Single Deck Blackjack Basic Strategy

Basic strategy for single-deck games, S17

The table below illustrates basic strategy for S17 single-deck games. Doubling down is allowed on any 2 cards, double down after split is permitted (DAS) and there is no surrender. The dealer peeks. The casino has an estimated disadvantage of -0.15%.

Player’s hand	Dealer’s up-card
Player’s hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	Ace
	Hard hand totals
5	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
6	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
7	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
8	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
9	D	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	D
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
	Soft hand totals
A-2	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-3	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-4	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-5	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-6	D	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-7	S	D/S	D/S	D/S	D/S	S	S	H	H	S
A-8	S	S	S	S	D/S	S	S	S	S	S
A-9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
	Pairs
2-2	SP/H	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
3-3	SP/H	SP/H	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP/H	H	H	H
4-4	H	H	SP/H	SP/D	SP/D	H	H	H	H	H
5-5	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
6-6	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP/H	H	H	H	H
7-7	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP/H	H	S	H
8-8	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
9-9	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	S	SP	SP	S	S
10-10	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
Ace-Ace	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP

Legend:

H – Hit
S – Stand
D – Double down (Hit, if not allowed)
SP – Split
D/S – Double down (Stand, if not allowed)
SP/H – Split if Double Down After Split is allowed (Hit, if not allowed)

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Basic strategy for single-deck games, H17

The table below illustrates basic strategy for H17 single-deck games. Doubling down is allowed on any 2 cards, double down after split is permitted (DAS) and there is no surrender. The dealer peeks. The casino has an estimated edge of 0.04%.

Player’s hand	Dealer’s up-card
Player’s hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	Ace
	Hard hand totals
5	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
6	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
7	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
8	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
9	D	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	D
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
	Soft hand totals
A-2	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-3	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-4	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-5	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-6	D	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-7	S	D/S	D/S	D/S	D/S	S	S	H	H	H
A-8	S	S	S	S	D/S	S	S	S	S	S
A-9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
	Pairs
2-2	SP/H	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
3-3	SP/H	SP/H	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP/H	H	H	H
4-4	H	H	SP/H	SP/D	SP/D	H	H	H	H	H
5-5	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
6-6	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP/H	H	H	H	H
7-7	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP/H	H	S	H
8-8	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
9-9	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	S	SP	SP	S	S
10-10	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
Ace-Ace	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP

Legend:

H – Hit
S – Stand
D – Double down (Hit, if not allowed)
SP – Split
D/S – Double down (Stand, if not allowed)
SP/H – Split if Double Down After Split is allowed (Hit, if not allowed)

Rules tend to vary from casino to casino but the strategies displayed in these tables are applicable to all circumstances, with little adaptation.

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For example, we said that D stands for double down (or Hit, if not allowed). If you are playing a D9 game where you can double down only on hands with value of 9, 10 or 11, you won’t be able to double on an 8 versus a dealer’s 6 like the table says. Instead, as the legend proposes, you should hit it.

Using these tables is completely straightforward – check the value of your hand, check what up-card the dealer holds and look where in the table the two conditions coincide.

Also, these rules apply to whatever number of cards your hand consists of. If, for example, you have a hard 7 versus the dealer’s 7, according to the table, you should hit the hand. If you draw a 4 for a new hard 11, you should next double down, as the table shows.

Hard hands greater than 17 are played like a hard 17 – stand on all.

Basic strategy for single-deck games, S17

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Basic strategy for single-deck games, H17

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