Blackjack is a race to 21 against the dealer. Cards 2-10 count face value, picture cards are 10 and aces are 1 or 11.
Basic strategy
- Always split aces and eights
- Never split tens or fives
- Double down on 11 against any dealer card except an ace
- Stand on hard 17 and above
With perfect basic strategy the house edge drops to around 0.5%.