Values of the Cards in Blackjack

In blackjack, the cards are valued as follows: An Ace can count as either 1 or 11. The cards from 2 through 9 are valued as indicated. The 10, Jack, Queen, and King are all valued at 10. The suits of the cards do not have any meaning in the game.

The value of a hand is simply the sum of the point counts of each card in the hand. For example, a hand containing (5,7,9) has the value of 21. The Ace can be counted as either 1 or 11. You need not specify which value the Ace has. It’s assumed to always have the value that makes the best hand. (A hand that contains an Ace is called a “soft” total if the Ace can be counted as either 1 or 11 without the total going over 21.)