Blackjack Basic Strategy: When to Hit, Stand, Double and Split
Blackjack is the rare casino game where your decisions actually matter. Slots and roulette are pure chance, but in blackjack the choice to hit or stand changes your odds on every single hand. Play by feel and the house keeps a fat edge. Play basic strategy — the mathematically best move for every situation — and you shrink that edge to roughly half a percent, about as close to a fair coin flip as a casino ever offers. This guide teaches the logic so you can remember it, not just memorize a chart.
The goal, stated correctly
You are not trying to get as close to 21 as possible. You are trying to beat the dealer, and the dealer plays by a fixed rule: hit until reaching 17 or more, then stop. That rule is the key to everything. Because the dealer must keep hitting stiff hands, a dealer showing a low card is far more likely to bust than one showing a high card. Your job is to exploit that.
The one thing that decides every move: the dealer's up card
Before you think about your own hand, look at the dealer's face-up card and sort it into one of two buckets:
- Weak cards — 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The dealer is likely to bust. Your plan: don't bust yourself. Stand on stiff hands and let the dealer break.
- Strong cards — 7, 8, 9, 10, face cards, Ace. The dealer will probably make a good hand. Your plan: you must build a strong hand of your own, which means hitting more aggressively even at the risk of busting.
Almost every "surprising" basic-strategy play makes sense once you filter it through this single question: is the dealer weak or strong?
Hard hands (no ace, or an ace counted as 1)
- 17 or higher: always stand. The bust risk from hitting outweighs any gain.
- 13 to 16: stand against a weak dealer (2–6), hit against a strong dealer (7–A). This is the heart of basic strategy. Against a 6 you stand on 13 and let them bust; against a 10 you grit your teeth and hit, because standing on 16 is a near-certain loss.
- 12: stand against 4, 5, 6; hit against everything else. A slightly tighter version of the rule above.
- 11: double down (against anything; just hit if the rules forbid doubling). One card to an 11 makes a strong hand very often.
- 10: double against 2–9, otherwise hit.
- 9: double against 3–6, otherwise hit.
- 8 or lower: always hit. You can't bust and you need the cards.
Soft hands (an ace counted as 11)
Soft hands are the ones beginners misplay most, because the ace gives you a free safety net — if a hit would bust you, the ace quietly drops to 1. That means you should be more aggressive.
- Soft 19–20 (A-8, A-9): stand. You already have a great hand.
- Soft 18 (A-7): stand against 2, 7, 8; double against 3–6; hit against 9, 10, A. The trickiest hand in the game — an 18 that is often not good enough against a strong dealer.
- Soft 17 or lower (A-6 down to A-2): hit, or double against a weak dealer. Never stand on a soft 17; you can only improve it.
Pairs — to split or not to split
Splitting turns one hand into two, doubling your bet. Do it when it improves both hands or attacks a weak dealer.
- Always split Aces and 8s. Two aces become two hands starting at 11. And a pair of 8s is a miserable 16 — splitting into two 8s is strictly better.
- Never split 10s or 5s. Two 10s is already a winning 20; don't break it. A pair of 5s is a 10 — treat it as a doubling opportunity, not a split.
- Split 2s, 3s, 6s, 7s against a weak dealer (roughly 2–7). You're pressing your advantage when the dealer is likely to bust.
- Split 9s against 2–6 and 8–9, but stand against 7, 10, A. (Standing on 18 versus a 7 is fine because the dealer's likely 17 loses to you.)
The quiet mistakes that cost you
- Taking insurance. It looks like protection; it's a side bet with a bad house edge. Basic strategy says decline it every time.
- Standing on soft 17 out of fear. You cannot bust — hitting is free upside.
- Mimicking the dealer (always hitting to 17). The dealer wins ties on busts because you act first; copying the rule inherits the disadvantage.
- Chasing losses with betting "systems" like Martingale. Doubling your bet after every loss doesn't change the odds — it just guarantees a catastrophic loss when a long streak arrives.
Practice where mistakes are free
The only way basic strategy sticks is repetition, and the smartest place to drill is a game where the chips aren't real. Play hand after hand, make the correct move, and watch how often a weak dealer hands you the win.
Play Blackjack free and put basic strategy into practice — no cash, no risk, just the decisions. When you want to compare it with a game of pure chance, deal a few rounds of Baccarat, or unwind with a game of patience in Solitaire. More guides are on the blog.