Blackjack Hands
| Updated: Blackjack is easily the most popular house-banked card game in the world and, as such, is available in multiple variations across land-based and online casinos. Learning the rules is relatively simple, but mastering the game requires much more. Understanding the ins and outs of basic blackjack strategy is vital for savvy players looking to reduce the house edge, improve their chances of winning, and minimize their losses.
It all starts with a basic understanding of the main types of blackjack hands, as this knowledge is essential for making mathematically correct playing decisions. In this article, we walk you through soft and hard hand totals in blackjack and cover the five main moves available to players: hitting, standing, splitting, doubling down, and surrendering. We finish with a quick rundown of the worst blackjack hands and explain when surrendering may be the least disadvantageous move.
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Basic Rules of Play
Blackjack is a house-banked casino game in which players are pitted against the dealer rather than competing against each other. A standard blackjack table can typically accommodate one to seven players at a time. Before we proceed, we should also point out that the playing decisions made by other patrons do not affect your chances of winning or the outcome of your hand. This is a common misconception among inexperienced players who incorrectly assume that one person’s poor decisions can cause the entire table to lose.
The game starts with the dealer shuffling the cards and burning the top card by placing it at the bottom of the deck. Depending on the casino’s policies, the dealer may or may not show the burned card to the players. Everyone at the table, including the dealer, receives two cards that constitute their starting hands. Players receive their cards face down in single-deck and double-deck blackjack variations.
This is not the case in “shoe” games using four to eight decks, where players receive their starting cards face up and are prohibited from touching them. The dealer receives their first card face up, while their second “hole” card is dealt face down.
The objective is to beat the dealer in one of three ways. You can win by outdrawing the dealer with a higher hand total without exceeding 21 or by receiving a two-card hand totaling 21, known as a blackjack. You can also win if the dealer busts with a hand value exceeding 21. Once everyone receives their initial two cards, players can choose from several playing decisions.
They can either hit, which means drawing more cards from the deck or shoe, or stand, which means declining additional cards. Depending on the house rules and their starting hand total, players can also split paired cards of equal value or double down by increasing their initial wager in exchange for one more card. Both splitting and doubling require additional wagers, as you will see later.
Only the face value of the cards matters in blackjack, while card suits are largely irrelevant. Cards 2 through 9 are worth their face value. Tens of any suit and face cards (Jacks, Queens, and Kings) all count as 10. Aces have a flexible value in blackjack, as they count as either 1 or 11, depending on which value is more beneficial to the player at a given moment.
If the player and dealer obtain the same hand total, the round results in a push, and no one wins or loses. Players simply receive their initial wagers back. If the player outdraws the dealer, they receive an even-money payout of 1 to 1. This payout usually increases to 3 to 2 for player blackjacks consisting of a ten-value card and an ace. In this case, the player wins one and a half times their original bet.
When the dealer’s exposed card is an ace, the player can take insurance by making a side bet equal to half their initial wager. The dealer then peeks at their hole card to check for a blackjack. Several outcomes are possible. If the dealer has a blackjack but the player does not, the player loses their main wager, but the insurance bet wins at odds of 2 to 1. If the dealer does not have a blackjack, the insurance bet loses, and play proceeds as usual. The player can then hit, stand, split, or double, depending on their starting total. Some variations support the late surrender rule, allowing the player to forfeit their initial two-card hand by giving up half their original wager.
The dealer is always the last person at the table to act on their hand, which gives the house a considerable edge over players. This advantage is partially offset by the fact that blackjack dealers must follow fixed house rules requiring them to draw to at least 16 and stand on 17 or higher. Unlike players, dealers cannot split pairs, double down, or surrender, which slightly reduces their advantage. The dealer’s standing rules may differ depending on the variation and casino. Some blackjack variations require the dealer to stand on all totals of 17. In others, the dealer must hit soft 17, which is disadvantageous to players because it slightly increases the house edge.
Soft vs. Hard Hands
Aces are the most important cards in this game because they help you form blackjacks and have a flexible value. There are two main types of hands in blackjack: soft and hard. Soft totals are more advantageous to players because they contain aces that can count as either 1 or 11. For example, a starting hand containing an ace and a 4 can have a total of 5 or 15. It remains soft until the player draws a card that causes the ace to lose its flexibility. If the player draws a 10, for instance, the ace counts as 1 to prevent the hand from busting. The soft hand automatically becomes a hard 15 in this case.
Soft hands benefit players because they cannot bust on the next hit. A blackjack, consisting of an ace and a ten-value card as the starting hand, is treated separately and should always stand. In shoe games where players receive their cards face up, blackjacks automatically stand rather than being treated as flexible totals of 11 or 21, as the dealer assigns the hand a value of 21 by default. Although it is technically possible to hit a blackjack in single-deck games where players’ cards are dealt face down, there is no strategic reason to do so.
