🃏 Strategy Guide

Blackjack Basic Strategy

Basic strategy is a mathematically proven set of decisions that reduces the house edge to as low as 0.5%. Follow these charts and you'll always make the statistically correct play.

Legend

HHit

SStand

DDouble Down

DsDouble, else Stand

SpSplit

Hard Totals

YOUR HAND ↓	DEALER'S UPCARD →
vs dealer	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
5–8	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	H	H
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
17+	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Soft Totals (hand contains an Ace)

YOUR HAND ↓	DEALER'S UPCARD →
vs dealer	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,2 (13)	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,3 (14)	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,4 (15)	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,5 (16)	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,6 (17)	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,7 (18)	S	Ds	Ds	D	D	S	S	H	H	H
A,8 (19)	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A,9 (20)	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Pairs

YOUR HAND ↓	DEALER'S UPCARD →
vs dealer	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
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
A,A	Sp	Sp	Sp	Sp	Sp	Sp	Sp	Sp	Sp	Sp

Key Rules to Remember

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Always split Aces and 8s

Aces give two strong starting hands. Splitting 8s gets you out of a terrible 16.

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Never split 10s or 5s

A 20 is too strong to break up. Treat 5,5 as hard 10 and double instead.

▸

Double on 11 almost always

You can't bust, and any 10-value card gives you 21.

▸

Stand on hard 17+

The risk of busting outweighs the chance of improving your hand.

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Hit soft 17 (A,6)

You can't bust, and you might improve beyond 17.

▸

Never take insurance

Insurance is a side bet with a high house edge — always decline it.

Ready to Practice?

Use these charts for free at sweepstakes casinos — no real money needed. Practice until the decisions become second nature before playing for real.

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Basic strategy assumes standard multi-deck rules (dealer stands soft 17). Results may vary with different rule sets.