The objective of blackjack is to beat the dealer by holding the higher value cards without going over 21, or busting. The betting rules are much more intricate, and it is best to devise a basic strategy before hitting the blackjack tables. There are countless online resources dedicated to honing a personal betting strategy based on statistical mathematics, and VIPcasinos offers a game tutorial for blackjack that will leave any level player feeling confident.

The suit is irrelevant in blackjack, and the card values are as follows: the Ace equals one or 11 (the value will always default to the better hand), the values of two through nine are numerically indicated, and the ten, Jack, Queen, and King each equal ten.

The first and most basic decision a player faces is whether to stand or to hit--in other words, to keep the current hand or to ask the dealer for another card. The risk the player takes in a hit is the possibility of going over 21, and standing may increase the dealer's chance of a win.

How the dealer plays a hand can impact the player's strategy. The most common rule is that the dealer must stand on all 17s. That is, the dealer must take a hit until the total value is 17 or higher, and unless it results in a bust, the Ace will equal 11. In another scenario, the dealer might be expected to hit on a soft 17. A soft hand contains an Ace that can be counted as either a one or 11 without going bust, allowing the player, or in this case, the dealer, to draw another card to a soft total.