Blackjack Basic Strategy Guide: Charts, Decisions, and Myths

Master blackjack basic strategy. Learn how to read strategy charts for hard, soft, and pair hands, and debunk common blackjack myths.

Basic strategy is the set of plays that gives the best expected result for every hand against every dealer upcard. Mathematicians worked it out in the 1950s, and computer simulations have confirmed it since. Following it keeps the house edge at its lowest, but it cannot remove the edge or guarantee a winning session. This guide gives the full charts and explains how they change with the table rules.

What Basic Strategy Is, and What It Cannot Do

Basic strategy compares hitting, standing, doubling, splitting and surrendering for every starting hand against each dealer upcard, then picks the play with the best long-run result. The first mathematically sound version appeared in a 1956 paper by Roger Baldwin, Wilbert Cantey, Herbert Maisel and James McDermott, and Edward O. Thorp later tested it with computer models.

At a 3:2 table with six or eight decks, perfect basic strategy leaves a house edge of roughly 0.4% to 0.7%, one of the lowest in the casino. It does not erase the edge, and it cannot promise a winning session: over a short run, normal variance swings your balance up and down. It simply makes sure every hand is played with the best odds available. The edge also depends on the table rules, which we cover in blackjack payouts, table rules and house edge.

How to Read the Blackjack Strategy Charts

Each chart is a grid. Find your hand in the left column and the dealer’s upcard along the top, and the cell where they meet is the best play. The abbreviations are:

• S = Stand: keep your total and end your turn.
• H = Hit: take another card.
• Dh = Double if allowed, otherwise hit.
• Ds = Double if allowed, otherwise stand.
• SP = Split the pair into two hands.
• Uh = Surrender if allowed, otherwise hit.
• Us = Surrender if allowed, otherwise stand.
• Usp = Surrender if allowed, otherwise split.

The charts apply to games with four to eight decks where the dealer hits soft 17 (H17), double after split (DAS) is allowed, late surrender is offered and the dealer peeks for blackjack. If your table’s rules differ, use the adjustments further down this page. For what each button does on screen, see online blackjack player actions.

Hard Hands Chart

A hard hand has no Ace, or has an Ace that must count as 1 so the hand does not bust. Totals of 12 to 16 are the weakest: stand on 13 to 16 when the dealer shows a weak card (2 to 6) and let the dealer risk busting, stand on 12 only against a 4, 5 or 6, and hit when the dealer shows a 7 or higher. Hard 10 and 11 are your best doubling hands. Columns show the dealer’s upcard.

Two plays worth remembering: double a hard 11 against anything from 2 to 10, and surrender a hard 16 against a 9, 10 or Ace if your table allows it (otherwise hit).

Soft Hands Chart

A soft hand holds an Ace counted as 11. Because the Ace can drop to 1, a soft hand cannot bust on one more card, so these hands are played more aggressively, especially against a dealer 4, 5 or 6.

Soft 18 (A,7) is the trickiest hand: double against a dealer 2 to 6, stand against a 7 or 8 and hit against a 9, 10 or Ace. Where doubling is not allowed, Ds means stand and Dh means hit.

Pairs Chart

Splitting turns a pair into two hands, each with its own bet. These are the best moves for every pair.

Always split Aces and 8s. Splitting Aces gives you two hands that start with 11, while splitting 8s turns a hard 16, the weakest starting total, into two hands that start with 8. Against a dealer Ace, surrender 8,8 if your table offers it and the dealer hits soft 17, and split otherwise.

How the Charts Change if Your Table’s Rules Differ

Most online tables match the charts above. If yours does not, these are the only changes you need:

• Dealer stands on soft 17 (S17): hit a hard 11 against an Ace instead of doubling, hit a hard 15 against an Ace instead of surrendering, stand on a hard 17 against an Ace, stand on soft 18 (A,7) against a 2, stand on soft 19 (A,8) against a 6, and split 8,8 against an Ace.
• No double after split: hit 2,2 and 3,3 against a 2 or 3, hit 4,4 instead of splitting, and hit 6,6 against a 2.
• No surrender: hit a hard 15 against a 10 or Ace, hit a hard 16 against a 9, 10 or Ace, stand on a hard 17 against an Ace, and split 8,8 against an Ace.

If the dealer takes the hole card only after you finish (European No Hole Card), doubling and splitting against a 10 or Ace carry extra risk, so use a chart written for that rule. We explain it in blackjack rule variations and regional games.

Four Rules of Thumb When You Do Not Have a Chart

• Always split Aces and 8s. Aces give you two strong hands, and splitting 8s breaks up a weak 16.
• Never split 10s or 5s. A pair of 10s is a 20 you want to keep, and a pair of 5s is a hard 10 that is better doubled.
• Always double a hard 11 against a dealer 2 through 10. It gives you the best chance of drawing a 10-value card.
• Decline insurance and even money. Both carry a house edge of about 7.4% in a six-deck game.

Total-Dependent vs Composition-Dependent Strategy

The charts above are total-dependent: they look at your total and whether the hand is hard, soft or a pair, but not at the exact cards that make it up. Composition-dependent strategy looks at the cards themselves. In a single-deck game, for example, a hard 12 against a dealer 4 is normally a stand, but if your 12 is a 10 and a 2, hitting is slightly better because your own 10 is one fewer bust card left in the deck.

The gain is tiny. Composition-dependent play lowers the house edge by about 0.036% in a single-deck game and only about 0.003% with six decks. With several decks the difference all but disappears, so total-dependent charts remain the practical standard for online play.

Five Blackjack Myths That Cost You Money

A few common beliefs lead beginners to costly mistakes:

• Myth 1: The dealer is due to bust. Every hand is an independent event, and the cards have no memory. Players who refuse to hit any hard total of 12 or higher, waiting for the dealer to bust, face a house edge of about 3.91%.
• Myth 2: Copying the dealer is a safe strategy. Playing like the dealer, hitting to 17 and never doubling or splitting, ignores the dealer’s positional advantage. You act first, so if you both bust the house keeps your money. It raises the house edge to about 5.48%.
• Myth 3: Playing on gut feeling or assuming a 10 in the hole. 10-value cards are the most common value, but they are four of every 13 cards, not most of them. Always assuming the dealer’s hole card is a 10 raises the house edge to about 10.03%.
• Myth 4: Betting systems change the house edge. Progressions such as the Martingale, which doubles your bet after every loss, change how your wins and losses are distributed but cannot change the odds of any hand. A losing streak can drain your bankroll or hit the table limit first.
• Myth 5: You can count cards online. Counting tracks the cards left in the shoe, but RNG tables reshuffle the virtual shoe before every hand, and live tables use continuous shuffling machines or reshuffle long before dealing deep into the shoe. Live dealer vs RNG online blackjack explains how each format deals.

Where to Go Next: Rules, Variants and Basics

Basic strategy assumes standard rules, so see how special games change the math in blackjack rule variations and regional games. If you need a refresher on scoring, read how to play online blackjack, and browse every guide at the blackjack hub. Blackjack is paid entertainment with an expected mathematical cost, so set clear session budgets and play responsibly with our responsible gaming page.

Author:

Lucas Portela

Owner, BoldGambler • Avanhandava/SP

Oddsmaker, affiliate and content creator in the iGaming industry.

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