Blackjack Basic Strategy

If you want to win more and lose less you need a basic strategy for playing blackjack. The basic strategy tells you when to hit, stand, double, and split rather than leaving this decision making process up to your emotions or "feelings" about what to do. Remember, the casinos don't let you play their games for money because they have a "good feeling" that they can beat you.

The basic blackjack strategy was developed according to the mathematical probabilities that exist during the play of the game. The strategy is designed to give the player the best possible chances of winning the hand based only on the value of the player's hand and the value of the dealer's up card. Before advanced techniques such as card counting can be used, the basic blackjack strategy should be mastered.

Your Hand	Dealer's Up Card
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
7 or less	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
8 (6 + 2)	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
8 (5 + 3)	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
9	D	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	D
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13,14,15,16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
17-21	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
Soft 13,14,15,16	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
Soft 17	D	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
Soft 18	S	D*	D*	D*	D*	S	S	H	H	S
Soft 19	S	S	S	S	D*	S	S	S	S	S
Soft 20	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
DOUBLE NOT ALLOWED AFTER SPLIT
2,2	H	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
3,3	H	H	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
4,4	H	H	H	D	D	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	S	H
8,8 or A,A	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
DOUBLE ALLOWED AFTER SPLIT (Applies to 2,2 3,3 4,4 6,6 7,7) Play all other pairs as shown above.
2,2	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
3,3	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H
4,4	H	H	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
6,6	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
7,7	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	S	H

Your Hand	Dealer's Up Card
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
8 or less	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
13,14,15,16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
17-21	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
Soft 13, 14	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
Soft 15, 16	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
Soft 17	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
Soft 18	S	D*	D*	D*	D*	S	S	H	H	H
Soft 19, 20	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
DOUBLE NOT ALLOWED AFTER SPLIT
2,2 or 3,3	H	H	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
4,4	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
5,5	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
6,6	H	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
7,7	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
8,8 or A,A	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
DOUBLE ALLOWED AFTER SPLIT (Applies to 2,2 3,3 4,4 6,6) Play all other pairs as shown above.
2,2 or 3,3	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
4,4	H	H	H	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
6,6	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H