Jacks are standard blackjack cards with the same value as kings and queens. How much is a jack in blackjack worth?
This article closely examines blackjack rules and other aspects of the game to determine the actual worth of jack cards.
Jack Value in Blackjack
According to official blackjack rules, jack cards are equivalent to 10. 10 is also the blackjack face card value, including the kings and queens.
To understand how jacks can affect your chances of winning a game, we need to explain the basics of blackjack. Every numbered card has the same value as indicated on its front, where a seven card has a value of seven or a two card with a value of two. Kings, queens, and jacks are valued the same as the ten cards, giving the deck 16 cards with a value of 10. Aces play differently than others since they can count as either a one or 11. The goal is to get a blackjack hand value close to 21 and have a higher value than the dealer.
With jacks being a 10 card, they will form a hard hand with any cards that are not aces. If you get a jack and 2, you get a hard 12. Jacks also form one of the most misplayed hands in blackjack, a hard 16 when it pairs with a six card. Hard hands do not provide many options for you since you risk going bust when you hit. These hands have a considerable chance of drawing another of the 10-valued cards from the shoe, resulting in a 22.
Jacks are less valuable than aces or since the latter lets you get much better hands. Aces can form soft hands that let you double down without any risk of going bust.
Jacks also do not provide much value when splitting pairs. One of the significant steps in a blackjack basic strategy is to avoid splitting jacks or . Doing so will leave you with two hard hands, drastically losing twice your stake.
When it comes to pairs, the blackjack jack value is much lower than other cards. Their nature of forming hard hands is why nearly every blackjack strategy chart recommends not splitting jack pairs. Understanding the actual value of a jack, queen, king, and ace is how you can grow a $100 bankroll to $1,000.
Blackjack Opportunities For Jack
Apart from forming hard hands, here is a list that shows the value of a jack in blackjack.
Natural Blackjack
Because they are valued at 10, you can form a natural blackjack with jack and ace cards. Natural blackjacks are valued at 21 and will let you automatically win the game. The only way for you not to win is for the dealer to hold a natural blackjack, which results in a push. In addition to automatically winning, you also get a higher payout of 3:2. Jacks show value here since this is one of four cards that lets you create a natural blackjack.
Perfect Pairs
One of the blackjack side bets is perfect pairs that pay according to three kinds of pairs:
- Mixed - Same face/number with different suit and color:
- Colored - Same face/number and color with different suit:
- Perfect - Same face/number, color, and suit:
The payout for forming the three is as follows:
| Pairs | Payout |
|---|---|
| Mixed | 5/1 |
| Colored | 10/1 |
| Perfect | 30/1 |
Because of the side bet, jack pairs get a better value and will pay more if they are the same color or have both the same color and suit.
21+3
21+3 is another type of blackjack side bet that works like three-card poker. Winning this side bet depends on what type of poker hand your two-hole cards and the dealer's revealed cards can form, such as a flush, straight, three of a kind, and straight flush. The rarest hand here is the suited three-of-a-kind, where you have while the dealer has a . Here are the following payouts:
| Poker Hand | Payout |
|---|---|
| Flush | 5/1 |
| Straight | 10/1 |
| Three of a kind | 30/1 |
| Straight flush | 40/1 |
| Suited three of a kind | 100/1 |
Jacks are commonly valued the same as other face cards as the ones with . Outside of the standard rules, jacks still provide value in other side bets and as one part of a natural blackjack.
This article was published on October 28, 2022, and last updated on October 31, 2022.