In blackjack, the ace is the most valued card. You can use it to hit against any value, giving the player an instant win when he’s holding it at the end of the hand. But how much is that precious card worth?
Value of an Ace in Blackjack
According to blackjack rules. a card’s value is determined by adding all the cards in your hand and comparing them to the dealer’s visible-up card. If the total of your blackjack hand exceeds 21 by more than one point, you will bust and lose your bet.
An ace is a powerful tool for a victorious hand in blackjack. The only card in the deck can have two different values. The ace is versatile because it is the only card in the deck with a fixed point value. This is because of its unique flexibility to count as either one or 11 points at the player’s discretion.
Actual Ace Value in Blackjack
When you’re playing blackjack, you want to use your cards to their full potential. There is always an ace in a deck of cards. Like a queen having a value in blackjack, so do aces. There are three reasons why players want an ace card in their hands.
The first reason is that players want to get an ace in blackjack because they have a chance to form a blackjack hand. A natural blackjack hand is worth 21 points with its two-hole cards and has a payout of 3:2 or 6:5, much higher than the standard payout.
For the second reason, aces can form a soft hand. A soft hand is when the total value of your cards is less than 21, and you have at least one ace in your hand. You can double down your hand when you have an ace as your first card.
When you receive an ace as your first card, it’s almost always a good idea to double down. The double down is a blackjack strategy in which a player doubles the original bet and receives only one additional card. Doubling down with a soft card has zero risk of going bust.
The third reason is side bets, which is another kind of wager that depends on the cards both you and the dealer are holding. One example is insurance, which is a bet on whether the dealer has a hidden ten while having a revealed ace.
Other blackjack side-bets to consider are 21+3. Payouts for this side-bet are determined by the poker hand that the dealer’s upright card and your hole cards form. Aces play a double role here since they can connect with 2 & 3 or kings & queens cards for a straight hand.
Double Aces Worth in Blackjack
When you have double aces in blackjack, it is a good idea to split them. This is because the odds of getting a blackjack are higher when you have just one ace. In most cases, you will want to split your hand into two separate hands.
The advantage of splitting aces is the guaranteed dual soft hands, which allows you to increase your score without going bust. In addition, you also have a chance of forming one or two natural blackjack due to the aces.
On the other hand, splitting tens is never recommended since you are getting hard hands. Your blackjack odds of forming a winning hand with complex tens are slim, let alone a natural blackjack. In many cases, you need to avoid hitting most hard hands since the chances of going bust is high. You are better off with a 20 from the two tens rather than splitting them.
The ace is the most crucial card in a Blackjack deck. It can be counted as either 1 or 11 points. However, you should note that the ace would only count as 11 points if it is used in combination with other cards.
This article was published on October 26, 2022, and last updated on October 5, 2022.
