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Blackjack Strategy



Basic strategy indicating when to "hit" or "stand" based on the dealer's face-up card.
This strategy was programmed by computers to play millions of simulated hands.

Hit/Stand Strategy
If your first two cards total:
11 or less, always hit.
12, stand if the dealer shows 4,5,6; hit otherwise.
13 through 16, stand against 2 through 6 for dealer, hit otherwise.
17 or higher, stand.

Soft Hit/Stand Strategy
If you have a:
Soft 17 or less (means one of your cards is an ace),  always hit.
Soft 18, hit against 9, 10 or ace.
Soft 19 or 20, never hit.

Pair Splitting
If your first two cards are the same, you may split them, make another bet and play with both hands:
Always split aces and 8s.
Never split 10s or 5s.
9s - split against 2,3,4,5,6, 8,9
7s, 3s, 2s - split against 2 through 7.
6s - split against 2 through 6.
4s - split against 5 and 6.

Doubling
If you like your first two cards compared to the dealer's face-up card, you may double your bet - but you will be dealt only one more card:
Double 11 against all but ace.
Double 10 against all but 10, ace.
Double 9 against 3,4,5 or 6.

Soft Doubling
Ace,7 or ace,6 (soft 18 or 17) double against 3,4,5,6.
Ace,5 or ace,4 (soft 16 or 15) double against 4,5,6.
Ace,3 or ace,2 (soft 14 or 13) double against 5,6.
Aces - always split

Surrender (if permitted)
If the dealer is showing:
Ace, surrender with a 5 though 7 or 12 through 17.
10, surrender 14 through 16.
9, surrender a 16




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