Adjustments to Make for the No Peek Blackjack Rule

Published: December 19, 2013

People who are familiar with blackjack can tell you that a single change in the rules can completely change how you play certain spots. One important rule change that you should be aware of is the no peek rule. This shows up in certain variations, the most popular of which is probably European Blackjack, and it drastically changes the correct plays in a few key scenarios. If you don't know how to adjust to this rule, you can multiply the casino's advantage by a favor of five or more. Check out what you need to know here.

In typical blackjack games, whenever the dealer receives an ace or a ten up, he will ask players if they want insurance. After the insurance option has been taken or declined, the dealer will check to see if he or she has a blackjack. If so, the hand ends immediately and the player loses unless it's a push. If the dealer allows you to continue playing after checking for blackjack, then their hand is weaker than it seems because you are guaranteed that they do not have a blackjack for a starting hand.

In no-peek games like European Blackjack, this all changes. When you're facing a ten or ace, the dealer does not check for blackjack. As a result, you are facing a much stronger hand on average than you would usually take. For this reason, you have to be much more cautious when facing either of these cards. This means no doubling and no splitting, even if you have aces or eights, whenever facing a potential blackjack. The danger of automatically losing the double bet is too great to ever justify it under any circumstances, especially against an ace, in this game.

So to adjust for that, there are other rule changes that give you a little bit more value in games like European Blackjack. Typically, these rule changes will be more liberal options that add to your advantage without you having to do much in terms of adjusting. In fact, your adjustments in no-peek games will usually only center around protecting yourself whenever you're facing a ten or an ace card. All you will normally have to consider other than this rule is whether the dealer hits on a soft 17 because that changes certain surrender scenarios and situations involving doubling in some cases with soft hands.