How to play Twenty-One

Twenty-One is the classic card game of getting as close to 21 as you can without going over. You play your hand against a dealer, who has no choices of their own and must follow a fixed drawing rule. On skill.games nothing is staked: each hand simply scores points, and the first side to reach 10 points wins the match.

The cards decide what you are dealt, but your decisions decide how often you win: knowing when to take another card, when to stop, when to double up and when to split a pair makes a real difference over a match. Because the dealer always follows the same rule, good play wins noticeably more matches than guessing.

How to play on skill.games

When the game opens, the settings appear first: choose a difficulty and tap PLAY. Your cards are dealt at the bottom, the dealer's at the top, and a score bar shows the points race.

• Your move: tap HIT, STAND, DOUBLE or SPLIT. Badges show each hand's total; a hand with an Ace shows both counts, such as 7/17.
• Split hands: after a split you play the two hands one after the other. The hand in play is highlighted and the other is dimmed.
• Next hand: when a hand is settled the result stays on screen. Tap DEAL to start the next one.
• Menu: the button in the top-left corner pauses the game. From there you can resume, start a new game or turn the sound on or off.
• Saving: an unfinished match is saved. Next time, tap CONTINUE to carry on where you left off.
• Results: at the end you see the score, hands played, two-card 21s and your best run of hands, plus your wins, losses, win rate and streaks at that difficulty.

Rules

The deck. One standard 52-card deck is used. Before a deal, if fewer than 15 cards remain, all the cards are shuffled back together.

Card values. Number cards count their face value, Jacks, Queens and Kings count 10, and an Ace counts 1 or 11, whichever is better for the hand. A hand with an Ace counted as 11 is called soft.

The deal. You get two cards face up; the dealer gets one face up and one face down (the hole card). If the dealer's face-up card is an Ace or a 10-value card, the dealer checks the hole card at once. A dealer two-card 21 ends the hand immediately: you lose it, unless you also have a two-card 21, which is a push (no points). Otherwise, if you have a two-card 21, you win the hand straight away.

Your choices:

• Hit: take another card. You can keep hitting until you stand or go over 21 (bust). A hand that reaches exactly 21 stops by itself.
• Stand: keep your total and end your turn.
• Double: only on your first two cards. You take exactly one more card and your turn ends, but the hand is worth 2 points, win or lose.
• Split: only with two cards of the same rank. They become two separate hands, each receiving a second card and played in turn. You cannot split again. Split Aces receive just one card each. A 21 made after a split is not a two-card 21.

The dealer. After your turn the dealer turns over the hole card and draws until reaching 17 or more. Whether the dealer also draws on a soft 17 depends on the level. If all your hands are bust, the dealer simply turns the hole card and stops.

Scoring a hand:

• If you bust, you lose, even if the dealer busts afterwards.
• If the dealer busts, or your total is higher, you win.
• If the dealer's total is higher, the dealer wins.
• Equal totals are a push, except on Crazy, where the dealer wins ties.
• A won or lost hand is worth 1 point, a doubled hand 2 points. Your two-card 21 is worth 2 points on Easy and Normal, 1 on Hard and Crazy. The dealer's two-card 21 is worth 1. Split hands are scored separately.

Winning the match. The first side to reach 10 points wins. If both pass 10 in the same hand, the higher score wins; if the scores are level, play continues.

Strategy tips

• Assume a 10 underneath. So many cards count 10 that the hidden card often is one. Judge the dealer's face-up card plus 10.
• Let a weak dealer bust. With a hard 12 to 16 against a dealer showing 4, 5 or 6, stand: the dealer is likely to bust trying to reach 17. Against a 2 or 3, stand from 13 up.
• Hit against strength. With a hard 12 to 16 against a dealer 7 or higher, keep hitting.
• Always stand on hard 17 or more, but never stand on a soft 17 or lower: take a card (or double against a weak dealer). A soft hand cannot bust with one more card.
• Double on your best starts. A total of 11 is the classic double against almost any dealer card, and 10 against a dealer 2 to 9. A doubled win counts twice towards the race to 10.
• Split Aces and 8s; never split 10s or 5s. Two 8s make a poor 16; two 10s are already 20, and two 5s are better doubled as a 10.

Difficulty levels

The dealer never makes choices, so each level changes the house rules instead.

• Easy: the dealer stands on soft 17, your two-card 21 scores 2 points, you may double after splitting, ties are a push, and the recommended move glows on every decision.
• Normal: the same rules as Easy, without the glowing hint.
• Hard: the dealer also draws on a soft 17, your two-card 21 scores only 1 point, and you cannot double after splitting. Ties are still a push.
• Crazy: the Hard rules, and the dealer wins every tie. Only a two-card 21 against the dealer's two-card 21 is still a push.