You're at the table and the dealer points at you
Your two cards are face up. The dealer's upcard is showing. Everyone is waiting. The word you will hear most often in the next thirty seconds is "hit" — and it simply means asking for another card.
A hit is one of the two core decisions in blackjack, paired with standing. When you hit, the dealer places one more card face up next to your hand. You may hit again as long as your total stays under 21. The moment your total reaches 21 or you decide to stop, you stand. If a hit pushes your total over 21, the hand is over immediately: that is a bust, and your wager is settled as a loss regardless of what the dealer does afterwards.
The word matters because blackjack is a comparing game. Your objective is a hand total closer to 21 than the dealer's without exceeding it. Every hit moves you toward that target or past it, so the decision is always about the total you hold against the card the dealer is showing.
The sequence of a round from buy-in to settlement
Before any hitting happens, you need chips. You buy in at the table by placing cash on the felt — never directly into the dealer's hand at most venues — and the dealer exchanges it for chips. You place a wager in the betting circle before the cards are dealt.
Each player receives two cards face up in most shoe-dealt games. The dealer gets one card face up and one face down. Play proceeds around the table, and when the dealer points at you, that is your decision point. The order is fixed: each player completes their hand before the dealer reveals the hole card and plays their own hand according to fixed house rules.
Settlement follows. If your hand busted, the dealer collects your wager immediately. If you stood and the dealer busts, you are paid. If both hands stand, the higher total wins. A tie pushes, returning your wager. A blackjack — an ace plus a ten-value card as your first two cards — typically pays at a higher rate than a standard win, though the exact payout is printed on the table.
What a hit changes in your hand
A hit adds one card to your total. Cards two through ten count at face value. Jacks, queens and kings count as ten. An ace counts as either one or eleven, whichever helps the hand more at that moment. This flexible ace is what makes hitting decisions interesting: a hand containing an ace counted as eleven is called soft, and it cannot bust from a single hit because the ace can drop to one if needed.
Suppose you hold an ace and a six. That is a soft 17, counted as seven or seventeen. If you hit and draw a nine, the ace drops to one and your total becomes sixteen. If you draw a four instead, you have a soft 21, or an eleven-count total that also reads as twenty-one. The same hit can reshape the hand differently depending on what arrives.
Hard hands have no ace, or an ace already counted as one. A hard 16 cannot absorb a high card the way a soft hand can. That is why the same total can call for a hit in one form and a stand in another, and why a strategy chart separates soft and hard totals into different rows.
How the decision changes with the dealer's upcard
Blackjack strategy is built on incomplete information. You can see one dealer card, so the hit-or-stand decision is always a comparison between your total and the probability of what the dealer's hidden card might produce. The dealer's upcard is the single most important input.
A dealer showing a two through six is in a weak position because those upcards produce a bust more often than a seven or higher does. Against a weak upcard, players tend to stand on lower totals and let the dealer draw toward a bust. Against a strong upcard — seven through ace — the dealer is more likely to finish with a competitive total, so players hit more aggressively to improve their own hand.
This is not a promise about any single hand. It is a long-run description of how often certain upcards lead to certain outcomes under a given rule set. A dealer showing a six will still make a hand sometimes. The strategy only shifts the expected rate of loss; it does not remove it.
Hit, stand, double and split: the four decisions compared
| Decision | What happens | When it is typically used | What it costs or risks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hit | One more card is dealt to your hand | When your total is too low to compete with the dealer's upcard | Risk of busting if the card pushes you over 21 |
| Stand | No more cards; your total is final | When your total is strong enough against the dealer's upcard | You accept your current total as your final hand |
| Double down | One additional wager equal to your original bet, then exactly one more card | On strong starting totals against a weak dealer upcard | You cannot hit again after the single card |
| Split | Two equal cards are separated into two hands, each with its own wager | On pairs, when the split hands have a better expected outcome than the pair played as one total | Costs an additional wager; some rule sets restrict re-splitting |
Doubling and splitting are not available on every hand. Doubling requires an additional wager and commits you to exactly one more card. Splitting requires a pair and an additional wager, and the rules for re-splitting, doubling after split, and whether a split ace receives only one card all vary by table. Those rule variants are printed on the felt or posted at the table, and they change the strategy chart that applies.
Hand signals: how the hit is communicated
In a live game, words alone are often not enough. Casinos use hand signals so that surveillance cameras can verify every decision. To request a hit, you tap or scratch the felt behind your cards with your finger. To stand, you wave your hand palm-down over your cards. The exact convention can vary by venue, so watch the dealer's demonstration or ask before your first decision.
