How to Deal in Blackjack: The Dealing Order, Dealer Rules and Payouts

Learning how to deal in blackjack takes about ten minutes, because the dealer makes no decisions. You follow a fixed order: take bets, deal two cards to everyone (your second card face down), settle any blackjacks, let each player act, then play your own hand by a strict rule: draw until you reach 17 or more. This guide walks through each step for a home game, the dealer rules to agree in advance, and how to pay correctly.

If you're hosting a game for money, check that it's allowed where you live; playing for chips or points avoids the question and is just as useful for learning.

Before the first hand: agree the rules

Most arguments at a home blackjack table come from rules nobody agreed. Settle these before you deal:

The cost figures are the Wizard of Odds rule adjustments, measured against an 8-deck game where the dealer stands on soft 17. "Percentage points" (pp) are changes in the house edge, the average share of each bet the dealer's side keeps.

Who is the dealer? In a casino the dealer represents the house and holds the edge. In a home game, whoever deals also holds that edge. If one person deals all night, they have the advantage; if the deal rotates, it evens out among the players. Decide which you want before you start.

How to deal blackjack, step by step

1. Shuffle and set the cut card

Shuffle thoroughly, offer the deck to a player to cut, and place a plastic cut card (any blank card works) near the back of the pack. When it comes out, finish the round and reshuffle. In our simulation we reshuffled after 75% of the cards had been dealt; at home, roughly three-quarters through is a sensible point that won't run out of cards mid-round.

2. Take bets

Every player places a bet in front of their seat before any card is dealt. Once the first card is out, bets shouldn't be touched. The Wizard of Odds etiquette guide makes the same point for casinos: never touch your bet after the first card is dealt.

3. Deal the first round

Working clockwise from your left, deal one card face up to each player, then one card face up to yourself. This is your upcard.

4. Deal the second round

Deal a second card face up to each player in the same order, then a second card to yourself face down. This is your hole card.

Face up or face down for players? Casino shoe games usually deal players' cards face up; some hand-held games deal them face down, so players pick up their cards. For a home game, face up is easier to supervise. Our guide to blackjack hand signals explains how players show decisions in each style.

5. Check for blackjack and settle naturals

A blackjack (or natural) is an ace plus a 10-value card (10, jack, queen or king) as the first two cards. If your upcard is an ace or a 10-value card, look at your hole card before anyone acts:

• You have blackjack: turn it over. Players without blackjack lose; players with blackjack push (tie) and get their bet back.
• You don't: carry on. Pay any player blackjacks now at 3:2 and remove those cards.

If your upcard is an ace, you can offer insurance first: a side bet that your hole card completes a blackjack. Players are free to take it, but the Wizard of Odds strategy charts say never take insurance.

6. Let each player act

Start at your left. Each player chooses one option at a time until they stand or bust:

• Hit: deal one more card.
• Stand: move to the next player.
• Double down: the player adds a second bet equal to the first and receives exactly one more card.
• Split: with two cards of the same rank, the player adds an equal bet and you separate the cards into two hands, dealing a second card to each and playing them one after the other. Our guide to splitting in blackjack covers the rules to agree, such as how to handle split aces.

If a player goes over 21, they bust: collect their bet and cards straight away. They've lost even if you bust later. That order of play is a big part of why the dealer's side has the edge.

7. Play the dealer's hand

Turn over your hole card. Now follow the dealer rule exactly. You have no choices:

• 16 or less: take a card.
• 17 or more: stand.
• Soft 17 (a 17 counting an ace as 11, such as ace + 6): stand if you're playing S17, hit if you're playing H17.

Count aces as 11 unless that would bust you. Ace + 5 is soft 16, so you hit. If you draw a 10 it becomes hard 16 (the ace now counts 1), and you hit again.

If every player has already busted, you don't need to draw; just turn over the hole card and collect.

8. Settle every hand

Go round the table from your right to your left (the reverse of the dealing order) and settle each hand against yours:

• Player total higher than yours, or you bust: pay 1:1.
• Your total higher: collect the bet.
• Same total: push. Leave the bet. Our page on what a push is in blackjack covers the edge cases.

9. Clear the table

Collect the cards into a discard pile, keeping them face down. Start the next round. When the cut card appears, finish the round and reshuffle.

How to pay blackjack correctly

Ordinary wins pay 1:1: the player keeps their stake and gets the same amount again. A blackjack pays 3:2:

Odd bets lead to fractions. At home, it helps to set a minimum bet of an even number of chips so 3:2 always pays a whole number.

What your dealer rules cost the players: our simulation

The rules you agree decide how big the dealer's edge is. We simulated 10 million hands for each of four 6-deck rule sets, with players following perfect basic strategy:

Two things stand out for a home dealer:

• Switching from S17 to H17 raised the edge from 0.47% to 0.65% in our DAS games, a gap of 0.18 points.
• A 6:5 payout dwarfs everything else, adding about 1.36 points on the same hands.

These are Monte Carlo estimates with a standard error of about 0.036 points; the rule differences are close to the Wizard of Odds figures, within about two standard errors of the difference. They also assume perfect play. Players who guess will hand the dealer a much bigger edge.

How to deal blackjack as a dealer: good habits

• Say each total out loud after every card. It catches mistakes and keeps the game moving.
• Never rush a player's decision, but don't deal a card until you see a clear signal or hear a clear word.
• Deal fewer decks by hand. One or two decks are easy to hold; for four or more, a shoe or a flat discard and draw pile is easier. Our double deck blackjack guide covers the rules for two-deck games.
• Keep the chart handy for new players. Our free blackjack calculator shows the basic strategy move for any hand, which settles "what should I do here?" questions quickly.

Common dealing mistakes

• Dealing your hole card face up, or forgetting to check it for blackjack before players act.
• Letting players act out of order.
• Hitting soft 17 at an S17 table, or standing on it at an H17 table.
• Paying blackjack 1:1 instead of 3:2.
• Paying a player who busted because the dealer also busted.
• Reshuffling mid-round instead of at the end of the round.

Playing online instead

Online the software or a live dealer does all of this for you, and the rules are in the game's info panel. If you move from a home game to playing online with crypto, keep your bankroll in a stablecoin so coin price swings don't mix with your results; our USDT TRC20 guide covers one common network.

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