Rust Blackjack Strategy

The Lucky caboose train carriage on rail sidings (not a safe zone) and the caboose at Outpost. There is no blackjack at Bandit Camp itself. The best play for every hand is worked out live for Rust's rules, not copied from a casino chart. Some of Rust's rules are unusual and change the right play.

Rules

Players	1-3, each against a computer dealer	confirmed
Decks	6	confirmed
Blackjack pays	3 to 2	confirmed
Bets	5-500 scrap (servers can raise the max)	confirmed
Double down	Any first two cards unless one is an Ace	confirmed
Dealer blackjack after you double	You lose the whole doubled bet	confirmed
Insurance	Offered	confirmed
Dealer soft 17	Hits (since about February 2024; it stood before)	corroborated
Split	Once - two hands at most	corroborated
Double after split	Allowed	corroborated
Dealer peeks for blackjack	Not documented - the doubling rule suggests it doesn't	unconfirmed
Surrender	Never mentioned - assume no	unconfirmed

Rules to work it out for

Dealer on soft 17

Dealer blackjack

Double after split

House edge

–

with perfect play

Per 500-scrap hand

–

average loss

Insurance

Never

a losing bet unless you count cards

Strategy chart

H hit S stand D double P split

Your hand down the side, the dealer's face-up card along the top. Click a square to see what every option is worth.

Hard totals

Soft totals (with an Ace)

Pairs

Why Rust's chart is different

You can't double a hand with an Ace in it, so soft hands are only hit or stand.
If the dealer has blackjack you lose everything you've put out, doubles and splits included. That makes doubling 11 against a ten or an Ace, and splitting 8s against them, lose money. Switch "Dealer blackjack" to "Checked first" to see the usual casino chart.
The dealer hitting soft 17 adds about 0.2% to the house edge.

The maths treats the six-deck shoe as endless, so results can differ from a counted shoe by a few hundredths of a percent. The split hand gets one card per Ace and is played like any other hand, because Rust's split-Ace rule isn't published. Checked 2026-11-13. Sources: Facepunch - Prototype 17: caboose blackjack (2022-11-03); Facepunch developer commits (blackjack decks, doubling, soft 17).

Rust blackjack strategy worked out for Rust's own rules - the caboose dealer hits soft 17, you can't double on a hand with an Ace, and a dealer blackjack takes your whole doubled bet. Pick any hand to see the best play and how much each option is worth.

Frequently Asked Questions

At the caboose: the Lucky caboose train carriage that turns up on rail sidings (not a safe zone) and the caboose parked at Outpost. There's no blackjack table at Bandit Camp itself.

Yes, on your first two cards unless one of them is an Ace. If the dealer then turns out to have blackjack you lose the whole doubled bet, so doubling 11 against a ten or an Ace isn't worth it.

About 0.8% with perfect play under the rules as reported - you lose about 4 scrap per 500 bet on average.