Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart (4 Decks, Dealer Stands on Soft 17)

Always classify your hand in this order: is it a pair, is it soft (an ace counting as 11), otherwise it is hard. Then find the dealer upcard across the top. The letter at the intersection is the play. Reading in that order matters because a pair of 8s is a split, not a hard 16, and A,7 is soft 18, not hard 18.

Dealer upcards fall into two camps. Against a 2 through 6 the dealer busts often, so you stand on marginal totals and double or split aggressively. Against a 7 through ace the dealer makes a hand most of the time, so you keep hitting stiff totals and only double with strong starting hands. Most of the chart follows from that single distinction.

Hard 12 is the classic trap: you stand against a 4, 5 or 6 but hit against a 2 or 3. Many players stand on 12 against everything weak, which costs money against the 2 and 3 because the dealer busts less often with those cards than players assume.

Hard 16 against a 10 is a hit in a no-surrender game, even though hitting busts you more often than not. Standing loses even more often. Soft 18 is the other big one: double against 3 through 6, stand against 2, 7, 8 and ace, and hit against a 9 or 10. Players who treat soft 18 as a made hand give back most of the value of the ace.

On doubles, the trainer's chart doubles hard 11 against every upcard, including the ace. Some published S17 charts hit 11 against an ace instead; the expected value difference is small either way, and it is the only cell where common S17 charts disagree with this one.

Learn the hard totals first because they appear in roughly two thirds of hands. The rules compress well: stand on 17 or more; stand on 13 through 16 against a 2 to 6 and hit otherwise; 12 stands only against 4 to 6; double 11 always, 10 against 2 to 9, and 9 against 3 to 6; hit everything 8 or lower.

Then add the pairs, which are mostly absolute rules: always split aces and 8s, never split 10s or 5s (5s are a hard 10, so double them), split 9s against 2 to 6, 8 and 9, split 2s, 3s and 7s against 2 to 7, 6s against 2 to 6, and 4s only against 5 or 6. Soft totals come last; they are the least frequent and the easiest to look up while you learn.

Reading a chart and playing from it are different skills. In the trainer, the strategy grid highlights the cell for the hand in front of you, so you can check yourself after each decision instead of before it. Aim to make the decision first, then glance at the grid.

Once you are above 95 percent chart accuracy over a hundred hands, switch to Common Mistake Training, which deals the situations players misplay most often. That is a much faster route to a reliable chart than dealing random hands and waiting for the rare ones to appear.