Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart

Editor: Jordan FleguelUpdated November 1, 2026

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This blackjack basic strategy chart puts hard totals, soft hands and pairs in one reference. Follow the row for your hand and the column for the dealer’s visible card. You can highlight a dealer column across all three tables, or download the matching one-page printable sheet.

Scope: four or eight decks, dealer stands on soft seventeen (S17), eligible two-card doubling and doubling after splits allowed, with the dealer blackjack check before normal decisions where required. No surrender decisions are included. Confirm the table’s payout, split limits and split-ace restrictions before using the reference.

Choose a dealer column

The highlight is a reading aid. It does not change the rules, calculate a new strategy or hide the neighbouring actions. Dealer 10 includes a ten, jack, queen or king; A means ace. Keep the selected upcard visible while tracing the appropriate player row.

For a single original hand with an optional late-surrender setting, use the Hand Decision tool. Its surrender option is separate from this baseline chart and from the downloadable sheet.

Use Clear highlight when moving between dealer examples. It removes the outline across all three charts at once. The tables keep their horizontal positions, so clearing the reading aid does not reset a table you have already moved sideways.

Read the complete action code

H — hitS — standD/H — double, otherwise hitD/S — double, otherwise standSP — split an eligible pair

The slash supplies a fallback when doubling is unavailable. D/H and D/S are different instructions even though both begin with double. SP assumes the pair can legally be split under the applicable rules; it does not invent a universal substitute when a split restriction prevents that action.

Check an eligible pair first, then a soft hand, then a hard total. A completed natural blackjack or bust is already resolved and needs no new chart action. Read the words as well as the colour: every cell contains its action code, so the reference remains usable without distinguishing background shades.

Hard-total strategy chart

Use a hard total when no ace counts as eleven. If the original two cards form an eligible pair, consult the pair table first. The 17–21 row means no further card; an original natural blackjack is handled by its settlement rules rather than a new playing decision.

Hard-total strategy chart: S17, four or eight decks
Player hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
5–8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
9	H	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	H	H	H	H	H
10	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	H	H
11	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	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
17–21	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Soft-hand strategy chart

A soft hand contains an ace counting as eleven without exceeding twenty-one. The row labels show familiar two-card examples. A,7 is soft eighteen, while A,6 is soft seventeen. Their doubling fallbacks are deliberately different.

Soft-hand strategy chart: S17, four or eight decks
Player hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,2 (13)	H	H	H	D/H	D/H	H	H	H	H	H
A,3 (14)	H	H	H	D/H	D/H	H	H	H	H	H
A,4 (15)	H	H	D/H	D/H	D/H	H	H	H	H	H
A,5 (16)	H	H	D/H	D/H	D/H	H	H	H	H	H
A,6 (17)	H	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	H	H	H	H	H
A,7 (18)	S	D/S	D/S	D/S	D/S	S	S	H	H	H
A,8–A,9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Pair-splitting strategy chart

The pair section considers eligible two-card pairs under the stated double-after-split profile. Two fives use the combined hard-ten opportunity rather than a split recommendation. The pair-of-tens row stands; mixed ten-valued ranks also total twenty in the ordinary main hand.

Pair strategy chart: S17, four or eight decks
Player hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
2,2	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
3,3	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
4,4	H	H	H	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
5,5	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	D/H	H	H
6,6	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
7,7	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	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
A,A	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP

Posted limits on the number of hands, resplitting and play after splitting aces still apply. A table can allow splitting generally while restricting a particular later hand. See the splitting guide before treating every SP symbol as an available button in every situation.

Download the matching printable chart

Download S17 strategy chart (PDF)

One landscape page with the rule scope, action key and all 270 cells. This is the site’s matching S17 cheat sheet, checked October 31, 2026. It does not add surrender decisions or change with the selected highlight.

The PDF is useful when a fixed layout is easier to read than a horizontally scrolling table. Open its print preview and retain the full rule statement and legend. Cropping away those parts can turn a rule-specific reference into an ambiguous collection of letters.

