When Does The Dealer Have To Hit In Blackjack
- When Must The Dealer Hit In Blackjack
- When Does The Dealer Have To Hit In Blackjack Machines
- When Does The Dealer Have To Hit In Blackjack
- What Number Does The Dealer Have To Hit On In Blackjack
- When Does The Dealer Have To Hit In Blackjack Real Money
- When Does The Dealer Have To Hit In Blackjack Games
This guide is up to disclose the essence of hit & stand solutions in Blackjack. These are the basic moves in this casino game. In the article below, we will point out situations that are the best for hitting or standing in the game without the need to learn any card counting tactics.
- ALSO READ: Blackjack Strategy & Card Counting Guide
GambleAware offer players and their families advice and guidance on gambling. They offer information and In Blackjack When Does The Dealer Have To Hit advice to encourage responsible gambling, both to players and casino operators, and give help tothose whomight have a gambling problem. Once all the players have completed their hands, it is the dealer's turn. The dealer hand will not be completed if all players have either busted or received blackjacks. The dealer then reveals the hidden card and must hit until the cards total up to 17 points. At 17 points or higher the dealer must stay. Blackjack dealers have no options for the in-game decisions of whether to hit or stay; they follow a strict algorithm that will depend on the casino. The dealer waits until the players have exercised all their options, then the dealer reveals his hidden card and hits until he has at least 17 (most common). Is the dealer obliged to hit on a soft 17? Here are some extra tips which relate to any blackjack game: Do not take on any side bets; Don’t take insurance. This is a side bet which can be placed if the dealer’s face card is an Ace to ‘insure’ you against the dealer having a blackjack.
What is Hit in Blackjack?
Hit is a decision in Blackjack that considers taking an additional card. If you choose this move, one more card will be added to your hand. You can hit until the value of your hand reaches or exceeds 21, as many times as you want, during the match.
For example, you have a 5 and a 6 in your initial hand. That means the value of your hand makes 11. There is no chance you will get busted if you hit, and you shouldn’t stand because 11 is obviously not enough to win the match.
Thus, if you hit and get 3, the value of your hand will be 14. The best decision here would be to hit again, as the majority of dealers stand on soft 17, so you are likely to lose if you stand. You can hit until you get 21 or get busted, and the best solution depends on the value of your hand and the value of the dealer’s hand. Below, we will explain the best situations to hit.
When to Hit in Blackjack?
There are situations when hitting in Blackjack will always be a better idea than choosing any other option. The tips on hitting below are based on the mathematical calculations of probabilities and can be used both by novice and advanced players. Here, we do not consider options like splitting or doubling down:
- Hit if your initial hand’s value makes 4-11 – the thing about an 11 maximum hand value is you have no other options, except taking one more card. The thing is, here you are 100% safe from getting busted and can get a good combination after one or more hits.
- If you get hard 12, hit on the dealer’s 2, 3, 7-Ace upcard – based on the mathematical calculations, you will have a better chance to get a good combination with this strategy, as the only way you can get busted is if you get 10.
- For 13-16, hit if the dealer has 7-Ace – the higher is the dealer upcard value, the more there are chances that your initial hand value is not enough to win.
When You Should Not Hit in BJ?
Here you can see the situations when you should avoid hitting:
- Do not hit if your initial hand value makes a hard 17-20 – this is already a good hand, which gives you high chances to win. On the other hand, hitting with 17 or higher will give you a high chance of getting busted.
- Never hit with soft 19 or soft 20 as well – there is an extremely low chance you will get a better combination in this game, and if dealer plays on a soft 17, you are already in a strong position.
- If you get soft 18, do not hit if the dealer has a 2, 7, or 8 upcard – a soft 18 is good enough to give you a chance to win already.
What is Stand in Blackjack
Stand is a decision in Blackjack that considers not taking any more cards in your hand. You choose to stand when you think you have the best value for your hand in the round. After you and the dealer stand, the value of both hands is calculated, and the winner is determined.
For example, when your initial hand makes 10-9, you are likely to stand instead of taking more cards. However, it also depends on the dealer’s hand, which can make 10-10, meaning that you will lose 100% if you stand. Below we will disclose when to stand or not to stand in detail.
When to Stand in Blackjack?
