How to learn basic strategy

Basic strategy is the best play for every hand you can be dealt against every card the dealer can show. Learn it and you cut the house edge to about 0.4%, about as low as it goes in a casino.

What basic strategy is

For any two cards you hold and any card the dealer shows, one play (hit, stand, double down or split) wins the most money over the long run. Computers worked these out by simulating billions of hands. Put all the answers in a grid and you have the basic strategy chart.

It doesn’t guarantee you win a hand. It guarantees that, across thousands of hands, you lose as little as the game allows. Players who go by feel typically give up several times the house edge that a basic strategy player does.

Basic strategy uses only your cards and the dealer’s upcard. It ignores the cards that came out earlier in the shoe. Using those is card counting, which builds on top of this.

The chart

Find your hand on the left and the dealer’s upcard across the top. Rules: 6 decks, dealer stands on soft 17, double after split, no surrender.

• H Hit
• S Stand
• D Double (if you can’t, hit)
• Ds Double (if you can’t, stand)
• P Split

Check pairs first: if you can split, use the pairs chart. Then soft hands (an ace counted as 11), then hard hands. After you take a third card, you can no longer double or split, so a “D” becomes a hit and a “Ds” becomes a stand.

The logic behind it

You don’t have to memorize 280 boxes one at a time. Nearly the whole chart comes from four ideas.

1. The dealer’s upcard tells you how strong they are

The dealer has to hit until 17, with no choices. When they show a 2 through 6, they often end up drawing to a stiff total and bust. When they show 7 through ace, they usually make a hand.

Dealer 2–6 is weak (the bust cards). Dealer 7–A is strong.

2. Assume a 10 is underneath

Almost a third of the cards are worth 10, more than any other value. So picture a 10 under the dealer’s upcard. A 7 becomes 17, which beats any stiff hand of yours, so you have to hit. A 6 becomes 16, which has to take another card and might bust, so you can stand and let them.

3. Stiff hands depend on the dealer

Hard 12 through 16 are “stiff”: one more card might bust you. Stand against a weak dealer and let them take the risk. Hit against a strong one, because standing loses to their likely 17 or better.

12 is the exception. Only a 10 busts it, so hitting is cheap. Against a 2 or 3 the dealer doesn’t bust often enough to justify standing, so you hit. Against 4, 5 and 6 you stand.

4. Double and split when the dealer is weakest

Doubling puts more money out when you’re the favorite: with 10 or 11 you’re likely to end on 20 or 21. Splitting turns one bad hand into two better ones, or one good hand into two (aces and 8s). Both happen most against the dealer’s bust cards.

A plan to memorize it

Learn it in chunks, in this order. Each chunk is a few rules rather than a page of boxes, and the most common hands come first.

1. Hard 17 and up: always stand. Hard 8 and below: always hit. Easy, and it covers a lot of hands.
2. Hard 13–16: stand against 2–6, hit against 7–A. Hard 12: stand against 4–6 only.
3. Doubling on 9, 10 and 11. 11: double against everything but an ace. 10: double against 2–9. 9: double against 3–6.
4. The pairs you always or never split. Always split aces and 8s. Never split 10s or 5s (play 5,5 as a hard 10).
5. The other pairs. 2s, 3s and 7s: split against 2–7. 6s: split against 2–6. 4s: split only against 5 and 6. 9s: split against 2–6 and 8–9, stand against 7, 10 and ace.
6. Soft hands, last. A,8 and A,9 always stand. The soft doubles form a staircase: the higher your soft total, the more dealer cards you double against (A,2–A,3 against 5–6; A,4–A,5 against 4–6; A,6 against 3–6). A,7 is its own rule: double against 3–6, stand against 2, 7 and 8, hit against 9, 10 and ace.

Practice one chunk until you get it right without thinking, then add the next. Twenty minutes a day beats two hours once a week. In the trainer, a session is 20 hands. It deals the hands you miss more often, and it doesn’t repeat a hand within a session. Aim for 95% or better over a session before you play for real money.

Once you’re accurate, practice under pressure: switch to “Play it out” to play every hand to the end, then move to the BJ tab. There you play with other players and a bankroll, at dealing speed.

Memory tips

• Always split aces and 8s. Never split 10s or 5s.
• Dealer 2–6 is weak (the bust cards). Dealer 7–A is strong.
• Stiff hands (12–16) stand against weak cards and hit against strong ones. Exception: 12 only stands against 4–6.
• Double when your total is good and the dealer’s is bad: 11 and 10 almost always.
• Soft hands can’t bust on one card, so be aggressive: double soft hands against weak dealer cards.
• Pairs: if the dealer is weak, split small pairs (2–7) to get two shots. If the dealer is strong, just hit them.
• Split 7s up to a 7. Split 6s up to a 6. 2s and 3s split like 7s.
• 9,9 skips the 7: 18 already beats the dealer’s likely 17. It also skips 10 and ace.
• Soft 18 against 9, 10 or ace: hit. 18 isn’t enough against a strong hand, and you can’t bust.

The most common mistakes

• Standing on 12 against a 2 or 3. It feels safe, but those dealer cards don’t bust often enough. Hit.
• Not doubling 11 against a 10. You’re still the favorite. Double.
• Standing on soft 18 against 9, 10 or ace. You can’t bust by taking one card, and 18 usually loses to those cards. Hit.
• Splitting 10s. 20 wins most of the time. Breaking it up gives that away.
• Taking insurance or even money. Insurance is a side bet that the dealer has blackjack, and without counting cards it loses money in the long run. Basic strategy never takes it.
• Standing on 16 against a 10. It’s close, and hitting usually loses too, but hitting loses a little less. (Card counters stand once the count is high enough. See count plays.)

When the rules are different

This chart is for 6 decks, dealer stands on soft 17, double after split, and no surrender. Other rules change a handful of boxes, not the whole chart:

• Dealer hits soft 17 (“H17”) costs you about 0.2% and changes a few close plays, such as doubling 11 against an ace.
• Surrender, where it’s offered, lets you give up half your bet on your worst hands, such as 16 against 9, 10 or ace.
• No doubling after a split means splitting fewer small pairs.
• Blackjack pays 6 to 5 doesn’t change the chart, but it costs about 1.4%, more than all the other rules combined. Skip those tables.

The sign on the table or the printing on the felt shows most of the rules. If you play a different game regularly, learn the chart for those rules.