Blackjack is the only common casino game where a simple set of rules brings the house edge close to zero. Basic strategy does not guarantee wins; you will still lose more sessions than you win. What it does is make sure every decision you take is the one that loses least or wins most over time. The strategy below is for the most common online game: 6 or 8 decks, dealer stands on soft 17, doubling allowed on any two cards and after splits, blackjack pays 3:2. Small adjustments for other rules are noted.
What is blackjack basic strategy?
Basic strategy was first worked out in 1956 by four US Army engineers (Baldwin, Cantey, Maisel and McDermott) with desk calculators, and later confirmed by computer simulation. For each of your possible hands and each of the dealer's 10 possible up cards, it compares the expected value of hitting, standing, doubling, splitting and surrendering, and picks the best one.
The result fits on one card, organised in three tables: hard totals (no ace, or an ace counted as 1), soft totals (an ace counted as 11) and pairs. Most casinos allow you to use a strategy card at the table, and online you can keep one open next to the game. Read each table by finding your hand on the left and the dealer's up card along the top.
Hard totals: when to hit, stand or double
Hard totals are the most common hands and the easiest to learn. The pattern is simple: when the dealer shows 2 to 6, they must often draw into a bust, so you stand on stiff hands and let them take the risk. When the dealer shows 7 to ace, assume a 10 underneath (a 10-value card is the most common, 4 of every 13 cards) and keep drawing to 17.
If doubling is not allowed (for example on a three-card hand), hit instead. 11 against an ace is a double at H17 tables and a hit at S17 tables with 6-8 decks.
- 8 or less: always hit
- 9: double against dealer 3-6, otherwise hit
- 10: double against dealer 2-9, hit against 10 or ace
- 11: double against dealer 2-10, hit against ace (double at H17 tables)
- 12: stand against dealer 4-6, hit against 2, 3 and 7-ace
- 13 to 16: stand against dealer 2-6, hit against 7-ace
- 17 or more: always stand
Soft totals: how to play hands with an ace
A soft hand cannot bust with one card, which makes it a doubling opportunity against weak dealer cards. Many players stand on soft 17 or soft 18 by habit, which is one of the most common and costly mistakes. Soft 17 (ace-6) is never a standing hand: you double or hit.
Soft 18 is the trickiest: stand against 2, 7 and 8, double against 3-6, and hit against 9, 10 and ace. If you cannot double, stand on soft 18 against 3-6 and hit soft 13-17.
- Ace-2 or ace-3 (soft 13-14): double against dealer 5-6, otherwise hit
- Ace-4 or ace-5 (soft 15-16): double against dealer 4-6, otherwise hit
- Ace-6 (soft 17): double against dealer 3-6, otherwise hit
- Ace-7 (soft 18): double against 3-6, stand against 2, 7, 8, hit against 9, 10, ace
- Ace-8 (soft 19): stand (double against 6 at H17 tables)
- Ace-9 (soft 20): always stand
Pairs: when to split
Splitting turns one hand into two and doubles the money at risk, so you split when each half is a better start than the pair together, or when the pair is a bad hand you want to escape. These rules assume you may double after splitting, which most online tables allow. Without it, split 2s, 3s and 6s less often and do not split 4s.
Aces and eights are always split: two hands starting with an ace are far stronger than soft 12, and two hands starting with 8 are better than hard 16, the worst total in the game. Tens are never split, because a hard 20 already wins far more often than it loses against every dealer card. Fives are played as hard 10, not split.
- Ace-ace: always split
- 8-8: always split
- 10-10: never split, stand
- 9-9: split against 2-6 and 8-9, stand against 7, 10, ace
- 7-7: split against 2-7, otherwise hit
- 6-6: split against 2-6, otherwise hit
- 5-5: never split, double against 2-9 like hard 10
- 4-4: split against 5-6, otherwise hit
- 2-2 and 3-3: split against 2-7, otherwise hit
Surrender and insurance
Late surrender, where offered, lets you give up half your bet after the dealer checks for blackjack. Use it in only three cases at S17 tables: hard 16 against dealer 9, 10 or ace, and hard 15 against a 10. Do not surrender 8-8; split it. At H17 tables also surrender 15 against an ace and 17 against an ace.
Never take insurance or even money. Insurance pays 2:1 but the dealer has blackjack only about 30.8% of the time when showing an ace in an 8-deck game, giving the bet a house edge of about 7.5%.
How much does basic strategy lower the house edge?
With the rules assumed here, perfect basic strategy gives a house edge of roughly 0.4-0.6%, depending on the exact rules and number of decks. At 10 EUR per hand and 60 hands an hour, that is an average cost of about 3 EUR an hour.
Players without a strategy typically face 2-4%. Mimicking the dealer (hit to 17, never double or split) costs around 5.5%, because you lose the 3:2 bonus advantage and give up all doubles. Never risking a bust (standing on 12 and up against everything) costs about 4%. Even a few frequent errors, such as standing on soft 17 or not doubling 11, add up to 1% or more.
Rules can wipe out what strategy gains. A 6:5 blackjack payout adds about 1.4% to the edge, more than all the mistakes above except the worst ones. Basic strategy only delivers 0.5% at a 3:2 table.
Does card counting work online?
Card counting tracks the ratio of high to low cards left in the shoe. A simple system such as Hi-Lo counts 2-6 as +1, 7-9 as 0 and 10-ace as -1, and the player bets more when the remaining cards are rich in tens and aces. In a hand-dealt shoe with deep penetration it can give a skilled player an edge of around 0.5-1.5%.
It does not work in RNG blackjack. Software games shuffle a fresh virtual shoe for every hand, so there is nothing to count. Live games are better but still poor for counting: most use 8 decks with the cut card placed around the middle of the shoe, some use continuous shuffling machines, and infinite or common-draw variants effectively use an unlimited deck. The count rarely moves far enough to justify bigger bets.
Counting is not illegal, but it is a long-run, high-variance method that needs large bankrolls and perfect play, and casinos may restrict accounts that bet in a way that tracks the count. For almost every online player, basic strategy is the realistic ceiling.
How to learn and use basic strategy
Start with the hard totals table, which covers most hands, then add pairs and finally soft totals. Practise in free demo games until the decisions feel automatic, then play for real at low stakes with the chart open. Speed does not matter at most online tables, so take the time to look it up.
Basic strategy reduces the cost of blackjack; it does not turn it into income. Set a session budget and stick to it, and use your casino's limit and time-out tools if you find yourself playing longer than planned.
- Check the table rules: 3:2 payout, S17 or H17, doubling and surrender
- Learn hard totals first, then pairs, then soft totals
- Practise in demo mode until you rarely need the chart
- Play real money at low stakes with the chart open
- Skip insurance and side bets
Myths vs facts
- Myth: You should never hit 12 because you might bust.
- Fact: Only 4 of 13 card ranks bust a 12. Against a dealer 2, 3 or 7 to ace, hitting loses less than standing.
- Myth: Basic strategy guarantees you will win.
- Fact: It minimises the house edge to about 0.5%. You will still lose slightly more than you win over time, and short-term swings are large.
- Myth: Card counting beats online blackjack.
- Fact: RNG games reshuffle every hand and most live games use 8 decks with shallow penetration or continuous shuffling, so counting offers little or no edge.
Quick checklist
- Play only 3:2 tables, ideally dealer stands on soft 17
- Always split aces and eights, never tens or fives
- Double 11 against 2-10 and 10 against 2-9
- Stand on 13-16 against 2-6, hit against 7-ace
- Never take insurance or side bets as part of your strategy