The signal replaces or accompanies the word. Saying "hit" while tapping the table is unambiguous. Saying "hit" with no gesture may be accepted at a quiet table, but the gesture is the record that matters. If you are playing an online or electronic version, the interface replaces the signal with a button, and the decision structure is identical.
Verbal-only play creates disputes. A player who says "hit" and then claims they said "stand" has no camera record to support them. The gesture exists to protect both sides of the wager.
Where the strategy charts come from
Published basic-strategy charts are not universal. They derive from the exact rule set in use: the number of decks, whether the dealer stands or hits on soft 17, whether doubling after splitting is allowed, whether late surrender is offered, and how blackjack itself is paid. Change one rule and some cells in the chart change.
A chart for a six-deck shoe with the dealer standing on soft 17 will not perfectly match a chart for a single-deck game where the dealer hits soft 17. The differences are usually small on any single hand, but they accumulate over many decisions. If you intend to use a chart, match it to the table you are sitting at, and read the table's rule placard before you buy in.
No chart turns blackjack into a positive-expectation game. The house edge remains on every wager under standard rules. A correct chart reduces the expected rate of loss relative to guessing; it does not guarantee a winning session or a profitable hour.
Three procedural mistakes new players make
The first is touching the cards. In shoe-dealt games, players never touch the cards at all. In pitch games dealt face down, you may handle your cards, but the rules for how are specific: one hand, cards above the table, no bending. The dealer will tell you which style the table uses. Touching cards in a shoe game is treated as a serious procedural violation.
The second is acting out of turn or with an ambiguous signal. If you wave your hand near your cards while deciding, the dealer may read it as a stand. If you tap the felt while pointing at a drink, you may receive a card you did not want. Decisions are final once the gesture is made and the card is drawn, so make the signal deliberate and only when it is your turn.
The third is treating a soft total like a hard one. A player who sees an ace and a six and thinks "seventeen, I stand" is giving up the flexibility that makes the hand valuable. Soft totals are played differently precisely because they cannot bust from one hit. The chart separates them for a reason.
How the house edge differs across the main bets
Blackjack's main wager carries a house edge that depends heavily on the rule set and on how accurately the player follows the matching strategy chart. The game also offers side bets on many tables, and those side bets carry materially different edges from the main wager.
| Bet type | What it pays on | How the edge compares | What a player should know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main blackjack wager | Your hand beating the dealer's without busting | Lowest edge among standard table bets under a given rule set, when played with the matching strategy chart | The edge is sensitive to rule variants; the chart must match the table |
| Insurance | The dealer having a blackjack when the upcard is an ace | Higher edge than the main wager under standard rules | A side wager offered only when the dealer shows an ace |
| Pair or suited side bets | Your first two cards forming a pair, a suited pair, or another specified combination | Generally higher edge than the main wager | Payouts vary by table; the posted paytable states the terms |
Insurance deserves a closer look because it appears mid-round. When the dealer shows an ace, you may be offered insurance against the dealer holding a blackjack. It costs half your original wager and pays at a fixed rate if the dealer's hole card is a ten-value card. The bet is separate from your main hand and is settled on its own terms. Under standard rules, the insurance wager carries a higher house edge than the main game, which is why it is treated as a distinct bet rather than a protective move.
RTP and house edge are complements for the same bet under the same rule set: they sum to 100%. A side bet with a lower RTP than the main wager has a correspondingly higher house edge. The exact figures for any table are a function of that table's rules, not a universal constant.
FAQ
Can I hit after I stand?
No. Stand is final. Once you wave off and the dealer moves to the next player, your hand is locked. Online interfaces also disable the hit button after a stand. The only exception is a hand where you have not yet signalled and the dealer has not moved on, in which case you may still change your mind — but once the signal is read, the decision stands.
What happens if I hit and get exactly 21?
You have a total of 21, which is the best non-blackjack hand. The dealer will move to the next player. If the dealer also finishes with 21, the hand pushes and your wager is returned. A 21 made from three or more cards does not pay the higher blackjack rate; that payout applies only to an ace and a ten-value card as the first two cards.
Does hitting more often change the house edge?
Hitting more often changes the distribution of outcomes, not the built-in edge of the game. A player who hits every hand will bust more often and lose faster. A player who follows the strategy chart for the table's rule set reduces the expected rate of loss relative to guessing. No pattern of hitting and standing removes the house edge from a negative-expectation game.
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This article is general information about how these mechanics work. It is not legal advice and not a recommendation to gamble or to use any particular operator. Availability and legality differ by jurisdiction — check the rules that apply where you are.