Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games and is considered a game of skill. It is more engaging than a slot machine and less complex than poker. It also offers the opportunity to win money if you beat the dealer. But how do you know if you have a winning hand? A simple comparison of your card total to that of the dealer’s will tell you. If your hand is closer to 21 than the dealer’s, you win and are paid an amount equal to your original wager. If your hand is equal to or higher than the dealer’s, it is a tie or “push,” and you keep your wager but do not receive any payment.

Before dealing the cards, each player places a bet using chips that represent money on the table. The betting limits vary by blackjack game, but they typically range from $2 to $500. The dealer then deals two cards to each player and themselves, starting on their left and dealing clockwise. One of the dealer’s cards is face up and the other is face down, known as an up card and a hole card respectively. If the dealer’s up card is an ace, they offer insurance to players, which is a side bet that pays out 2 to 1 on the player’s initial bet if the dealer has blackjack.

If the first two cards in a player’s hand are an ace and a ten or picture card, they have a blackjack. This is a winning hand and is paid 6 to 5 depending on the type of blackjack game played. If the player’s first two cards are of different value, they may split them and play them as two separate hands. Players are not permitted to split 10s, 4s, or 8s, and they cannot split aces.

The goal of a blackjack hand is to get a higher total than the dealer without going over twenty-one. This is possible by counting the value of the cards and taking advantage of rules that favor the player, such as standing when you have a good chance of winning, hitting when you have an edge, and splitting pairs if allowed. Studies of millions of blackjack hands have yielded a strategy for when to hit, stand, double, and split.

Aside from being fun to play, blackjack has several psychological and behavioral consequences that are interesting to explore. In two recent studies, we manipulated participants’ confidence in their knowledge of blackjack strategy and measured the effects on their outcome expectations, anxiety, risk taking, and their use of hints to improve their play. In both studies, we found that unjustified confidence leads to greater bets and fewer hints — which suggests that this type of confidence can be detrimental to learning and motivation in domains where knowing more is beneficial. Further, we found that confidence alone predicts these outcomes, even when knowledge is controlled for. This research underscores the importance of studying individual differences in confidence-based outcomes and their underlying mechanisms.