Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart

This chart shows the correct play for every starting hand against every dealer upcard. We did not copy it from a book. The engine that grades your play at our free play table computed the expected value of hit, stand, double, split, and surrender in every situation, and each cell shows the action with the highest one. Change a rule variant below and the chart recomputes.

How to read the chart

Find your hand on the left. Hard totals come first, then soft totals with an ace counted as 11, then pairs. Find the dealer's upcard along the top. The cell where they meet is the correct play. Double (else hit) means double if the table allows it and hit if it does not. Double (else stand) means double if the table allows it and stand if it does not.

Why the variants matter

Whether the dealer hits soft 17 (H17) or stands (S17) changes a handful of plays. Under H17 you double 11 against an ace and soft 19 against a 6.

Double-after-split (DAS) makes several pair splits profitable that lose money without it, like 2s and 3s against a 2.

Late surrender changes the worst hands: 16 against 9, 10, or ace, and 15 against 10 surrender instead of hitting.

Each toggle above recomputes the expected values under those rules.

Where the chart stops

Basic strategy is the best you can do from the two cards in front of you and the dealer's upcard. It cuts the house edge to roughly half a percent, and it does not make blackjack a winning game. Getting below that edge means counting cards, which we teach separately. Train the chart until it is automatic, and you play better than almost everyone at the table.

We computed the chart for 4–8 deck shoes with dealer peek and checked it against published basic strategy tables.