Blackjack basic strategy: the chart, its assumptions, and what changes on Stake

What basic strategy is, and is not

For every combination of your hand and the dealer's face-up card there is one decision that loses the least over the long run. Basic strategy is the table of those decisions. It is derived for a specific set of rules, so the number of decks, whether the dealer hits a soft 17, whether you may double after a split and whether surrender is offered all shift a few of the entries.

It is not card counting, not a betting progression and not a prediction. Playing it perfectly still leaves the house with an edge; Wikipedia puts most games between 0.5% and 1% under basic strategy. The Wizard of Odds page adds that the aim is to beat the dealer, not to get as close to 21 as possible, which is why the chart tells you to stand on a hard 12 against a dealer 4 through 6.

How to play blackjack: the rules the chart assumes you know

Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) states the object and the card values in one paragraph: "The object of the game is to win money by creating card totals higher than those of the dealer's hand but not exceeding 21, or by stopping at a total in the hope that the dealer will bust. Number cards count as their number, the jack, queen, and king ("face cards" or "pictures") count as 10, and aces count as either 1 or 11 depending on whether or not counting it as 11 would cause a bust. If a player exceeds 21 points, they bust and automatically lose. A total of 21 on the starting two cards is called a "blackjack" or "natural," and is the strongest hand."

Each player and the dealer receive two cards; the dealer shows one. On your turn you choose among the five decisions listed below, one hand at a time, and the chart on this page is the list of which decision costs least in each situation. Then the dealer plays by a fixed rule: "the dealer's hand is resolved by drawing cards until the hand achieves a total of 17 or higher. If the dealer has a total of 17 including an ace valued as 11 (a "soft 17"), some games require the dealer to stand while other games require the dealer to hit. The dealer never doubles, splits, or surrenders." If the dealer busts, every hand still standing wins; otherwise the higher total wins, a tie is a push, and a blackjack beats any other 21.

Insurance is offered when the dealer shows an ace; it is a side bet that the dealer has a blackjack, and Wikipedia states that "Insurance bets lose money in the long run." The chart on this page never takes it. Payout matters too: the same source puts the house edge for a game that pays blackjack 6 to 5 instead of 3 to 2 about 1.4% higher, so read the payout line on the table's rules panel before the chart.

• Hit: take another card.
• Stand: take no more cards.
• Double down: increase the initial bet by 100% and take exactly one more card.
• Split: with two cards of the same value, create two hands, each with a second card and an additional bet.
• Surrender: forfeit half the bet and end the hand immediately; offered only at some tables and not after splitting.
• Dealer: draws to 17 or higher; whether a soft 17 is hit or stood is a table rule; never doubles, splits or surrenders.

The chart, part 1: hard totals

Each row is your hand; each entry is the decision against the dealer's face-up card, listed from 2 through 10 and then ace. The assumptions are those stated above (4 to 8 decks, dealer hits soft 17, double after split allowed, surrender available).

• Hard 18 to 21: stand against every dealer card.
• Hard 17: stand against everything; surrender (if surrender is not allowed, stand) against an ace.
• Hard 16: stand against 2 to 6; hit against 7 and 8; surrender (else hit) against 9, 10 and ace.
• Hard 15: stand against 2 to 6; hit against 7, 8 and 9; surrender (else hit) against 10 and ace.
• Hard 13 and 14: stand against 2 to 6; hit against 7 through ace.
• Hard 12: hit against 2 and 3; stand against 4, 5 and 6; hit against 7 through ace.
• Hard 11: double (else hit) against every dealer card, including the ace.
• Hard 10: double (else hit) against 2 to 9; hit against 10 and ace.
• Hard 9: hit against 2; double (else hit) against 3 to 6; hit against 7 through ace.
• Hard 5 to 8: hit against everything.

The chart, part 2: soft totals (a hand with an ace counted as 11)

A soft hand cannot bust on the next card, which is why the chart doubles more freely with it.

• Ace-9 (soft 20): stand against everything.
• Ace-8 (soft 19): stand against everything except a dealer 6, where the chart doubles (else stands).
• Ace-7 (soft 18): double (else stand) against 2 to 6; stand against 7 and 8; hit against 9, 10 and ace.
• Ace-6 (soft 17): hit against 2; double (else hit) against 3 to 6; hit against 7 through ace.
• Ace-4 and ace-5: hit against 2 and 3; double (else hit) against 4, 5 and 6; hit against 7 through ace.
• Ace-2 and ace-3: hit against 2 to 4; double (else hit) against 5 and 6; hit against 7 through ace.
• Ace-ace, when splitting is not possible: hit against everything except a dealer 6, where the chart doubles (else hits).

The chart, part 3: pairs

A pair can be split into two hands. The chart assumes doubling after a split is allowed; where it is not, a few of the low-pair splits become hits.

• Ace-ace: split against everything.
• 10-10: stand against everything; never split.
• 9-9: split against 2 to 6, 8 and 9; stand against 7, 10 and ace.
• 8-8: split against everything except a dealer ace, where the chart surrenders (else splits).
• 7-7: split against 2 to 7; hit against 8 through ace.
• 6-6: split against 2 to 6; hit against 7 through ace.
• 5-5: never split; double (else hit) against 2 to 9; hit against 10 and ace.
• 4-4: hit against 2 to 4; split against 5 and 6; hit against 7 through ace.
• 2-2 and 3-3: split against 2 to 7; hit against 8 through ace.

Reading the chart: what "double, else hit" means

The source chart uses eight abbreviations, and the wording above expands them. Stand and hit are unconditional. Double (else hit) means double if the table allows it in that situation, otherwise hit; double (else stand) means double if allowed, otherwise stand. Split is unconditional. Surrender (else hit), surrender (else stand) and surrender (else split) mean surrender if the table offers it, otherwise take the fallback. The fallbacks matter online, where a given table may not offer surrender or may restrict doubling to certain totals.

What changes on Stake: unlimited decks, provably fair, and the rules panel

Stake's provably-fair documentation states that for Blackjack, Hilo and Baccarat on its platform "we utilise an unlimited amount of decks when generating the game event, and therefore each turn of a card always has the same probability". Two things follow for the reader. First, none of the sources this page cites publishes a chart derived for an unlimited number of decks, so this site does not publish one either; use the four-to-eight-deck chart above only as a proxy and treat the table's own rules panel as the record for that table. Second, card counting has no basis on a game where every card is drawn with the same probability every time.

Stake also lists live blackjack tables from third-party studios. Those tables have their own deck counts and rules, and the provably-fair documentation does not cover them. In every case the rules panel of the table you open, not this page, decides whether the dealer hits a soft 17, whether you may double after a split and whether surrender is offered.

This site has not played a hand on any Stake blackjack table, has not read every table's rules panel, and claims no house-edge figure for any of them.

Bankroll and limits: the part the chart cannot do for you

Basic strategy sets the cost per hand; it does not set how many hands you play. Decide a loss limit and a stopping rule before you sit down, and do not raise bets to chase a losing session. Betting progressions such as doubling after a loss change the shape of your results, not the house edge, and the responsible gambling page on this site lists tools and resources.