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Moes Almanac

Blackjack

Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart

This is the complete basic strategy for blackjack dealt from four to eight decks, with the dealer standing on soft 17 and doubling after a split allowed. Followed exactly, it holds the house edge near 0.5%. Departing from it, even occasionally, is what turns a 0.5% game into a 2.5% one.

Written by the Moes Almanac editorial team

The rules this chart assumes

A strategy chart is only correct for the rules it was computed against. These are the rules assumed here, and they are the most common ones on multi-deck tables:

  • Four to eight decks, dealt from a shoe.
  • Dealer stands on soft 17.
  • Doubling allowed on any two cards, and after a split.
  • Blackjack pays 3:2.
  • No surrender.

If your table hits soft 17, the differences are small and confined to a handful of hands. If your table pays 6:5 on a blackjack, no chart will save it — that single rule adds about 1.39 percentage points, which is more than basic strategy itself is worth.

How to read it

Find your hand down the left, the dealer's up card across the top, and read off the cell. Where a doubling instruction cannot be followed — because you already drew a card, or the table does not allow it — use the fallback given below.

  • H — Hit
  • S — Stand
  • D — Double if allowed, otherwise hit
  • Ds — Double if allowed, otherwise stand
  • P — Split

Hard totals

Hard totals — no ace, or an ace counted as one
Your hand 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
5-8 HHHHHHHHHH
9 HDDDDHHHHH
10 DDDDDDDDHH
11 DDDDDDDDDH
12 HHSSSHHHHH
13 SSSSSHHHHH
14 SSSSSHHHHH
15 SSSSSHHHHH
16 SSSSSHHHHH
17+ SSSSSSSSSS

Totals of 17 or higher always stand. Totals of 8 or lower always hit — there is no card that can hurt them.

Soft totals

Soft totals — containing an ace counted as eleven
Your hand 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
A2 HHHDDHHHHH
A3 HHHDDHHHHH
A4 HHDDDHHHHH
A5 HHDDDHHHHH
A6 HDDDDHHHHH
A7 SDsDsDsDsSSHHH
A8 SSSSSSSSSS
A9 SSSSSSSSSS

Soft hands cannot bust on the next card, which is why they are played more aggressively than hard hands of the same total. A soft 18 against a 9, 10, or ace is a hit, and it is the single most commonly misplayed hand in the game.

Pairs

Pairs — whether to split
Your pair 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
AA PPPPPPPPPP
22 PPPPPPHHHH
33 PPPPPPHHHH
44 HHHPPHHHHH
55 DDDDDDDDHH
66 PPPPPHHHHH
77 PPPPPPHHHH
88 PPPPPPPPPP
99 PPPPPSPPSS
TT SSSSSSSSSS

A pair of fives never appears as a split, because two fives are a hard ten — one of the strongest starting totals — and splitting them trades it for two weak hands.

Four rules that cover most hands

The full chart is roughly 250 cells and is worth learning properly. Until then, these four cover the majority of hands you will actually be dealt:

  • Always split aces and eights. Never split fives or tens.
  • Stand on hard 17 or higher, without exception.
  • Hit hard 12 through 16 when the dealer shows 7 or higher; stand when they show 6 or lower.
  • Double on 11 unless the dealer shows an ace.

The logic behind the third one is worth carrying: a dealer showing 6 or lower is likely to bust, so there is no reason to risk busting first. A dealer showing 7 or higher is likely to finish on a strong total, so standing on 15 is choosing to lose slowly.

Why the dealer's up card decides so much

Basic strategy asks you to hit a hard 15 against a dealer 7 and stand on it against a 6. The reason is one number, and it is the sharpest break in the whole game:

Probability the dealer busts, by up card
Dealer shows Busts
2 35.3%
3 37.6%
4 40.3%
5 42.9%
6 42.1%
7 26.0%
8 23.9%
9 23.3%
10 21.4%
A 11.7%

Standard values for multiple decks with the dealer standing on soft 17. A dealer showing 2 through 6 busts roughly four times in ten, so there is no reason to risk busting first. From 7 upward they finish on a strong total more than three times in four, and standing on 15 is simply choosing to lose slowly.

Frequently asked questions

Does basic strategy make blackjack profitable?
No. Basic strategy reduces the house edge to about 0.5% from roughly 2.5%, but it does not reverse it. It is the set of decisions that loses least over time, not a way to win. Only advantage techniques such as card counting can move the edge to the player, and they do not work against a shoe that is shuffled every round.
Do I need a different chart if the dealer hits soft 17?
The differences are small and affect only a handful of hands, adding about 0.22 percentage points to the house edge. The chart on this page remains close to optimal on such tables; the main adjustments are doubling soft 19 against a 6 and standing less often on soft 18 against an ace.
Is it acceptable to deviate when a hand feels wrong?
Every deviation costs expected value, because each cell was computed by comparing the value of every available action. Standing on 16 against a dealer 10 feels safer than hitting, but hitting loses less over time. The chart already accounts for how bad both options are.
Can I use this chart on live dealer tables?
Yes, provided the table runs the same rules. Live dealer blackjack is ordinary blackjack streamed from a studio, and the house edge comes from the rules and payouts rather than the medium. Check the rules card for the deck count, the soft 17 rule, and the blackjack payout before sitting down.