When playing blackjack, it is important to understand how to value cards. Aces are worth one point, two through ten are worth face value, a Jack or Queen is worth 10 points, and a King or Ace of Spades is worth 11 points.
When playing with a dealer’s up card, that card is also worth its face value (1 through 10).
The goal of blackjack is to achieve as close to 21 points as possible. This means that in order to win, you must have a higher total (21 points or more) than the dealer.
In order to achieve this total, you must be able to count cards and make smart plays.
When counting cards, you should always keep in mind the number of decks being used (2 or 3), as well as the rank of each card. For example, when counting two decks of cards, an Ace is worth one point, two through ten are face value, Jacks and Queens are both worth 10 points, and Kings and Aces of Spades are both worth 11 points.
When counting three decks of cards, an Ace is still worth one point, but two through ten are now worth their face value (2 through 10), Jacks and Queens are both worth 9 points, and Kings and Aces of Spades are both worth 10 points.
So when playing blackjack with two decks of cards, an Ace would be counted as 1 point (since it’s worth face value), a 2 would be counted as 2 points (since it’s one rank higher than an Ace), a 3 would be counted as 3 points (since it’s two ranks higher than an Ace), and so on. When playing blackjack with three decks of cards, an Ace would be counted as 1 point (since it’s stillworth face value), a 2 would be counted as 2 points (since it’s one rank higher than an Ace), and a 3 would be counted as 3 points (since it’s two ranks higher than an Ace).
When playing blackjack with four or more decks of cards, the ace is not always counted according to its rank. Instead, the ace is treated like any other card when counting.
So if there are four different suits being used in blackjack (clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades), for example, then an ace would be counted like any other card – as 1 point.