Use the cheat sheet guide for the compact reference’s supporting notes. The download remains the same file whether you highlight dealer six, ten or ace on this page. The highlight affects the web display only.

Match the chart to the game

S17 names the dealer’s stopping rule: the dealer stands on soft seventeen. It does not mean the player must stand whenever the player has seventeen. The dealer’s compulsory action and the player’s chart decision are different parts of the rules.

The charts use the four-or-eight-deck S17 reference published by OLG PlaySmart. They assume eligible two-card doubling and doubling after a split. They also assume the relevant dealer blackjack check takes place before ordinary decisions with a potential dealer natural.

Different deck counts, H17, restricted doubles, different dealer-blackjack loss rules and special variants need a matching chart. No surrender instructions appear in these tables. Our dealer rules guide explains the terms needed to compare a game’s help panel with the scope printed here.

The chart is a total-based reference rather than a composition-dependent solver or card-counting system. It does not use the remaining shoe, the exact suits or a running count to change a cell. Confirm the posted blackjack payout separately; an action grid is not a complete statement of a game’s value.

Find a cell in five steps

Identify whether the hand is an eligible pair, soft hand or hard total.
Choose that table and locate the correct player row.
Locate the dealer’s upcard, not the dealer’s eventual total.
Read the cell at the intersection, including any slash fallback.
Confirm that the action is available and the chart’s rule assumptions match.

For practice, say the full question before looking up the answer: “soft eighteen against dealer six, under this S17 profile.” That keeps the hand type and upcard attached to the answer. A note containing only “eighteen” leaves out information that can change the result.

On a phone, move the table sideways to see the right-hand columns. The player-hand label remains at the left edge while the actions scroll. A selected column can be off-screen; the status above the tables identifies the selected upcard without changing which columns are visible.

Practice: hard twelve changes at the boundary

Start with 10,2 for hard twelve and highlight dealer three. The hard-total cell is H. Change the highlight to four and follow the same row again: the cell is S. The player’s total has not changed; the dealer column has.

This pair of lookups is a useful check against memorising a broad slogan such as standing on every stiff total against every low dealer card. Hard twelve has its own boundary in this profile. Reading the row preserves that distinction.

Write both examples beside each other in a practice record. If you originally expected the same action, note which column boundary you overlooked. The point of the exercise is to identify a repeatable reading error rather than judge the decision by whichever card happened to arrive next.

Practice: hard eleven against ten or ace

Choose hard eleven as 5,6 and highlight dealer ten. The hard-total row shows D/H: double when allowed, otherwise hit. Now highlight ace. The supported S17 cell is H, so there is no double instruction in that column.

The ten column includes face cards because they all have ten-point value in the main hand. An ace is a separate column. Accidentally treating the ace as another ten-valued upcard would miss this particular distinction.

Use the double-down guide to review the commitment involved in taking one further card after adding the stake. The chart supplies the action under its assumptions; it does not tell you a safe amount to wager.

Practice: two doubles with different fallbacks

Find A,7 against dealer six in the soft table. Its D/S code means double if allowed, otherwise stand. Compare A,6 against the same upcard: its D/H code falls back to hit. Copying only the D would discard a meaningful part of both instructions.

Next compare A,7 against dealer nine. The result is H, even though the displayed total is eighteen. A soft total retains an ace counting as eleven and can behave differently from a hard hand with the same number.

The hard and soft hands guide gives more examples of ace revaluation. Use the card-values guide if you need to check the arithmetic before selecting a chart row.

Practice: nines, fives and eights

In the pair table, compare 9,9 against dealer seven and then dealer nine. The first cell is S, while the second is SP. Equal player cards therefore do not imply the same action against every dealer upcard.

Two fives provide another useful comparison. Against dealer nine, the pair row shows D/H, keeping the hard-ten opportunity rather than separating the fives. The pair label identifies the cards; the action still depends on the row’s strategy.

