Quatloos! > Quatloosia! > Quatloosian Guide to Gambling > Blackjack > Basic Strategy

Blackjack: Basic Strategy Charts

Introduction

Basic Blackjack Strategy is designed to win more of your good hands and lose fewer of your bad hands; it yields the theoretical best decisions for all the blackjack options - standing, hitting, splitting, doubling, and surrendering. To understand the blackjack strategy, though, you must remember the three variables involved in making blackjack decisions - your two cards and the dealer's upcard.

There are 550 possible combinations of these three variables; therefore, there are 550 different blackjack decisions. Fortunately, many of these decisions are similar and about thirty rules cover all of them.

Basic Strategy for the Multi-Deck Shoe Game (Doubling Down After Splitting Permitted)

	The Dealer's Up-Card
Your Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
8	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
A, 2	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A, 3	H	H	H	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	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A, 7	S	D	D	D	D	S	S	H	H	H
A, 8	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A, 9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A, A	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
2, 2	S	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H
3, 3	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
4, 4	H	H	H	P	P	H	H	H	H	H
6, 6	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H	H
7, 7	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
8, 8	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
9, 9	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	S	S
10, 10	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

H = Hit S = Stand D = Double Down P = Split

Basic Strategy for the Las Vegas Game (Single Deck)

	The Dealer's Up-Card
Your Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
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
A, 2	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A, 3	H	H	H	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	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A, 7	S	D	D	D	D	S	S	H	H	S
A, 8	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A, 9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A, A	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
2, 2	H	P	P	P	D	P	H	H	H	H
3, 3	H	H	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
4, 4	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
6, 6	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H	H
7, 7	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	S	H
8, 8	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
9, 9	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	S	S
10, 10	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

H = Hit S = Stand D = Double Down P = Split

Our Other Pages on Blackjack

• Introduction and Rules
• The Basic Game
• Splitting, Doubling Down and Surrender
• Card Counting
• Some Practical Tips

See our Gamblers' Reading Room for books on Blackjack.

Return to the Quatloosia! Guide to Casino Gambling