Blackjack is one of the most popular types of casino games in both brick-and-mortar and online casinos. If you want to try it out for fun, practice the basic strategy, or just enjoy the game without wagering real money, check out our collection of free Blackjack games.
Blackjack is a relatively simple game, but it’s still good to learn more about it and study the rules before playing, even if only for fun. Blackjack is played with standard decks of French playing cards. The number of decks might be different in various version of the game, but one to eight decks are generally used.
Each card has a certain value:
The objective of each game round is to obtain a hand that’s higher in value than dealer’s hand, without exceeding the value of 21.
You do this by choosing whether to "hit" (get another card) or "stand". If your cards have a combined value of 22 or more, you "bust" and automatically lose. If you don’t bust, it’s the dealer’s turn. The dealer generally has to draw cards until getting a combined value of 17 or more (specific rules may vary), regardless of the player’s cards.
If the dealer busts, the player wins, unless they’ve previously busted, too. If neither of them busts, they compare the values of their hands to see who has won. You can either win double your stake, get your money back (in case of a "draw" or "push") or lose the wagered money if the dealer has a better combination.
Furthermore, if you hit a Blackjack (a combination of Ace and any card with a value of 10), you win 2.5-times you bet, unless the dealer has a Blackjack, too. If the latter happens, it’s a draw and you get the wagered money back.
Note: These were the general and simplified rules that should be sufficient if you want to play Blackjack just for free. However, it’s also wise to study more detailed Blackjack rules and read more about types of Blackjack, as each game can have slightly different rules. If you are a beginner, reading our "How to play Blackjack" article will be helpful, too.
Blackjack is one of the casino games that require some knowledge and practice to be played optimally. Free Blackjack games that you can play without wagering real money are a great tool to master the so-called basic strategy that will help you reach the game’s theoretical maximum RTP.
Depending on the rules of the exact version of Blackjack you play, the payout ratio you can reach might differ a bit, but you always need to know what to do in every situation to reach it. Learn more about the optimal way to play Blackjack in our article about basic strategy.
The basic strategy, however, is not about card counting or any other "trick" to beat the casino. It’s about making good decisions and minimizing the casino’s advantage over you. If this topic interests you, feel free to read more about it in our article about card counting in Blackjack, but you will not be able to utilize or practice it in games played for fun.
Note: Thanks to card counting, Blackjack is one of the few casino games in which players can actually be profitable. Of course, casinos don’t like this, so if they suspect a player is counting cards, they ask them to leave. There are also other measures implemented to make card counting more difficult or simply unusable. In online casinos, card counting can be used to some degree only in Blackjack with a live dealer. And because of frequently shuffled and exchanged decks of cards, it’s most likely not a profitable strategy anyways.
Many casinos and game providers add various side bets to Blackjack, which can make the game a bit more exciting, but generally also increase the casino’s advantage. You can take advantage of a side bet by placing a separate bet, which is settled independently from the "regular" Blackjack bet.
The most widely spread side bet is called "21+3", in which you can win a certain multiple of money placed on this bet, depending on your two cards and the dealer’s "upcard" (the visible card). The highest paying combination consists of three cards with the same rank and the same suit (e.g. three Queens of clubs).
The selection of side bets is much wider on brick-and-mortar and virtual Blackjack tables around the world, however, there is one thing all side bets have in common. They all have an RTP that’s worse than the RTP of Blackjack played without side bets. If you want to maximize your RTP, you should stay away from them, but they also increase the game’s volatility, what might be preferable for some players. One thing is certain – feel free to try them out when playing one of our free Blackjack games just for fun.
Not all online casino games are currently available in a version suitable for mobile devices, but many of them are. This applies to the Blackjack games in our database, too. If you are using a mobile device, you can apply our filter "Mobile Devices Supported" to see only Blackjack games you will be able to play. The selection is slightly smaller, but there are still plenty of games to choose from.
There is still a number of games that require Flash Player to be played, but it is decreasing, as many old games are being reworked using newer technologies supported by mobile devices.
Unfortunately, Blackjack tables with a live dealer usually can't be played for free, but you will be able to play them for real money in many online casinos. Casinos with live roulette usually also offer live Blackjack games, but, to be absolutely sure, explore sites like liveblackjack.co which specialize in live Blackjack.
If you are also interested in other types of casino games, you can check out our full collection of free games. You can play slots, video poker, roulette and other games you can encounter in a brick-and-mortar or online casino. Including Blackjack, of course.
Playing blackjack online for free is very simple. Just open our collection of free blackjack games and click one of the games. It will load directly in your browser with a balance of free chips (without any real value) for you to play with. You can then place a bet, hit 'Deal', and play blackjack as it is meant to be played.
If you are completely new to blackjack, you might want to read our guide on how to play blackjack to learn the basics. Free blackjack games are great to practice this, as in blackjack your decisions actually matter and influence your long-term results.
No, you don't. All games in our database are played directly in the browser. You just need to load the game and start playing, no need to download or install anything. There is an exception, though. Some older games require Flash to be installed on your computer, but you can go around this requirement by simply choosing a game that does not require it.
Yes, of course. Most titles in our database of free blackjack games have been programmed with mobile users in mind, by using mobile-friendly technologies like HTML5 instead of outdated Flash, on which many older games are based. There are still some games which do require Flash and therefore cannot be played on mobile devices, but you can get around this by using the 'Mobile Devices Supported' filter on our website. There is plenty to choose from.
Free blackjack games are played with virtual chips without any real-money value. You play with the free chips you get when you first load the game, and these can't be exchanged for real money, regardless of how many chips you accumulate during your free play.
If you want to play for free and have a chance of winning, this can only be done by utilizing no deposit casino bonuses, thanks to which you can get a small amount of bonus money to play with. This money can then theoretically be cashed out if you win, although be careful, as there are generally quite strict conditions that need to be met.
Card counting is a method of keeping track of cards that have been used in previous game rounds to gain a statistical advantage over the casino. However, this requires the game to be played with a bigger stack of cards that are not shuffled after each round. This is not true for free blackjack games, in which the virtual stack of cards resets after each game round. You can, however, practice your technique of keeping track of the used cards.
In Blackjack, your decisions matter. When you play slots, you just press the 'spin' button and wait for the results. In blackjack, you need to know what decisions to make in order to minimize the casino's advantage. And that's exactly what the basic strategy is. It describes what decisions you should do depending on your cards, the dealer's cards, and the specific rules of the game you are playing. Read our article about basic strategy for blackjack to learn more.
Blackjack games in real-money online casinos work basically the same as the free ones, with the exception of live dealer blackjack, in which a dealer uses physical cards to operate the game. If you do choose to play for real money, make sure you choose a good online casino with a fair approach to gambling. Our list of top casino websites can help you do that.