Two eights have an SP baseline across the dealer columns in this no-surrender chart. Do not replace that lookup with the hard-sixteen row simply because the points add to sixteen. The order of checking eligible pairs before ordinary totals prevents that mistake.

A short chart-reading worksheet

Examples under the stated S17, no-surrender chart
Original player hand	Dealer upcard	Correct row	Code
10,2	3	Hard 12	H
10,2	4	Hard 12	S
5,6	10	Hard 11	D/H
5,6	A	Hard 11	H
A,7	6	Soft 18	D/S
A,6	6	Soft 17	D/H
9,9	7	Pair of nines	S
9,9	9	Pair of nines	SP

Cover the final column and try each example before checking it. Record the complete action in words, especially for the double fallbacks. These exercises use no money and do not require a casino account.

When an action is unavailable

Use the fallback printed after the slash when doubling is unavailable. That is why the site distinguishes D/H from D/S rather than using one unexplained double symbol. A game can also restrict doubling after a hit or on particular types of hands.

A prohibited split needs more specific guidance. A hand limit, resplit restriction or split-ace condition can prevent an action that would be available for an eligible opening pair. SP does not override that restriction and does not carry an automatic fallback in this reference.

Check the actual controls and the written rules together. A visible button or a remembered rule from another game does not establish the conditions of the current hand. The Basic Strategy guide explains the chart’s scope and fallbacks in a fuller lesson.

Why surrender is not shown

This baseline chart and its matching PDF omit surrender. It would be misleading to add a surrender rule from another profile without changing the scope statement. Read a matching reference when the game offers early or late surrender.

The site’s Hand Decision tool offers an optional S17 late-surrender layer for original two-card hands. Leave it off when comparing that tool directly with these baseline tables. The surrender guide explains the action and half-stake settlement separately.

A difference caused by a surrender setting is different from a copying error in the baseline chart. Keep that setting in your notes so two otherwise similar answers can be compared on the same basis.

Reclassify after a card arrives

A hand’s classification can change after a draw. For example, A,6 is soft seventeen; adding a ten makes hard seventeen because the ace must count as one. Do not keep using the original soft row merely because an ace is still present.

Check the entire current total and which actions remain available. A chart example beginning with two cards should not be copied as an instruction to double a later hand when the game allows doubles only on eligible first two cards. The slash fallback exists to make that distinction visible.

Stop looking for a new action once the hand is already resolved. A bust, a completed natural or a hand ended by a compulsory rule has a settlement question instead. The Blackjack Calculator handles card totals and its stated main-hand settlement model.

Common reading errors to catch

Using the dealer’s eventual total instead of the visible upcard changes the question. The top headings refer to information available at the decision, not a completed dealer hand reconstructed afterward. Keep the dealer card separate from the player cards in your notes.

Another error is adding two cards correctly but choosing the wrong family. A pair of eights and an ordinary hard sixteen share a number but belong in different checks. A,7 and 10,8 share eighteen but differ as soft and hard hands.

Finally, do not confuse S17 with a universal stand command, a split symbol with permission to ignore a restriction, or a double code with a suggested stake size. Reading the rule card, action key, row label and column heading together resolves many apparent disagreements.

Use the grid as a study reference

Practise one boundary at a time. Hard twelve against three and four isolates a dealer-column change. A,6 and A,7 against six isolates the double fallback. Nines against seven and nine isolates a pair decision. Each comparison has a clear reason for being placed side by side.

Keep a record of which part you misread: total, family, column, code or rule profile. Reviewing that pattern is more useful than repeatedly copying every cell without knowing where the confusion occurs. Use the worksheet above to check the same steps consistently.

The highlight helps keep a column in view but does not replace reading the row. Selecting dealer six highlights a different recommendation in some rows and the same recommendation in others. There is no single action that applies to every player hand in a highlighted column.

