Blackjack Switch Rules: Two Hands, the Card Swap and the Dealer 22

The regulator texts describe the round in the same order, and the steps follow them. Where the texts differ, a later section says so.

1. Two equal bets#

Before any card is dealt you place two bets of the same size, one on each of two betting spots. Each bet belongs to one hand. Every regulator text requires the two to be equal. Optional side wagers exist in the documents, but this page covers none of them.

2. Two hands for you, one for the dealer#

The dealer gives you two hands of two cards each and takes a starting hand of their own. You see all four of your cards before you decide anything.

3. Insurance, if it is offered#

When the dealer shows an ace, insurance is offered, and the Washington rules say you may take it on either hand or on both. In the Massachusetts rules, insurance is placed before anyone is asked about the swap, so you decide on insurance first.

4. The swap#

Now comes the decision the game is named for. You may switch the second card of your first hand with the second card of your second hand. The first cards stay where they are, and only the second cards trade places. The Massachusetts text calls it "a player's one-time option", and the dealer asks it in one line, for example "15 or switch?". You may undo a swap, but only until another card has been dealt to either of your hands or to the dealer.

5. Play each hand as usual#

After the swap decision, each hand is played by ordinary blackjack rules. You can hit, stand, double and split. The Washington and Nevada texts say splitting, doubling, and doubling after a split are all allowed even after a switch. The hands are played one after the other, first hand first.

6. The dealer finishes and hands are settled#

The dealer draws until reaching a hard 17, or a hard or soft 18 or better, which means the dealer draws on a soft 17 in the New Jersey and Massachusetts texts. Washington lists standing on soft 17 as one version of the game. Each of your two hands is then compared with the dealer's hand as its own bet.

The totals in the visualiser are simple sums of the cards shown. They say nothing about which choice is better.

Three rules separate Switch from ordinary blackjack. Each takes something back for the freedom the swap gives.

Naturals pay 1 to 1#

A blackjack, an ace with a ten-value card as the first two cards, pays even money. The Washington and Nevada texts say "Blackjacks pay even money". Ordinary blackjack pays more for the same hand. Washington adds that, depending on the version, blackjacks may be paid automatically.

The dealer 22 push#

If the dealer's hand reaches exactly 22, your hands that have not busted do not win. They push, which means your bet is returned. The Washington text says a dealer total of 22 "will push all non-bust player hands". In ordinary blackjack a dealer 22 is a bust and pays every hand still standing.

A natural is the exception. The Massachusetts text says a blackjack you keep without switching still wins against a dealer 22.

A switched 21 is not a blackjack#

If the swap gives you an ace and a ten-value card, you have 21 but not a blackjack. The New Jersey and Massachusetts texts define it that way, and so do Washington's versions 2, 3 and 4. It is paid as an ordinary winning 21, at 1 to 1. Washington's version 1 treats a switched blackjack as a real one and offers the swap before the dealer checks the hole card.

Blackjack Switch is not one fixed game. The texts settle these points differently.

The play table on this page follows one reference set: six decks, the dealer hitting soft 17, a switched 21 that loses to a dealer blackjack, and two hands per split. The page says which value is which whenever it matters.

The documents list rules. They do not say what any rule is worth, so this section reasons in words and prints no number.

The swap gives you a second look. You see two hands before you play either, and you can always decline. That freedom is worth something to you.

The 1 to 1 natural takes some of it back. Every natural you are dealt is paid less than ordinary blackjack pays it.

The dealer 22 push takes back more. A dealer who would have busted on 22 now returns your bet instead of paying it, and a bust is how a weak hand of yours normally gets paid.

Small rules pull both ways. Doubling after a split and surrender, where allowed, help you. A switched 21 that loses to a dealer blackjack hurts you, and a version where it pushes hurts less. The size of each move is not published here.

You still hit, stand, double and split, on the same ideas as ordinary blackjack. The swap adds one decision before those, and it changes the rest in two ways.

First, a swap moves value between your hands and does not create any. A 20 and a 15 hold the same four cards as a 16 and a 19. The question is which split of that value suits the dealer's card, and the same swap can help in one deal and hurt in another.

Second, later decisions use the new hands. A swap can turn two ordinary hands into a pair to split or an 11 to double, as in the third example in the visualiser. It can also break a natural: an unswapped ace and ten is a blackjack, and the same cards after a swap are not.

This page publishes no chart of when to swap. That needs a calculation that has not been done for this game, and a guess would pass for authority. The visualiser shows the totals you hold now and the totals you would hold after the swap, which is what the rules let you weigh.

Each hand carries a bet of 10, so 20 is at risk. The cards show the rules, not what usually happens.

Keeping a natural against a dealer 22#

Your first hand is an ace and a king, your second a nine and a seven: a natural and a 16. You keep both. The dealer draws to 22. The natural still wins and pays 10. The 16 pushes, where a dealer bust would have paid it in ordinary blackjack. Net: plus 10.

A swap that helps#

Your hands are a ten and a six (16) and a nine and a king (19). You swap the six and the king. The first hand is now a ten and a king for 20, the second a nine and a six for 15. A weak hand became a strong one, and the other hand gave up some strength. That trade is what the game is built around.

A swap that hurts#

You hold an ace and a five, and a nine and a king. Swapping gives an ace and a king, which is 21 but not a natural, and a nine and a five for 14. Against a dealer blackjack the switched 21 loses in most texts. Keeping a soft 16 and a 19 may have been the calmer choice. No calculation is shown, so read this as a consequence and not as a ruling.

The table below deals Blackjack Switch with play money. One bet is placed on both hands. After the deal the buttons read Swap and Keep, and then you play each hand. A natural pays 1 to 1 and a dealer 22 pushes. Hints are off: the chip says "Not computed for this game". Nothing is wagered and nothing can be won.

Real-money Switch is licensed only where a regulator allows it. This site names no venues and no operators, so ask your local gaming regulator what is offered near you. If play ever stops being fun, the responsible play page lists where to find help.

Other game pages here print a house edge from an exact calculation of every decision. Blackjack Switch has none. The swap ties two hands together, so the right answer for one depends on the other hand and on the dealer card at once. That calculation has not been built, and a figure from another site would not have been checked here.

So the page prints no number, and none to hint at a comparison. When a calculation exists, the number will be added with what it covers. The house edge page shows which games have a figure today, and Free Bet Blackjack also has a dealer 22 push.

The rules come from New Jersey, Massachusetts (rules dated 8 October 2020), Pennsylvania, Washington State and Nevada regulator documents. The methodology page explains how they are read, and the sources page lists them all.