We know that the blackjack Dealer strives to reach a score of (hard) 17 and above, so you also should stand when you have a hard 17 and above (exception, if the blackjack Dealer shows an Ace, surrendering is better than standing with a 17). With a soft score, you should play higher; go for a score of 19 or better. It will calculate the best possible option depending on the criteria by telling you the best statistical play: Whether to Hit, Stand, Surrender, Double or Split. When evaluating a game, you should assume Las Vegas Strip rules which include double on any first 2 cards, re-splits to 4 hands, dealer stands on soft-17, insurance allowed and, of course, a natural blackjack pays 3 to 2. Assume all one- and two-deck games are dealt face down and all multi-deck games are dealt face up.

• Blackjack Standard Strategy
• Hit Or Stand Blackjack Practice
• Blackjack Standard Deviation
• Blackjack Stand Hit Chart

The entire game of blackjack is based around the two words “Hit me”. All of the strategy and logic in the game comes down to whether or not you want to get another card added on top of your first two cards. Remember, the goal of blackjack is to either make the dealer bust, hit 21 yourself, or have a higher number than the dealer ends up with.

Triple play video poker harrah's. Most of the variance in the game comes from the idea of hitting or standing when you either get another card dealt to you, at risk of busting, or stay where you are, and risk the dealer beating you. This is a complex decision making process, and it’s important to know how to approach it.

This page details all of the methods you can use to understand when to hit or stand, and at the end, you can find a chart explaining why. Let’s jump right into it with a discussion of the dealer’s up card and why that matters.

Knowing When To Hit Or Stand - The Dealer’s Up Card

Understanding the implications of the dealer’s up card is very important. Basically, you get to see one of the dealer’s cards, and that allows you to make some guesses as to what number they are at, and what their decision making process will be. The higher the dealer’s up card, the more likely the player is to want to hit, as a general rule. This is because, once again, the goal is to beat the dealer - to get the closest to 21 without going over. The card you see tells you a lot about the range of possibilities they could have. For example, if you see a 2, you know that their total is relatively low, and if you have a decent total, it could be correct to stand. That’s the basics of understanding a dealer’s up card, but there’s so much more to understand what the process is behind choosing to stand.

When To Stand In Blackjack

The basic idea of when you want to stand in blackjack is when you have a pretty good idea that your total is pretty close to 21, you don’t want to risk going over, and you want to put the onus on the dealer to beat your total. This tends to mean that you want to start seriously considering standing at around 17 total. The idea here is that, unless you can see an ace from the dealer, you’re fairly likely to have more than them at this point, given the amount of times cards that are worth more than 7 appear in the deck. If you have 19, you’re always standing, for example. You’re likely to bust if you hit, and it’s relatively hard to beat. The rules for this are fairly fluid so understand them well.

When To Hit In Blackjack

The basic idea behind when you want to hit in blackjack is twofold. First, you want to hit when you aren’t in much danger of going over or busting. Second, you want to hit when you need to beat a decent dealer total. This means that if you have a middling hand, let’s say 15, you’ll want to stand if the dealer’s face up card is fairly low, but hit if the dealer’s face up card is higher. This is because you can extrapolate the range of possible outcomes from the dealer’s face up card, and understand when you need to hit, and when you need to stand. There’s a lot of math that goes into this, but you can play by intuition as well. Remember, the goal of the game is to beat the dealer without going over - and that’s devilishly simple, but devilishly tricky as well.

When Does The Dealer Have To Hit In Blackjack

The basic rules that most dealers follow, across the board, are determined to their mathematical advantage over years of study and play. The dealer will always hit on anything below a 16 total. This is why, when you have a 17, you tend to consider staying - you have something fairly close to what they tend to stay at. This can get a little more complex when people start considering aces, which allow the concept of hard and soft 17s to enter the equation, but that’s mostly a discussion for a different page. Suffice to say, the basic rule they follow is that they will hit anything that is a 16 total or below.

When Does The Dealer Have To Stay In Blackjack

Dealers in blackjack follow strict rules - rules that are designed for them to play as optimally as possible against you. The basic idea behind most of them is to optimize their mathematical odds at victory. For this reason, almost all dealers will stand when their total is 17 or above. As before, aces throw a bit of a wrench into this equation, but there is a lot of grey area in Blackjack. The basic rule they follow is to stand on 17 because that puts the onus on you to beat a 17, which is pretty hard to do without going over.

Hit Or Stand Cheat Sheets

Here is a very basic legal blackjack hit or stand cheat sheet. Remember that the math changes depending on which type of blackjack you’re playing, so make sure you understand what’s going on in each variant you play.

Las Vegas lost most of its blackjack tables that stand on soft 17 over the last 10 years. In 2020, Bellagio and MGM Grand removed these games from pits. These were the last two casinos in Las Vegas with blackjack tables on the main casino floor with stand on all 17’s. All remaining tables are in high limit salons. The dealer standing on soft 17 lowers the house edge by about 0.2%.

Download hit it rich slots. Check salon hours before heading to the casino. Some are not open 24 hours due to the pandemic. A few are only open on weekends. Hours may change without notice.

There are four types of blackjack games in Las Vegas with stand on soft 17. One is a double deck. The other three are six-deck. There are three different sets of rules within the six-deck games. The minimum bet for these tables is $50. Most are $100 or higher.

Related: 2021 Las Vegas Blackjack Survey

Blackjack Standard Strategy

Las Vegas double deck blackjack games that stand on soft 17

There is one type of double deck blackjack game that stands on all 17’s. It is dealt in some high limit salons along the Las Vegas Strip. This game allows double down before and after splitting.

M Resort dealt a better version of double deck blackjack until December 2020. That game allowed re-split aces. M Resort downgraded this game to hit soft 17 in December 2020. A casino representative stated that this is a temporary move due to not dealing pitch games right now. The game will return to stand on all 17’s when the pandemic is over, according to the representative.

Hit Or Stand Blackjack Practice

Below is the lowest expected minimum bet for this high limit double down blackjack game. Limits may go up during busier times.

$50

• Treasure Island

$100

• Aria
• Bellagio
• Mandalay Bay
• Mirage
• Park MGM

$200

• MGM Grand

Six-deck blackjack that stands on all 17’s with surrender and re-split aces

There are casinos throughout the Las Vegas Strip along with a locals one that deal six-deck blackjack that stands on all 17’s with double down before and after splitting, surrender and re-split aces. The minimum bet for this game is usually $100, though there are a couple of $50 installations of it.

$50

• M Resort
• Treasure Island
• Sahara

$100

• Aria
• Bellagio
• Caesars Palace
• Cosmopolitan
• Encore
• Mandalay Bay
• MGM Grand
• Mirage
• Palazzo
• Park MGM
• Strat
• Tropicana
• Venetian
• Wynn

Blackjack Standard Deviation

Las Vegas stand on soft 17 blackjack games with surrender

Most Caesars Entertainment properties deal a six-deck game in high limit that stands on all 17’s. These tables allow double down before and after splitting with surrender. These games do not permit re-split aces. The minimum bet for these tables is usually $100.

Bally’s offered it for $50 before the pandemic. Its high limit area was removed and replaced by poker tables. It had not reopened since the March closure.

• Cromwell
• Flamingo
• Harrah’s
• Paris
• Planet Hollywood
• Rio

Blackjack Stand Hit Chart

Stand on soft 17 without surrender and re-split aces

Circa opened with the first stand on all 17 blackjack tables in downtown Las Vegas in over a decade. These tables have a $100 minimum bet. Circa offers the standard double down rules. Surrender and re-split aces are not allowed. It is the only casino with this type of stand on all 17 blackjack game.