BLACKJACK STRATEGIES THAT WORK

Finding a blackjack strategy that suits your exact needs as a player can be a challenge. However, there are several ready and tested strategies that genuinely work when you use them with different Blackjack games. We have listed all of them for you on this page. If you want to maximise your potential winnings, then there are a few strategies you should pay close attention to. We will outline the best Blackjack strategies for you on this page. If you are short on time, we consider the basic Blackjack strategy to be the best one.

However, if you would rather find out more about Blackjack first, then read our guide informing you on how to play Live Blackjack.

This strategy guide is designed to be used on a regular basis. We recommend keeping this guide open in another tab while you play live blackjack online. Some of the rules in Blackjack strategy can be quite tricky, so you should use this guide as a continuous source of inspiration. The strategies will consist of a basic Blackjack strategy for newcomers, a list of tips to stick to whenever you play Blackjack and recommended actions based on the current cards you have.

You do not need to memorise all of the information listed here. We have made all of the information as easy to read as possible. So, if you ever question whether your Blackjack play is correct or not, just check out our recommended action tables.

This guide will be of use to you whether you play single deck, multi-hand or some other version of Blackjack. We will give you the information you need to beat the house edge and expected outcomes.

PLAYING OPTIMALLY: THE BASIC BLACKJACK STRATEGY

The first thing any Blackjack player should know is how a blackjack table works. This is pretty simple to pick up and once you familiarise yourself, you will realise that you will benefit from picking a blackjack game which is played with fewer decks. For example, every strategy on this page covers 4 and 8-deck blackjack.

Why is this the case, you may ask. Simply put, the less decks there are, the fewer odds there are to take care of. When there are less cards, it is easier to guess the next outcome. Of course, you will never be able to know the exact card which is coming next with this strategy or any other strategy for that matter. However, you will be able to approximately guess the next outcome.

The basic blackjack strategy can be summarised in the following way: you are trying to minimise the house edge through the evidence that certain plays are more statistically likely to happen. This basic blackjack strategy will serve you well no matter your level of experience of playing online blackjack.

Use the tables below to decide what actions to take:

SURRENDER

Surrender a hard 16. However, never surrender a pair of 8’s versus a dealer’s 9,10 or Ace

Surrender a hard 16 against a dealer’s 10

SPLIT

Split Aces and 8’s

Do not split 5’s and 10’s

Split 2’s and 3’s only against a dealer’s 4, 5, 6 or 7

Split 6’s against a dealer’s 3, 4, 5 or 6

Split 7’s against a dealer’s 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7

Split 9’s against a dealer’s 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 8, 9 but never 7

If you are allowed to double after a spilt, then there are a few other moves you can make:

Split 2’s and 3’s against a dealer’s 2 and 3

Split 6’s against a dealer’s 2

Split 4’s against a dealer’s 2

DOUBLE

Double hard 9’s against a dealer’s 3, 4, 5 or 6

Double hard 10 except when a dealer has 10 or Ace

Double hard 11 except when dealer has an Ace

Double soft 13 or 14 against a dealer’s 5 or 6

Double soft 15 or 16 against a dealer’s 4 or 6

Double soft 17 or 18 against a dealer’s 3 or 6

HIT & STAND

Hit on hard 11 or less

Stand on hard 12 against a dealer’s 4, 5 or 6, otherwise hit

Stand on hard 13, 14, 15 and 16 against a dealer’s 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, otherwise hit

Stand on hard 17 or greater

Stand on soft 18 but hit against a dealer’s 9, 10 or Ace

Stand on soft 19 or greater

BASIC BLACKJACK STRATEGY ADDITINALLY RULES YOU SHOUD KNOW

When a dealer hits on a soft 17 then you should adjust your strategy with the following changes:

Double 11 against a dealer’s Ace

Double soft 18 against a dealer’s 2

Double soft 19 against a dealer’s 6

Surrender 15, 8s and 17 against a dealer’s Ace

BLACKJACK CHARTS AND TABLES

To make your blackjack games even simpler, we recommend looking at our blackjack strategy charts. You do not need to memorise ant of these situations, although as you continue to play, you will notice that you will begin unconsciously following the strategies put forward by the charts. For maximum output, keep this page and the tables below open whilst you play blackjack at an online casino.

To help make it even easier for you, we have created a key below which states what the abbreviations in the charts mean.

ABBREVIATION	DEFINITION
H	Hit
S	Stand
Dh	Double Down if allowed. Otherwise, Hit
Ds	Double Down if allowed. Otherwise, Stand
Rh	Surrender if allowed. Otherwise, Stand.
Rs	Surrender if allowed. Otherwise, Split.
Rp	Surrender if allowed. Otherwise, Stand.
P	Split
Ph	Split if Hit after double Down is allowed. Otherwise, Hit.
Pd	Split if Hit after double Down is allowed. Otherwise, Double Down.
Ps	Split if Hit after double Down is allowed. Otherwise, Stand.

SINGLE DECK BLACKJACK CHART

Below is a list of blackjack strategy charts that are designed by us to quickly help you on what to do next depending on your present cards and your dealers showing cards.

