Chinese Blackjack Rules

Chinese Blackjack also known as 21-point or Ban-luck (Hokkien) is popular game in the South East Asia. The standard 52 card deck or several decks are used in the game and it can involve any number of players. Before the cards are dealt the dealer is chosen among the players and sometimes all the players take turn to be the dealer. Chinese Blackjack became one of the most popular blackjack variations due to the specific rules that allow the dealer to reveal the players’ hands and settle bets. One more feature of this game is the special status of the player with the five card non-busted hand.

All the players at the table place bets. The dealer shuffles the deck and after one of the players cuts the deck the players are dealt the cards clockwise. Each player is dealt two face down cards. The dealer’s cards are also face down.

Card Values

King, Queen and Jack are valued as 10.

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 are valued as indicated.

Ace is valued as 11 or 10 if the player holds total two cards.

Ace is valued as 10 or 1 if the player holds total three cards.

Ace is always valued as 1 if the player holds total 5 or more cards.

Chinese Blackjack Hands

After the cards are dealt the players and the dealer must check their hands for the following card combinations:

Ban-ban – two Aces

Ban-luck – Ace and 10 or any Face card (Jack, King or Queen)

Free hand – the hand with the count of 15

Pairs – two cards of the same rank

So, if the player holds Ban-ban he is paid 3 to 1 unless the dealer holds a Ban-ban too. In such case there is a tie and the player is paid even money (1 to 1). The dealer’s Ban-ban beats all the other hands and the dealer wins the player’s bet tripled.

If the player holds Ban-luck he is paid 2 to 1 of the initial bet unless the dealer holds Ban-ban which beats the player’s hand (the player loses). The dealer’s Ban-luck beats all the other hands except Ban-ban and the dealer wins the player’s bet tripled.

If the player holds Free hand he can choose to stay at the game or leave (this is the so-called “escape” hand). If the dealer holds Free hand he is also free to choose whether to leave the game or not. If he chooses to leave the cards are collected back and reshuffled.

If the player holds Pair he is paid 2 to 1 of his initial bet.

Player’s Options

After checking hand for blackjack and the mentioned above combinations the player can choose to Hit or Stand (as at the regular blackjack). In case the player holds five card non-busted hand, also called 5-Dragon, he is paid 2 to 1 of his original bet and if this hand totals 21 the player is paid 3 to 1.

Dealer's Options

At Chinese blackjack there are no such strict rules for dealer as at the regular blackjack. The dealer can choose to Hit if he holds less than 16 and if his hand totals between 16 and 21 he can Hit or reveal the selected players’ hands and only then Hit. In case the dealer’s hand totals 21 all the players are to reveal their hands immediately. If the dealer holds 5-Dragon hand he wins each player’s bet doubled and if this hand totals 21 he wins each bet tripled.