Blackjack Card Values: How Much Is Each Card Worth In Blackjack?

If you’re wondering what any card in blackjack is worth, we’ll now go over all of the possibilities.

There are really only three distinct options. The card is worth either its face value, 10, or it’s an Ace. We’ll go over each of these cases and explain them in more detail.

Number Cards (2-10)

Most cards in blackjack use their face value for the purposes of calculating hand totals. In other words, most cards are worth as exactly as much as they tell you they are.

So what’s the ‘face value’ of a card, we hear you asking?

It’s the number that’s printed on the card itself, of course. For instance, a 6 counts as a 6, a 2 counts as a 2, and so on.

In blackjack, every card between 2 and 10 always counts as its face value. For example, drawing a 3 will always add +3 to your hand total, no matter the circumstances.

Importantly, the suit of the card does not matter at all when it comes to determining its value. A six of Spades is worth exactly as much as a six of Hearts or a six of Clubs, in all situations.

Face Cards (Jack, Queen, King)

Jacks, Queens, and Kings in blackjack always count as 10. In contrast to the number cards, this means that all cards with a rank of 10 or over have the exact same value.

These cards are collectively often called “face cards” because they display people instead of numbers. It’s a bit ironic considering these “face cards” are the only ones that don’t use their “face value”.

To avoid confusion, simply remember that any card that’s not showing a number counts as 10, barring Aces. Again, this is always true, regardless of the table rules or the circumstances in the given round of blackjack.

Just like with the number cards, the suit of the card itself does not matter in blackjack. A King of Spades is worth exactly as much as a King of Hearts or even a Jack of Spades – it adds +10 to your current hand total, regardless of anything else.

Interestingly, this means that cards with a value of 10 are actually the most common card values in blackjack. They account for almost a third of any deck, which is an important consideration for card counting and other blackjack strategies.

Aces

In blackjack, Aces count as either 11 or 1, depending on which value benefits the hand most.

To translate, an Ace counts as 11 as long as that doesn’t mean that the hand total goes over 21. If it does, the Ace counts as 1.

For example, let’s say you draw a 5 and an Ace. In this case, your Ace counts as 11 for a hand total of 16. A hand total of 16 is not considered particularly strong in blackjack, but hitting on a 16 is also an extremely risky move because of the high probability of going over 21. However, if you hit this hand and draw an 8, for example, you won’t bust. Your Ace will simply have a value of 1 for a new hand total of 14 (8 + 1 + 5).

This makes Aces more valuable than any other card in blackjack. We don’t just mean that they’re worth more when it comes to calculating the hand total, either. Their flexibility allows players to wager more aggressively because they can keep “hitting” without worrying about going over 21.

Secondly, Aces are the only card that allows you to make a “natural” blackjack hand. A hand that totals 21 with only 2 cards wins instantly and pays more – more on that later.

Blackjack Card Value Chart

We’ll round things off with a handy chart you can use for a quick reference. The chart covers every card and how much it adds to your hand total. It does not account for suits because a card’s suit never affects its value.

Understanding Hand Totals

The value of any card in blackjack refers to how much it adds to your hand total. That’s why it’s important to also understand how to calculate blackjack hands.

The next section of our guide explains exactly how this works, providing examples for multiple scenarios.

Calculating Hand Values

Calculating hands in blackjack is a simple matter of taking the in-game value of every card in the hand and adding them together.

This requires some simple math, but it’s quite easy and becomes second nature to any dedicated blackjack player.

For example, let’s say you draw two cards. One is a 7 while the other is a 10. Simply add the two numbers to get the total value of your hand: 6 + 10 = 17.

Of course, things can get a bit more complicated if you decide to hit and draw more than two cards. However, the process remains the same. If your hand consists of, say, a 7, a 4, and a 6, just add them together to determine the hand value: 7 + 4 + 6 = 17.

We should also remember what we previously discussed in this guide: Jacks, Queens, and Kings count as 10.

For example, a hand that consists of a King and a 7 has a hand total of 17: 10 + 7 = 17.

Calculating Hands With Aces

When it comes to calculating how much an Ace is worth in a given blackjack hand, just remember this one important question:

If the Ace counts as 11, does the hand total go over 21?

If the answer is no, the Ace counts as 11. If the answer is yes, it counts as 1.

For example, let’s say you draw a 5 and an Ace. The hand total here is 16 (5 + 11). Since the total is less than 21, the Ace counts as 11. If you were to Stand at this point, your hand would be considered to have a total of 16.