IF THE DEALER STANDS ON SOFT 17

Hard	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Ace
5,6,7	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
8	H	H	H	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
9	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
10	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H
11	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh
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	Rh	Rh
17+	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Soft	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Ace
13	H	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
14	H	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
15	H	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
16	H	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
17	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
18	S	Ds	Ds	Ds	Ds	S	S	H	H	S
19	S	S	S	S	Ds	S	S	S	S	S
20	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

SPLITS	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Ace
2,2	Ph	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
3,3	Ph	Ph	P	P	P	P	Ph	H	H	H
4,4	H	H	Ph	Ph	Ph	H	H	H	H	H
6.6	P	P	P	P	P	Ph	H	H	H	H
7,7	P	P	P	P	P	P	Ph	H		H
8,8	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
9,9	P	P	P	P	P	S	P	P	S	S
A,A	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P

WHEN THE DEALER HITS ON HARD 17

HARD	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Ace
4,5,6,7	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
8	H	H	H	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
9	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
10	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H
11	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh
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	Rh
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	Rh	Rh
17	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	Rh
18+	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Soft	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
13	H	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H
14	H	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H
15	H	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H
16	H	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H
17	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H
18	S	Ds	Ds	Ds	Ds	S	S	H
19	S	S	S	S	Ds	S	S	S
20	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Splits	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Ace
2,2	Ph	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
3,3	Ph	Ph	P	P	P	P	Ph	H	H	H
4,4	H	H	Ph	Ph	Ph	H	H	H	H	H
6,6	P	P	P	P	P	Ph	H	H	H	H
7,7	P	P	P	P	P	P	Ph	H	Rs	Rh
8,8	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
9,9	P	P	P	P	P	S	P	P	S	Ps
A,A	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P

BLACKJACK STRATEGY CHARTS FOR 4-8 DECK GAMES

In 2024, there are plenty of different versions of blackjack. However, the gameplay is very similar with them all and they all more or less come down to the same statistical probability. With that being said, it is easy to create broader strategies that always work and cover many different variation of blackjack.

The variable is the number of decks used and whether or not the dealer hits or stands on a soft 17. The tables below account for both variables. The most common variation of blackjack at online casinos is the six-deck version, but this is covered as part of our 4 and 8 deck strategy guides.

Many of our users have described the table below as the perfect blackjack strategy for 4 and 8 deck games. It has been designed to help you win consistently in the long-run. Winning at blackjack comes down to two factors: knowing the strategies and counting cards. This former is much more straightforward than the latter. Although, we will touch on card counting later on.

DEALER STANDS ON SOFT 17

HARD	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
4-8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
9	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
10	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H
11	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	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	Rh	H
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	Rh	Rh	Rh
17+	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

SOFT	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
13	H	H	H	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
14	H	H	H	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
15	H	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
16	H	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
17	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
18	S	Ds	Ds	Ds	Ds	S	S	H	H	S
19+	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

SPLITS	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
2,2	Ph	Ph	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
3,3	Ph	Ph	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
4,4	H	H	H	Ph	Ph	H	H	H	H	H
6,6	Ph	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	S	P	P	S	S
A,A	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P

DEALER HITS ON SOFT 17

HARD	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
4-8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
9	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
10	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H
11	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh
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	Rh	Rh
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	Rh	Rh	Rh
17	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	Rs
18+	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

SOFT	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
13	H	H	H	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
14	H	H	H	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
15	H	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
16	H	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
17	H	Dh	Dh	Dh	Dh	H	H	H	H	H
18	Ds	Ds	Ds	Ds	Ds	S	S	H	H	H
19	S	S	S	S	Ds	S	S	S	S	S
20+	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

SPLITS	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
2,2	Ph	Ph	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
3,3	Ph	Ph	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
4,4	H	H	H	Ph	Ph	H	H	H	H	H
6,6	Ph	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	Rp
9,9	P	P	P	P	P	S	P	P	S	S
A,A	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P

COUNTING CARDS IN BLACKJACK?

If you can master the skill of counting cards then you are one step closer to becoming a blackjack professional. Unfortunately, a basic blackjack strategy will not teach you about card counting as it involves a fair amount of practice, number crunching and understanding on how to tag cards.

You should also be aware that casinos and dealers are trained on how to spot card counters. When they see that you are winning too much, the dealer will begin chatting you up more often and you will have complimentary drinks sent to you. In addition, the Eye in the Sky will be looking at you and the security team will look to find an excuse to make you leave the tables.

The principle of the best blackjack card counting strategy is quite basic. You simply need to assign values to each card in the deck using the Hi-Low System. Blanket values are used to categorise a group of several cards at the same time, as shown below:

• 2-6 = -1
• 10, J, Q, K and Ace = +1
• 7, 8 and 9 = 0

Once you have these values assigned in your mind, you can begin crunching the numbers from a baseline of 0. Every time the dealer shuffles the cards, the baseline of 0 is re-introduced. You are following the + and the – to determine which cards are left in the deck. Either low or high cards. Card counting in blackjack takes a lot of practice, but it is possible to perfect.

PLENTY MORE LIVE CASINO GUIDES TO CHOOSE FROM

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