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Blackjack Strategy Chart — Interactive, 4 to 8 Decks

The complete basic-strategy chart for hard totals, soft totals and pairs, with a switch for dealer-hits-soft-17 tables and a look-up that answers any single hand.

4–8 decks · double after split allowed · late surrender Updated 18 August 2026

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Table rules

Both charts assume 4 to 8 decks, double after split allowed, and late surrender offered. Those are the standard online conditions.

What should I do?

Pick a hand and a dealer upcard. With JavaScript disabled, read the answer straight off the charts below — they are complete.

Hard totals — no ace, or an ace counted as one
Dealer upcard
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 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 R H
16 S S S S S H H R R R
17 S S S S S S S S S S
18 – 21 S S S S S S S S S S
Soft totals — hands containing an ace counted as eleven
Dealer upcard
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
A,2 (13) H H H D D H H H H H
A,3 (14) H H H D D H H H H H
A,4 (15) H H D D D H H H H H
A,5 (16) H H D D D H H H H H
A,6 (17) H D D D D H H H H H
A,7 (18) S Ds Ds Ds Ds S S H H H
A,8 (19) S S S S S S S S S S
A,9 (20) S S S S S S S S S S
Pairs — your first two cards of matching rank
Dealer upcard
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
A,A P P P P P P P P P P
10,10 S S S S S S S S S S
9,9 P P P P P S P P S S
8,8 P P P P P P P P P P
7,7 P P P P P P H H H H
6,6 Ph P P P P H H H H H
5,5 D D D D D D D D H H
4,4 H H H Ph Ph H H H H H
3,3 Ph Ph P P P P H H H H
2,2 Ph Ph P P P P H H H H

Key

  • HHit
  • SStand
  • DDouble if allowed, otherwise hit
  • DsDouble if allowed, otherwise stand
  • PSplit
  • PhSplit if double after split is allowed, otherwise hit
  • RSurrender if allowed, otherwise hit
  • RsSurrender if allowed, otherwise stand

Where an action is unavailable at your table, take the fallback the code names: hit for D and R, stand for Ds and Rs, hit for Ph. Surrender is only correct on hard 16 against 9, 10 or Ace and hard 15 against 10 — and, on tables where the dealer hits soft 17, hard 15 and hard 17 against an Ace.

How to use the chart without memorising it

Most of the chart is a handful of rules with a short list of exceptions. Learn the rules first and you will play close to optimally on the majority of hands from the first session.

  1. Always split aces and eights, never split tens or fives. Two aces make a soft 12 that plays badly as one hand. Two eights make 16, the worst total in blackjack. Twenty is already excellent, and 5,5 is a 10 that should be doubled.
  2. Stand on hard 17 or more, always. No exceptions on a stand-on-soft-17 table. The bust risk on a 17 outweighs any improvement.
  3. Against a dealer 2 to 6, stand on hard 12 through 16. The dealer is more likely to bust with a weak upcard, so let them. The exception is 12 against a 2 or 3, where hitting is marginally better.
  4. Against a dealer 7 to Ace, hit hard 12 through 16. A strong upcard means the dealer will probably make a good hand. Standing on 16 there loses more often than the bust risk costs you.
  5. Double hard 11 against everything but an Ace, and hard 10 against 2 through 9. These are the two most profitable doubles in the game and the easiest to remember.
  6. Never take insurance, and never take even money on your blackjack. Both are the same losing bet wearing different names.

Basic strategy is not a winning system

It reduces the house edge to roughly half a percent. It does not eliminate it, and no chart, progression or bankroll rule can. Over enough hands the house still wins; correct play only changes how quickly and by how much. Treat the money as the cost of the entertainment, and set a limit before you start.

Get the App Blackjack rules in full

Strategy chart — frequently asked questions

How much does basic strategy actually save me?
Roughly 1.5 to 2 percentage points. A typical casual player gives up around 2% of every dollar staked; a basic-strategy player gives up about 0.46% under good rules. Over a C$2,000 turnover that is the difference between C$40 and C$9.
Do I need a different chart for every table?
Not really. The chart on this page covers 4 to 8 decks with double after split allowed, which is what almost every online table uses. The one switch that matters is whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17 — toggle it above and the affected cells change.
Can I use this chart while playing online?
Yes. Online play has no dealer waiting on you and no other players to slow down, so consulting a chart on every hand is entirely practical. That is the single biggest practical advantage online blackjack has over a live floor.
What does “double if allowed, otherwise hit” mean?
Some tables restrict doubling — after a split, or to hard totals of 9 to 11 only. When the chart says D and the table will not let you double, take the fallback action: hit for D, stand for Ds. The fallback is always the second-best play, not a guess.

Written and fact-checked by the MapleBird editorial team Last reviewed: How we review