Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart: When to Hit, Stand, Double and Split

By Jason Thompson · Updated 9 October 2026

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Quick answer: blackjack basic strategy is the mathematically best play for every hand you can hold against every dealer up card. Played perfectly in a typical shoe game that pays 3:2 for a blackjack, it cuts the house edge to about 0.5%. Pick your table’s rules below and the chart updates; then test yourself with the trainer.

How to read the blackjack strategy chart

1. Find the dealer’s up card along the top row (A is an ace).
2. If you hold a pair, start with the pairs table. If the answer isn’t split (for example 5,5 or 10,10), play the hand as a hard or soft total instead.
3. If you hold an ace counted as 11, use the soft totals table (A,6 is soft 17). Once the ace has to count as 1, the hand is hard.
4. Otherwise, use the hard totals table.
5. If the cell says surrender (R) and the table allows it, surrender first. If it doesn’t, the letter after the R tells you what to do instead. In the same way, D means double, or hit if doubling isn’t allowed (for example after your third card), and Ds means double, or stand.

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Which blackjack strategy chart should you use?

Check two rules, which are usually printed on the table or shown in an online game’s help screen: whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17, and whether you can surrender. Set the chart to match. All four versions above assume 4 to 8 decks, that you can double after splitting, and that a blackjack pays 3:2. Single-deck and double-deck games use slightly different charts.

What changes when the dealer hits soft 17?

When the dealer hits soft 17 (H17), the house edge goes up by about 0.2%, and six plays change:

The last three only apply if the table offers surrender. With surrender allowed and the dealer standing on soft 17, you surrender just three hands: 15 against a 10, and 16 against a 9, 10 or ace.

Basic strategy rules worth learning first

You don’t need to memorise all 280 cells at once. These rules cover most hands in every version of the chart above:

• Always split aces. Split 8s too, except that with H17 and surrender you surrender 8,8 against an ace.
• Never split 10s or 5s. Stand on 20, and play 5,5 as a hard 10.
• Double on 11 against every dealer card except an ace when the dealer stands on soft 17. Double on 10 against 2 to 9.
• Stand on 13 to 16 when the dealer shows 2 to 6, and hit them against 7 or higher (unless you surrender).
• Hit 12 against a 2 or 3, stand against 4 to 6, and hit against 7 or higher.
• Always hit soft 17 or less unless the chart says double. Soft 18 is the tricky one: double against 3 to 6, stand against 2, 7 and 8, and hit against 9, 10 and ace.
• Always stand on hard 17 or more and on soft 19 or more (apart from the H17 cases in the table above).

Does basic strategy beat blackjack?

No. It gives the casino the smallest edge possible without counting cards, but the edge stays with the casino. In a typical shoe game with good rules and a 3:2 payout, that edge is about 0.5% of the money you bet. Rules matter a lot: a table that pays 6:5 for a blackjack adds about 1.4%, roughly four times the cost. Our blackjack rules guide explains each rule and which tables to avoid.

The best-known way to get an edge over the casino is card counting, which uses basic strategy as its starting point and only works when cards are dealt from a shoe that isn’t reshuffled every hand. Thorp sized his bets with the Kelly criterion.

Where basic strategy came from

Roger Baldwin, Wilbert Cantey, Herbert Maisel and James McDermott worked out the first mathematically sound basic strategy and published it in September 1956 as “The Optimum Strategy in Blackjack” in the Journal of the American Statistical Association. The mathematician Edward Thorp later showed in his 1962 book Beat the Dealer that card counting could overcome the casino’s edge.

Basic strategy in other blackjack games

This chart is for standard blackjack. Variants with different rules need their own strategy: see our guides to Blackjack Switch and Spanish 21. In online and live dealer blackjack, the chart works the same way: check the rules in the game’s help screen and set the chart to match.

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How we checked this

We built the chart and trainer ourselves and tested every cell in a browser against the Wizard of Odds chart (dealer stands on soft 17) and Wikipedia’s table (dealer hits soft 17). The differences between the two match the lists from Wizard of Odds and Las Vegas Advisor. All other figures come from at least two independent sources:

• Strategy chart, dealer stands on soft 17: Wizard of Odds (4 to 8 decks), with the H17 differences confirmed by Las Vegas Advisor.
• Strategy chart, dealer hits soft 17: Wikipedia’s basic strategy table and Wizard of Odds.
• House edge with basic strategy (about 0.5%) and the extra 1.4% at 6:5: Las Vegas Advisor and Wikipedia.
• Extra house edge when the dealer hits soft 17 (about 0.2%): Las Vegas Advisor (0.22%) and Wikipedia.
• The 1956 paper and Beat the Dealer (1962): UC Irvine Libraries and Wikipedia.

Last checked: 9 October 2026. Blackjack is for adults (18+) only. Basic strategy lowers the house edge but doesn’t remove it, so set a budget before you play. Our responsible gambling guide lists ways to set limits.

Blackjack basic strategy FAQs

What is blackjack basic strategy?

The best play for every possible hand against every dealer up card, worked out mathematically for a given set of rules. It tells you when to hit, stand, double, split or surrender.

What is the house edge with basic strategy?

About 0.5% in a typical shoe game with good rules and a 3:2 payout. A 6:5 payout adds about 1.4%, and a dealer who hits soft 17 adds about 0.2%.

Should you always split 8s?

Yes, in the charts on this page, with one exception: if the dealer hits soft 17 and you can surrender, surrender 8,8 against an ace.

Should you double 11 against an ace?

Yes if the dealer hits soft 17. If the dealer stands on soft 17, just hit (in 4 to 8 deck games).

Does basic strategy work online?

Yes. The best play depends only on the rules, so the same chart works for online, live dealer and land-based tables. Check the game’s rules and set the chart to match.