cards
250 to 1
7 cards
100 to 1
6 cards
50 to 1
5 cards
9 to 1
4 cards
2 to 1
3 cards
1 to 1
Wizard of Odds calculates a 6.18% house edge for that paytable with eight decks and the dealer standing on soft 17, so £5 a hand on Bust It costs about 31p a hand on average. Other sources give a slightly different figure for the same table, so check the game's help screen for the return it states.
Other meanings of bust in casino games and money
Baccarat: hands can't bust. Only the last digit of the total counts, so a 9 and a 7 make 6, not 16. See baccarat for the full count.
Pontoon: the British cousin of blackjack also loses on totals over 21; our pontoon page covers its other rule changes.
Going bust as a player: losing your whole session budget. Gambler's ruin is the maths of how a player with limited money in a game with a negative edge tends to be wiped out over time.
No. A run of dealer wins doesn't make a dealer bust more likely on the next hand. Online RNG blackjack is reshuffled for every round, so each deal starts from a full deck. A live shoe does change slightly as cards are used, but no player can see enough of it for a hunch to help. Believing a bust is "due" is the gambler's fallacy, and raising stakes on it only raises your expected loss under the house edge.
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Frequently asked questions
What does bust mean in blackjack?
Bust means your hand has gone over 21, so it loses immediately. Your stake is collected as soon as the card that takes you over is dealt, and you play no further part in that round. The dealer can also bust by passing 21, which pays every player who is still in. Our blackjack card values page shows how each total is counted.
If I bust and the dealer busts too, do I win?
No, you still lose. Players act first, so a player who busts has already lost before the dealer draws. That one rule gives the casino most of its advantage in blackjack, because both sides face the same bust risk but the player's bust is settled first. The blackjack house edge page explains how rule changes move the edge.
What is the most likely total to bust on?
The higher your hard total, the more likely the next card busts you. From a large shoe, hitting hard 12 busts about 4 times in 13, hard 16 about 8 times in 13 and hard 20 about 12 times in 13. A total of 11 or less can't bust on one card. The right decision still depends on the dealer's card, as shown in our strategy chart.
Can a soft hand bust?
Not on the next card. A soft hand contains an ace counted as 11, and if a new card would take the total over 21, the ace simply counts as 1 instead. Soft 18 plus a 9 becomes hard 17, for example. After that change the hand is hard and can bust on later cards. Our soft hands guide covers how to play them.
Can you bust in baccarat?
No, baccarat hands can't bust. Cards are added up and only the last digit of the total counts, so a hand of 8 and 7 is worth 5 rather than 15. The highest possible hand is 9. Drawing is fixed by the third-card rule, not by players choosing to hit. See how to play baccarat for the full rules.
Is the Bust It side bet worth playing?
It costs more than the main game. Wizard of Odds puts the house edge of the Evolution Bust It paytable at 6.18% with eight decks, against well under 1% for the main blackjack hand with basic strategy under good rules. At £5 a hand that is about 31p a hand on average. Our guide to blackjack side bets compares the options.
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