Conversely, hard hands either do not include an ace or have an ace with a fixed value of 1. For instance, a hard 17 can consist of [9][8], [10][3][4], or even [A][6][K]. In the last example, the player started the round with a soft 17 but drew a ten-value card, causing the ace to lose its flexibility. Some of the worst starting hands players can receive in blackjack are hard totals.
Stiff Hands
In blackjack, the term “stiff” generally refers to a hard hand that could bust if the player takes one more card. More precisely, hard hands contain no aces, or any aces in the hand count as 1. Hard totals of 12 through 20 can bust on the next hit. Hard totals containing two cards of the same value are considered pairs and may call for a different strategy.
The two worst starting hands a player can receive are hard 15 and hard 16 against strong dealer upcards from 9 through ace. Standing is far from optimal in this situation, as the average winning total in blackjack is around 18.5, and the player risks being outdrawn if they do not hit. To make matters worse, hard 15 and hard 16 have the highest probabilities of busting when hit, so drawing more cards is often also unfavorable. When available, surrendering is the least disadvantageous way to play these hard totals against dealers showing strong upcards, but more on this later.
Splitting Pairs
Players can split two cards of the same value, such as [7][7]. When splitting, the player must make an additional bet equal to their initial wager. Once the pair is split, the player receives an additional card for each new hand and plays the two hands separately. Paired aces are the only exception to this rule. Each split ace receives only one additional card, as most casinos prohibit hitting split aces.
Splitting pairs can be advantageous to the player, but it depends on the specific pair and the value of the dealer’s upcard. Here are a few basic rules to follow:
- Players should always split paired aces, in which case they receive one additional card for each ace. If they draw a ten-value card next to a split ace, the hand counts as a regular 21 rather than a blackjack and pays even money if it wins. Only starting two-card totals that add up to 21 count as blackjacks and qualify for the higher payout of 3 to 2.
- Paired 8s are always split, and for good reason. As previously mentioned, hard 16 is one of the worst starting hands in blackjack because it has a high probability of busting and low odds of winning if you stand. If you split your 8s, you cannot bust on the first hit and have an opportunity to improve your situation.
- Players should always resplit their aces and 8s if the rules at the respective table allow it. Most online blackjack variations allow players to split up to three times, creating four separate hands.
- You should never split paired ten-value cards such as [10][K], [10][10], or [Q][J]. These pairs already give you a strong starting hand, so splitting them is unnecessary.
- Splitting 5s is also a poor decision because it often leaves players with two subpar hard hands with lower odds of winning. A total of 10 is a strong way to start a blackjack round and calls for either hitting or doubling down, depending on the value of the dealer’s upcard.
Doubling Down
Doubling down is possible only after the initial deal, when players receive the first two cards forming their starting hands. When you make this move, you double your original wager and receive one more card in exchange. Players cannot take additional cards after doubling down.
Doubling down is mostly recommended against dealers in a weak position, as it enables you to extract more value from strong starting hands. Simply put, this helps you win more money when you are already in a favorable situation. It is intended to capitalize on a strong starting hand rather than rescue a weak one. Here are some basic doubling rules to follow, but keep in mind that the dealer’s fixed standing rules also affect certain basic strategy decisions.
- In multi-deck games where the dealer stands on soft 17, players should double on 11 against all dealer upcards except an ace. Doubling on 11 against the dealer’s ace is recommended only in variations where the dealer must hit soft 17.
- Basic strategy recommends doubling down on totals of 10 against dealers showing cards 2 through 9, regardless of the fixed house rules. Doubling is also optimal with starting totals of 9 against weak upcards from 3 through 6, as the dealer has a greater chance of busting in this situation.
- Players must double on soft totals of 13 through 18 against a dealer showing a 5 or 6. In multi-deck variations where the dealer hits soft 17, players should also double on soft 19 against a 6.
Late Surrender in Blackjack
Some online blackjack variations allow late surrender, letting players fold weak starting hands by forfeiting half their initial wagers. Some players dislike the idea of losing half a bet, but this is the optimal choice for hands with low probabilities of winning. As a rule of thumb, basic strategy recommends late surrender for starting totals whose probability of losing exceeds 50%. Hard 16 is a notorious example, as it busts roughly 62% of the time when hit. Surrendering this hand can save you more money than hitting it.
The main rationale for this move is that it helps minimize your losses when you are at a severe disadvantage against strong dealer upcards. Late surrender is available before you make any other playing decisions and after the dealer has checked their hole card for a blackjack. In other words, you cannot surrender after hitting, splitting, or doubling down. The hands you should forfeit in multi-deck blackjack include:
- Players should surrender non-paired hard 16 against dealer upcards 9 through ace, whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17.
- Hard 15 calls for surrender when the dealer shows a 10 in variations where house rules require the dealer to stand on soft 17.
- When the dealer hits soft 17 (H17), basic strategy also recommends surrendering hard 17 against an ace.
- Paired 8s are also surrendered against an ace in multi-deck H17 games.