Mastering the blackjack strategy chart is what differentiates amateurs from pros. Now that you’re no longer a beginner, you’re ready to learn how to play perfect blackjack.
Pro tip
If you haven’t read our How To Play Blackjack Guide, I highly suggest you read it first. It is written specifically with the beginning player in mind.
It is the first part of the Blackjack Academy series we’re putting together which will teach you how to become a highly skilled blackjack player and get an understanding of this fun and easy game.
Now, the next step to becoming a great player is to learn the importance of blackjack strategy, and the first step of that is learning Basic Strategy.
In this guide, I’m going to walk you through all the details.
So, without further ado, let's dive right in!
Basic Strategy is the correct play based on your hand value and the dealer’s up card.
Keep in mind
The table I’m including here isn’t my opinion. In fact, it isn’t anyone’s ‘opinion’, it is a mathematical fact based upon billions of hands run on many computer simulations.
There is only one correct Basic Strategy play for a given set of rules, so you need to make sure that you’re looking at the correct card for the rules of the game you’re playing.
Two of the most important rules you must know are the number of decks in use and whether the dealer hits or stands on a Soft 17.
Check out our free blackjack strategy chart below:
Hard Totals | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dealer Upcard | ||||||||||
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A | |
17 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | SrS |
16 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | SrH | SrH | SrH |
15 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | SrH | SrH |
14 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
13 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
12 | H | H | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
11 | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
10 | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | H | H |
9 | H | D | D | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
8 | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H |
KEY | H = Hit | |||||||||
S = Stand | ||||||||||
D = Double if allowed, otherwise Hit | ||||||||||
SrH = Surrender if allowed, otherwise Hit | ||||||||||
SrS = Surrender if allowed, otherwise Stand |
Soft Totals | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dealer Upcard | ||||||||||
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A | |
A,9 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
A,8 | S | S | S | S | Ds | S | S | S | S | S |
A,7 | Ds | Ds | Ds | Ds | Ds | S | S | H | H | H |
A,6 | H | D | D | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
A,5 | H | H | D | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
A,4 | H | H | D | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
A,3 | H | H | H | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
A,2 | H | H | H | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
KEY | H = Hit | |||||||||
S = Stand | ||||||||||
D = Double if allowed, otherwise hit | ||||||||||
Ds = Double if allowed, otherwise stand |
Pair Splitting | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dealer Upcard | ||||||||||
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A | |
A,A | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
T,T | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
9,9 | P | P | P | P | P | S | P | P | S | S |
8,8 | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | SrP |
7,7 | P | P | P | P | P | P | H | H | H | H |
6,6 | PH | P | P | P | P | H | H | H | H | H |
5,5 | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | H | H |
4,4 | H | H | H | PH | PH | H | H | H | H | H |
3,3 | PH | PH | P | P | P | P | H | H | H | H |
2,2 | PH | PH | P | P | P | P | H | H | H | H |
KEY | H = Hit | |||||||||
S = Stand | ||||||||||
D = Double if allowed, otherwise Hit | ||||||||||
P = Split | ||||||||||
PH = Split if double after Split is Allowed, otherwise Hit | ||||||||||
SrP = Surrender if allowed, otherwise Split |
Download the Blackjack Strategy Chart
Note: This blackjack strategy chart is for a 6-deck shoe game, and the dealer hits any Soft 17.
As you can see, the chart is divided into three sections, with a key to the actions to be taken at the bottom.
Here’s what you should consider:
As I said earlier, the 2 most important points are:
But you also need to consider the following rules, too:
There are certain things you need to check once you’ve seen your hand and the dealer up card. And here’s the order that you check your options.
Do I have a 15, 16 or 17 and the dealer has a 9, 10, or Ace?
Check the blackjack strategy card for the correct play.
Do I have a pair of Aces or 8s, or a pair that should be split against the dealer’s up card?
Check the blackjack strategy card for the correct play.
Lots of hands to check here, for example if you have a 9, should you double down against the dealer’s 9?
There are many options here, and it’s important that you get it right.
Check the blackjack strategy card for details.
I have a 16, and the dealer has an 8 up card. What’s the best play now?
Check the blackjack strategy card.
Every play is listed and by following this blackjack chart, you will always be making the right decision.
Here is a quick step-by-step example of how you can read the blackjack strategy chart efficiently:
Step 1
Find your hand down the left-hand side, and then the dealer’s up card.
Step 2
Find the appropriate action for your hand.
For example
Let’s say you have a 5 and a Queen, or a Hard 15 total. The dealer’s up card is an 8.
When I first started learning how to play perfect blackjack in the mid-1980s, I was a young Shift Manager at the Lady Luck Casino in downtown Las Vegas.
I realized pretty quickly that although I knew craps and roulette inside out, I didn’t know enough about blackjack.
So I decided to learn.
And the first thing I needed to know and to immediately recognize was playing perfect Basic Strategy.
Because without perfect Basic Strategy as a starting point, you won’t play very well and would never represent much of a long-term threat to the casino.
I knew I needed a book by an expert and I knew there were several really good books out there.
Several have different types of card counting systems, but they all have one thing in common, and that is to help you reduce the house advantage against you.
Pro tip
My advice is go to the bookstore and take a look through a few of them and choose the one that’s the easiest for you to read and understand.
That’s what I did, and that’s how I bought a great book called ‘Playing Blackjack as a Business’ by Lawrence Revere.
It included lots of in-depth information and a Basic Strategy Chart and it was the easiest for me to understand.
