Basic Strategy Chart The following is the “generic” basic strategy chart for all blackjack games regardless of the rules and number of decks. It’s taken from the book Knock-Out Blackjack — The Easiest Card Counting System Ever Devised. The combinations down the left hand side of the chart represent your hand. Each blackjack game has a basic strategy, which prescribes the optimal method of playing any hand against any dealer up-card so that the long-term house advantage (the expected loss of the player) is minimized. An example of a basic strategy is shown in the table below, which applies to a game with the following specifications: Four to eight decks. The basic blackjack strategy is the first key to reducing the casino’s odds and winning in blackjack. You also need to know the basic strategy and betting spread to effectively win money when you count cards. Practice makes perfect. You can only learn so much from reading from a book. The best way to learn blackjack is to sit down.

Introduction

To use the basic strategy, look up your hand along the left vertical edge and the dealer's up card along the top. In both cases an A stands for ace. From top to bottom are the hard totals, soft totals, and splittable hands. There are two charts depending on whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17.

Other basic strategy rules.

• Never take insurance or 'even money.'
• If there is no row for splitting (fives and tens), then look up your hand as a hard total (10 or 20).
• If you can't split because of a limit on re-splitting, then look up your hand as a hard total, except aces. In the extremely unlikely event you have a pair of aces you can't re-split and drawing to split aces is allowed, then double against a 6, otherwise hit.

If you play a mixture of six-deck games, some where the dealer hits a soft 17, and some where he stands, and you only wish to memorize one strategy, I would recommend you memorize the one where the dealer stands on soft 17. The cost in errors due to playing the wrong strategy is 2.3 times higher playing a stand on soft 17 game, with the hit on 17 strategy, than vise versa.

Basic Strategy in Text

For the benefit of my blind readers, here is the above strategy in text form, when the dealer stands on soft 17 and surrender is allowed. To use the strategy, start at the top, and follow the first rule that applies.

Surrender

Blackjack Basic Strategy Guide

• Surrender hard 16 (but not a pair of 8s) vs. dealer 9, 10, or A, and hard 15 vs. dealer 10.

Split

• Always split aces and 8s.
• Never split 5s and 10s.
• Split 2s and 3s against a dealer 4-7, and against a 2 or 3 if DAS is allowed.
• Split 4s only if DAS is allowed and the dealer shows a 5 or 6.
• Split 6s against a dealer 3-6, and against a 2 if DAS is allowed.
• Split 7s against a dealer 2-7.
• Split 9s against a dealer 2-6 or 8-9.

Double

• Double hard 9 vs. dealer 3-6.
• Double hard 10 except against a dealer 10 or A.
• Double hard 11 except against a dealer A.
• Double soft 13 or 14 vs. dealer 5-6.
• Double soft 15 or 16 vs. dealer 4-6.
• Double soft 17 or 18 vs. dealer 3-6.

Hit or Stand

• Always hit hard 11 or less.
• Stand on hard 12 against a dealer 4-6, otherwise hit.
• Stand on hard 13-16 against a dealer 2-6, otherwise hit.
• Always stand on hard 17 or more.
• Always hit soft 17 or less.
• Stand on soft 18 except hit against a dealer 9, 10, or A.
• Always stand on soft 19 or more.

Basic Strategy Blackjack Chart

Blackjack Basic Strategy Drills

As I've said many times, the above strategy will be fine under any set of rules. However, for you perfectionists out there, here are the modifications to make if the dealer hits a soft 17.

Blackjack Basic Strategy App

• Surrender 15, a pair of 8s, and 17 vs. dealer A.
• Double 11 vs. dealer A.
• Double soft 18 vs. dealer 2.
• Double soft 19 vs. dealer 6.

Blackjack Basic Strategy Table

My thanks to Kelly for putting together the above text strategy.

Written by:Michael Shackleford