Stand is one of the most important decisions in Blackjack, as you need to choose whether to risk-taking another card to improve your hand or stop at this spot and count on the dealer having a weaker hand. Here are some situations when you should definitely stand in Blackjack:
- If you have a hard 17-20, always stand – most dealers play soft 17, which means they stop hitting when they get as much as an Ace and a 6, so it is likely that you will win the match if you stand. On the other hand, if you have hard 17, you need 4 or less to improve your combination and not bust, and with hard 20, you need only an Ace to stay alive. It is obvious that the chances for this are rather low.
- Also, always stand if you have soft 20 or soft 19 – there are more chances that you will make your hand weaker than improving it. The thing is that in order to improve soft 19 (A, 8), you need another Ace or 10 on the next hit, and the chances of this happening are low. If you take two hits, the chance of getting more than 19 is low as well.
- When getting 13-16 with the dealer’s 2-6 you better stand. The thing is that in this situation, the dealer has to have a high-value second card to beat your hand. For example, if you have 16, and the dealer has 6, he has to have 10 or an Ace to equal or beat your hand. Even if the second card is of low value like a 2 or 3, you still have more chances to win.
When you should not stand in Blackjack?
There are also situations when standing will always be a bad idea:
- If you have 4-11, there is no chance standing would be a good idea. The thing is that if you hit in this situation, you only have chances to improve your hand, and you are safe from getting more than 21.
- Never stand if you have soft 12-16 – standing on this position would be a bad idea as most of the dealers play till soft 17, and even soft 16 can sometimes not be enough to win the match. It would be much better to hit in this situation, with high chances of improving your hand.
Hit & Stand Chart
This is one of the basic strategy charts, which is absolutely essential to beat the house edge when you play blackjack.
Hit & Stand Ultimate FAQ
This FAQ is composed of the most popular questions on hit & stand decisions in Blackjack.
Do you hit on a 12 in blackjack?
Should I hit or stand on 16?
How many times can you hit in blackjack?
Does the dealer hit on soft 17?
Other Blackjack Strategies
Along with the hit & stand solutions, there are also other, more advanced moves you can use to your benefit. You can choose among double down, split or surrender as well. Of course, you can limit your decisions with hit & stand, and still exploiting other moves in the right way will increase your chances to win when you use long-term strategies.
Double Down
Double down is a solution that allows you to increase your initial bet up to 100% (depending on Blackjack game rules), and add one more card to your hand. This is a good decision when you have a strong hand against the dealer’s weak one. It allows you to increase your winnings up to 2 times. The only shortcoming of this decision – you cannot hit after you double down.
Split
Split is a decision that allows you to turn one hand into two hands and play each hand separately. Splitting is allowed when you get pairs in your initial hand (5-5, 6-6, etc.).
Depending on the Blackjack game you play, you can split more than once during the game, split Aces, etc. This is a good move in some situations. To use this move to your benefit, you should consider the dealer’s hand as well.
Surrender
Surrender is a decision that allows you to save 50% of your bet. It considers that you can stop the game if you have a weak hand against the dealer’s strong hand. This decision can be valuable if you want to cut your losses. It depends on the BJ game rules, whether it is possible to make the surrender move.
The Soft 17 rule in blackjack is one of the most important rules, not just because it completely changes the way the dealer plays, but because it impacts the house edge and your own playing strategy too.
What is Soft 17 in blackjack?
In literal terms, Soft 17 is another way of describing a blackjack hand worth 17 which includes an Ace, where the Ace counted either as 1 or 11. A Soft hand cannot bust if you take one card more.
In contrast, a hard hand is simply one without an Ace, or which includes an Ace but it can bust if another card is taken.
Soft 17 can be made in various ways. The Ace-6 hand is the most common Soft 17 hand that most blackjack players will know, but you can also make Soft 17 with 3 or more cards, so long as the Ace is counted as 11 or 1.
Examples include the Ace-3-3 hand and Ace-Ace-2-4. Blackjack hands like these are called ‘soft’ because you cannot bust, and you can still improve your hand value (or make it worse!) by taking more cards.
Because of this, we play Soft 17 very differently to how we play Hard 17 (which you would always stand). In a classic 8 deck game, we either hit or double Soft 17, depending on the dealer’s upcard and the type of rules we face.
But Soft 17 is more than just a type of blackjack hand. It’s an even bigger deal because it features in the second most important rule in blackjack – aptly named the Soft 17 Rule.
When Must The Dealer Hit In Blackjack
The Soft 17 rule explained
As a player, you can do virtually whatever you like with your hand, but the dealer must act according to a simple rule. In every blackjack game, the dealer either stands on Soft 17 or higher, or hits Soft 17, which means they can only stand on Hard 17, plus any 18 or more.