However, let’s say you decide to Hit instead and you draw a 7. This would mean that the total goes over 21 if we count the Ace as an 11: 5 + 11 + 7 = 23.

If that’s the case, the Ace is instead counted as 1 for a hand total of 13: 5 + 1 + 7 = 13.

This also means that if you draw two Aces, your hand total is actually 12. One of the Aces counts as 11 while the other counts as 1 so that the hand doesn’t bust.

Blackjack (Natural 21)

A blackjack hand that has two cards and a total value of 21 is called a Blackjack or a “Natural 21.”

Natural hands in blackjack win instantly unless the dealer also has a natural 21. Additionally, winning with such a hand pays 3:2, which is more than you get with a standard win.

The most important thing to remember about this rule is that a hand only counts as ‘blackjack’ if it consists of only two cards. This means that you can only hit a natural if you draw an Ace and a card with a value of 10 with your initial two cards. That makes your first two cards, often called the “hole cards”, especially important.

For example, a hand that consists of an Ace and a King is a Natural 21. However, a hand that consists of a King, a 4, and a 7 is not a Natural 21. It’s simply a hand with a total of 21. It’s a very strong hand, but it doesn’t pay more than the usual 1:1 and it doesn’t win instantly.

Hard vs. Soft Hands

Everything we discussed so far has been fairly straightforward. However, the dual nature of Aces means that hands that contain them can be a bit more complicated to calculate.

Specifically, hand totals with Aces can be considered “hard” or “soft” depending on which value the Ace is using.

Soft Hands

A soft hand in blackjack is any combination of cards that features an Ace whose value is considered to be 11.

For example, a hand consisting of a 5 and an Ace is often called a “Soft 16.”

The reason it’s called soft is that you can draw any other card in the game and not go over 21. Additionally, the hand does not have a “fixed” value, so to speak. It can be either a 6 or a 16 depending on whether you draw more cards and what those cards are.

To illustrate, let’s go through a scenario that illustrates how soft hands work in blackjack. Let’s say your first two cards are an Ace and a 2.

• Your current hand total is a Soft 13. At this point, hitting is a good idea because you can draw any possible card and not go over 21. If you didn’t have an Ace, Hitting would be risky because drawing an 8 or higher would result in a player bust.
• Let’s say you hit and draw a 4. The resulting total is a Soft 17: 11 + 2 + 4 = 17.
• The reason the hand is still “soft” is that you can still draw with no risk of going over 21.
• Now, you hit again and draw a Jack. If you were to still count the Ace as an 11, the hand total would add up to 27.
• Instead of busting, the Ace now simply counts as 1. This results in a hand total of 17: 1 + 2 + 4 + 10 = 17. However, the hand is no longer considered soft because hitting again could result in the total going over 21.

In other words, Soft hands contain Aces and have no risk of busting no matter what you draw on top of them.

Hard Hands

In blackjack, a “hard” hand is any hand total in which the Ace counts as 1 or that contains no Aces at all.

Think of it this way – a Hard hand total is fixed and cannot be changed no matter what happens. For instance, drawing a 6 on a Hard hand total of 17 always results in 23. The value of the hand or the individual cards cannot be changed, regardless of the circumstances.

We should also consider the other scenario for hard hands – hands that contain an Ace but the Ace already counts as 1.

For instance, a hand consisting of 7, 8, and an Ace is a “Hard 16.” In this case, the Ace can only count as 1 because counting it as 11 would result in a hand total that’s over 21. Moreover, if you were to draw another card on top of these three, you would be at risk of going bust.

Strategic Implications

There are reasons why Soft hands are important enough to warrant their own terminology. Let’s consider some of them.

• As we previously mentioned, Soft hands allow players to take risks they otherwise wouldn’t.
• For example, Hitting a Hard 18 would be a bad idea because of the high likelihood of going over 21. However, Hitting a Soft 18 is a viable strategic choice.
• Speaking of which, Soft hands allow for a more versatile approach to the game. For instance, let’s say you hit a Soft 18. A hand total of 18 is generally not bad, and deciding to Stand here would be a good idea in many cases. However, let’s also say that the dealer’s up-card is a 10. This gives the dealer a decent shot at drawing a total that’s higher than 18. Drawing another card here becomes a viable decision because you can hope for a stronger hand without risking a bust.
• As such, many blackjack strategy charts take soft hands as a special consideration.
• Also, blackjack table rules vary depending on whether the dealer hits Soft 17s or not. Generally speaking, tables on which the dealer must stand on a Soft 17 are better because they offer a lower house advantage. You can read more about this in our article on the Soft 17 rule in blackjack.