Basic Blackjack Strategy Chart

The single most important aspect of playing Blackjack successfully is, without doubt, a working knowledge of the basic strategy. The ability to play every single hand with the odds in one’s favour is unquestionably the most important skill a player can master. It should theoretically allow them to at least come close to breaking even on the vast majority of blackjack sessions.

Unfortunately, basic strategy is considered the most difficult thing to master about Blackjack. Counting, by comparison is relatively easy. Basic strategy, however, forms the basis of successful Blackjack and is an essential tool for any serious player.

The good news is that the BS (Basic Strategy) chart provided here is the only one that a player will ever need to make a Blackjack table work for them. The featured plays are far more than mere opinion. They are the mathematically proven to be the best possible way to play any hand, and stem from the results of decades of painstaking research carried out by the aforementioned Blackjack pioneers. The understanding and application of the following recommendations will undoubtedly give any player an advantage over all but the most unscrupulous casinos.

Assuming that a player has not been counting the cards (a subject that will be covered in full later) the basic strategy offered is an indication of the proven optimum way in which to conduct a hand.

Points to remember:

Hard hand – when a player either holds no aces, or when they must count their Aces as 1s to avoid going over 21.

Soft hand – when a player has Aces to the value of 11

Dealers Stiff-up cards – 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Dealers Pat-up cards - 7, 8, 9, 10, J, K, Q, A

INDEX:
H = HIT
S = STAND
P = SPLIT
D = DOUBLE DOWN
G = GIVE UP (surrender if allowed, otherwise hit)

* Always hit soft hands totalling 17 or less, whenever doubling down is not an option
Notice that A,7 is a soft 18, but one with doubling potential. Stand with soft 19s and 20s against any dealer up-card.