Reading on a phone or printed page

The web tables retain full-sized action codes and scroll horizontally inside their own regions. The rest of the page fits the screen. Use the row labels at the left edge and the dealer headings at the top to keep your place when moving toward the ace column.

The column selector does not automatically scroll every table, which prevents an unexpected page movement. If the highlighted column is outside the visible area, move that table sideways. Keyboard users can focus a chart region and use the horizontal arrow keys.

For paper, use the one-page PDF rather than cropping a screenshot of a partial phone view. Retain its full legend and assumptions, check the preview for clipping and choose an orientation that preserves the landscape layout.

A chart is different from a payout or edge calculation

The chart supplies a rule-dependent playing reference. It does not display a probability of winning the hand, a session forecast or a casino rating. A preferred action can still lose, and an unexpected winning result does not establish a different chart rule.

The House Edge Calculator compares its own supported rule profiles and expected cost on an original-wager basis. The payouts guide explains the payment on a resolved win. Those questions should remain separate from reading the grid.

Starting-stake systems address another question again. Changing a starting amount does not change the row containing hard twelve or soft eighteen. See betting systems versus basic strategy for the distinction, and the Tools hub for the site’s related references.

Basic strategy chart questions

Which blackjack rules does this chart use?

It covers four or eight decks, dealer stands on soft seventeen, eligible two-card doubling and doubling after splitting, with the stated dealer blackjack check. Surrender is omitted. Check the full rule scope before using a cell; the selector changes only the highlighted column, not the underlying strategy.

Should I check pairs, soft hands or hard totals first?

Check an eligible pair first, then a soft hand, then a hard total. For example, two eights belong in the pair chart rather than the ordinary hard-sixteen row. An ace makes a hand soft only while it can count as eleven without taking the total over twenty-one.

What is the difference between D/H and D/S?

Both codes mean double when that action is permitted. D/H means hit when doubling is unavailable; D/S means stand instead. Under this profile, A,6 against dealer six is D/H, while A,7 against six is D/S. Read the entire code rather than treating every double fallback as a hit.

Does dealer 10 include face cards?

Yes. The dealer-ten column includes a ten, jack, queen or king because those cards each count as ten in the ordinary main hand. Ace has its own column. The chart does not calculate suit-based side bets, and a ten-value upcard does not mean the dealer has a completed twenty.

Can this chart be used when the dealer hits soft seventeen?

Use a matching H17 reference instead. This chart explicitly uses S17, and some actions change under H17. Other changes, such as doubling restrictions or a different dealer-blackjack procedure, can also affect the appropriate reference. Highlighting a column does not convert the chart to another rule set.

Does the printable PDF include surrender?

No. The printable sheet contains the same 270 baseline actions as the three web tables and omits surrender. It retains its October 31, 2026 check date; the online and printable actions were compared again on November 1. The separate Hand Decision tool has an optional late-surrender setting.

What does Clear highlight do?

It removes the selected dealer-column outline across all three charts. It does not alter an action code, change the rules or reset a table’s horizontal position. On a narrow screen, each chart can be scrolled sideways independently to reach the ten and ace columns.

What if the chart says split but the game does not allow it?

SP assumes the original pair is eligible to split. A hand limit, split-ace condition or resplitting restriction can prevent that action. This chart does not supply a universal fallback for every blocked split. Consult guidance that matches the actual restriction rather than inventing a replacement from another row.

Does following basic strategy guarantee a profit?

No. The chart is a rule-dependent playing reference, not a prediction of the next card or the result of a session. A recommended action can lose. It does not establish a safe bankroll, remove the house edge or make a stake-progression system profitable.

References

Checked November 1, 2026: the web chart and site printable were compared cell by cell against the stated S17 rules. Current PlaySmart and Wizard of Odds web guidance supports the actions. The unchanged printable retains its October 31 check date; the OLG cue-card reference below retains the earlier verification date.