And I read it, cover to cover.
And read it again. And again. And again.
Then I made myself some flashcards with my hand and the dealer’s hand on one side, and the correct play on the other side.
At first, it seemed like there were too many cards, but the obvious plays were quickly learned, and then I culled the stack of flashcards down to the most important ‘borderline’ plays.
I used to run through those cards five or six times a day, every day, for weeks.
Until I knew them inside out.
No thoughts required, just an immediate answer.
The Basic Strategy Chart tells you the perfect play for every possible hand, with a neutral deck.
You need to learn the Chart so you know the perfect play every time, without fail.
There are deviations that you will make based upon the ‘deck composition’, which means how many high cards or low cards are out.
This is getting into the territory of card counting, and that’s a big subject that deserves its own article, which I cover in a separate article for the Blackjack Academy.
Let me just say this, though: Card counting is not illegal.
The casinos would probably like to make it illegal, but because it would be impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that someone is counting cards, it’s never going to be made illegal.
Having said that, it can be very clear to a knowledgeable person after an hour (or less) of watching someone play whether they are counting cards or not.
Some players are good at disguising their play; some are quite bad at it, and some don’t even try to disguise it.
Here’s a little secret I need to share with you. You may have heard that the fewer decks that are being played with, the better it is for the player.
Well, that’s true.
Be aware: The more decks in the shoe, the worse it is for the player
No surprise then that the casinos like to use a shoe with six decks as their standard blackjack shoe game.
There are other reasons they do it, but they like the multiple decks because of the advantage it gives them.
Lots of old-school guys are going to tell you that a single-deck blackjack game is the one with the best chance of winning, and that you should only ever play single deck.
With that in mind, you may have heard the expression:
“A little learning is a dangerous thing”. It’s often (wrongly) attributed to Albert Einstein, by folks who believe all the internet memes they see.
But it was actually written in the early 1700s by an English poet and satirist called Alexander Pope. (Those darned Brits, they’re everywhere!).
Here’s why Mr. Pope was right:
Single deck isn’t the ‘cherry on top of the sundae’ game anymore. With blackjack payout odds of 3 to 2, single deck was indeed a great game to play.
The casino guys knew that all along but once the books started coming out, they realized that the players were getting more knowledgeable.
In recent years, they decided to change the blackjack payout to 6 to 5.
So a $20 bet, instead of getting paid $30 at 3 to 2, would only get paid $24 at 6 to 5.
Doesn’t seem like such a big deal, does it?
It’s only a few bucks, after all, and you’re still getting an extra $4 for a blackjack.
But that little change to the rules changed the hold percentage in the casino’s favor by 1.39%.
And in a game that typically has a house advantage (HA) of about 0.5%, they just increased their win by 200% or so. Of course, the subject of house edge and odds in blackjack is complex. That's why we created a separate guide dedicated to helping you understand how the house advantage works for or against you.
Pro tip
Another thing Alexander Pope said was ‘Fools rush in where angels fear to tread’.
So make sure you never (as in NEVER!) play any blackjack with a 6 to 5 blackjack payout. You cannot win on that game.
I was in a casino in Northern California recently, and they had their double deck games (yes, all of them on the retail floor) set up with a 6 to 5 blackjack payout.
The games were all busy. Lots of fools rushing in there!
Always find out how many decks are in use at any blackjack game you play. It’s important to know.
Remember
Most online casinos use either four or six decks. Four is a marginally better game for you but six is definitely still okay.
To be a master blackjack player, you must know Basic Strategy perfectly.
When the casino has a starting advantage against you, you must use perfect blackjack strategy to bring their advantage down.
Tip 1 Get your hands on some blackjack strategy charts
Make yourself some flashcards and learn the exact play for every situation. No mistakes, no dilly-dallying, no excuses.
Tip 2 Practice makes perfect
Blackjack is a simple game, but mastering the strategy takes some time and dedication.
You can always train your skills for free with one of the demo blackjack games available on our site.
Tip 3 Once you know all the correct plays, start playing with small amounts of real money
Playing for real money is far more challenging than playing when there’s nothing at stake.
And a lot more fun when you win!
As you get more comfortable and confident in your knowledge, then you can start increasing your bets.
Recommendation
Planning to start playing blackjack online? You can boost your balance using one of the blackjack bonus codes on Chipy.
Spending the time to learn Basic Strategy is well worth it.
You will find you are a more confident player and feel a lot more comfortable knowing you’re always making the right decision once you do.
It’s been fun and entertaining to dig down into the nitty-gritty of expert blackjack play, and there’s a lot more to come.
Hopefully you’re finding some useful information here, and I’m helping you improve your blackjack skills.
Is there live blackjack at Brango Casino that you guys recommend?
A while back there was a Blackjack option that could be played with your Chipy Coins. It was by Mascot Gaming. Any Blackjack option would be better than nothing, although I do see that the focus is more on Slots in the Play for Coins section.
I played and witnessed Blackjack teams , I know they exist to help each other eliminate other players like me. For Example , I had an opportunity in semi- finals to make final table, but I new I had to hit on hard 15 to make final table to give me a chance. The player to my right did not have enough chips to make final table no matter what she did, she was looking at my chips and decided to hit on 19, the card came out was a 5 , would have given me a 20 and a chance to move on, I got a king instead , busted out, I got little emotional and yelled at her for helping her team members on the end make it to final table. She just stood there quietly like nothing happened, so obvious .Maybe it's just me,I have great instincts on other players teaming up sometimes, I was right that time.
Richard C