After the number of decks used and the payout odds for hitting Blackjack itself, whether a dealer stands or hits on Soft 17 is the next most important rule. You can tell which rule a game uses because it is always written on the table next to the Blackjackodds.
In the UK, all blackjack games are S17, so the dealer draws to 16 and stands on all hands worth 17. The Soft 17 rule is mainly found in America, although even then, it is not employed at every table.
Unfortunately, blackjack terms can be very confusing. You might think that S17 is short hand for the Soft 17 rule, but it’s not. S17 means ‘Dealer Stands on Soft 17’ and H17 means ‘Dealer Hits on Soft 17’. So when I refer to tables with the Soft 17 rule as H17, you’ll know what I mean!
What difference does it make to the dealer?
If the dealer must hit on a Soft 17 hand, it has two main impacts on their chances. Firstly, hitting Soft 17 increases their chance of busting. But it also increases their chances of making a better hand too.
Those two may seem incompatible, but they’re not. Either they bust their hand, make a similar total to what they already had, or make a better total. The dealer’s chance of busting increase slightly by 0.4% but their odds of making 18 or more go up by around 0.80%. Overall then, the Soft 17 rule is more favourable to the dealer’s hand than to the player.
What effect does the Soft 17 rule have on the house edge?
Clearly an S17 game is better for blackjack players and an H17 game is better for the house, but how big a difference does it make to playing blackjack over the long run?
Assuming all other rules are the same, the difference between an H17 game and an S17 game to players is a whopping 0.2% in house edge over the long run. To put that small number in perspective, typical European blackjack tables in online casinos have a house edge of only 0.7%, so 0.2% is a meaningful amount.
If you stake £10,000 in a year of blackjackplay, you’d get £20 more in returns at a S17 table than the equivalent H17 table. In a game of razor thin margins, every pound matters.
But the Soft 17 rule is only part of the story, and in reality you would never get two tables with identical rules bar the S17/H17. Games with H17 will have different combinations of rules such as NDAS, and you need to take the whole picture into account when sizing up a table.
When you choose your blackjack table, it may even be possible to find a game which uses the Soft 17 rule but has a lower overall house edge, thanks to other rules in place that benefit the player.
When you playblackjackonline, it’s easy to check the house edge, but in a live game it can be difficult to know the house edge and every rule in play. But all other things being equal, it’s usually better to choose the S17 game.
How to adjust your strategy for the Soft 17 rule?
When Does The Dealer Have To Hit In Blackjack Machines
Let’s look at the changes you need to make to basic strategies in blackjack in games with 4 or more decks, as it’s the most widely played format these days.
In a multi deck blackjack game, there are 3 main situations where the optimal basic strategy decision depends on whether the dealer has to hit or stand on Soft 17. All of these basic strategy scenarios involve playing the hand more aggressively by doubling down.
If your table offers the Surrender rule, there are 3 more situations where the strategy charts recommend you should adjust your basic blackjack strategy.
Single deck blackjack games are a dying breed but if you’re lucky enough to find one, the advice in Soft 17 basic strategy blackjack charts changes again. This time there are just 2 adjustments to your basic strategy. Both arise when you have specific variations of 18 when the dealer’s upcard is an Ace. You should hit Ace-7 v Ace instead of standing, and you should split a pair of Nines v Ace when you would normally stand.
Counting cards and the Soft 17 rule
When Does The Dealer Have To Hit In Blackjack
If you are good at counting cards, you’ll have a pretty good idea of how many high and low cards are left in the deck. This allows you to change your bet size and hand strategy decision to exploit those moments when the deck is favourable.
Card counting is an advanced blackjack skill and there are many variables to consider, not least what the dealer does with Soft 17. If you have 11 when the dealer’s upcard is an Ace, for example, you can double depending on the True Count. In a S17 game, the True Count has to be +1 or higher, but in a H17 game, it only needs to be –1 or higher.
There are several situations like this in the Illustrious 18 counting strategy, where the required True Count to deviate from standard basic strategy is lower for H17 games.
What Number Does The Dealer Have To Hit On In Blackjack
A summary of Soft 17: Not ideal for players, but not fatal
When Does The Dealer Have To Hit In Blackjack Real Money
The Soft 17 rule features heavily in blackjack rules and is plastered all over every table felt, but in reality it is never used on its own to increase the house edge, and the bottom line is that there is minimal impact on playing strategy. As long as you’re aware how Soft hands work and the special exceptions to basic strategy, you won’t ever need to pay it much attention.