Blackjack Strategy

One of the main attractions of Blackjack is the use of skill and talent. Unlike other casino games, such as the roulette or slots machines, there is a right way to play Blackjack.

Although playing the game in the right way does not give you a 100% guarantee that you will win, it does dramatically increase your chances for winning.

What is the right way to play? After the initial dealing of cards, the player has to choose whether to SPLIT, HIT, STAND or DOUBLEDOWN. The player’s choice at this point will have a dramatic effect on his odds for winning.

This is where the Basic Strategy chart enters. The Basic Strategy chart presents players with the optimal choice in different hand scenarios, based on the player’s initial hand and the dealer’s up card.

The basic strategy is based on complicated statistical calculations, and is a worldwide consensus.

Blackjack is a game with many variations (see our game variations section). These variations affect the optimal choice the player should make in the different hand scenarios. That’s why there is more than one basic strategy chart, and they are all correct. So before you use the Basic Strategy in your game make sure it fits the house rules of the casino.

Blackjack Strategy Chart

	Dealer Upcard
Your Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Ace
5	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
6	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
7	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
9	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	Su	H
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	Su	Su	Su
17 & up	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
Ace,2	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
Ace,3	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
Ace,4	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
Ace,5	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
Ace,6	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
Ace,7	S	D	D	D	D	S	S	H	H	H
Ace,8	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
Ace,9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
2,2	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
3,3	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
4,4	H	H	H	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
5,5	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
6,6	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
7,7	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
8,8	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
9,9	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	S	SP	SP	S	S
10,10	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
Ace,Ace	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP

SStand  HHit  SPSplit  DDouble  SUSurrender

House rules: 4-8 decks; Dealer stands on soft 17; Double on any two initial cards; May Double after split; Late Surrender; Split/Double bets are not lost on dealer�s Blackjack

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