Blackjack 101 — Basic Strategy

Basic Strategy

Basic strategy is the mathematically optimal play for every combination of your hand and the dealer's upcard. It does not make blackjack a winning game, but it cuts the house edge to roughly half a percent — far better than playing on instinct.

Hard Totals

H = hit S = stand D = double if allowed, otherwise hit

Your Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
8 or less	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
9	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
17+	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Your Hand

8 or less

17+

Soft Totals (hands with an ace counted as 11)

Your Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,2 – A,3	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,4 – A,5	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,6	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,7 (soft 18)	S	D	D	D	D	S	S	H	H	H
A,8 – A,9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Your Hand

A,2 – A,3

A,4 – A,5

A,6

A,7 (soft 18)

A,8 – A,9

Pairs

Y = split N = do not split

Your Pair	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,A	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
10,10	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
9,9	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N
8,8	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
7,7	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N
6,6	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N
5,5	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
4,4	N	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N
3,3 & 2,2	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N

Your Pair

A,A

10,10

9,9

8,8

7,7

6,6

5,5

4,4

3,3 & 2,2

Four Rules Worth Memorizing First

Always split aces and eights. Never split tens or fives.
Double on 11 against anything except an ace.
Stand on 12–16 when the dealer shows 2–6; hit when they show 7 or higher.
Never take insurance.

These charts assume a common multi-deck game where the dealer stands on soft 17 and doubling after a split is allowed. Exact house rules shift a few cells.