Basic strategy is the set of decisions that loses the least money over the long run, worked out by simulating every combination of your hand against every dealer upcard. It doesn't need memory of earlier cards or a calculator at the table — just the three charts below. Find your hand on the left, the dealer's upcard along the top, and play the cell where they meet.
Hard totals
Soft totals
Pairs
Practise at the tableOpen the game with these rules and strategy hints switched on — the book play is outlined on every decision.
Play with hintsPractice drill
Test yourself. You'll be dealt a random starting hand against a dealer upcard; pick the play. The drill follows the rules selected above. On a keyboard, use H S D P R.
How to read the charts
Hard totals are hands without an ace, or where the ace has to count as 1. Soft totals are hands where an ace counts as 11 — ace-7 is soft 18. Pairs applies only to your first two cards; once you've decided not to split, play the hand by its total.
Some cells depend on what's allowed. D means double if you can, otherwise hit — you usually can't double after taking a third card. Ds means double if you can, otherwise stand. The R cells mean surrender if the table offers it; if not, follow the fallback.
The plays that matter most
- Always split aces and eights. Two aces as one hand is a weak soft 12; split, each ace is a strong start. A pair of 8s is hard 16, the worst total in the game.
- Never split tens or fives. Twenty is already a winning hand, and a pair of 5s is a hard 10 — double it instead.
- Double 11 against anything but an ace (and against an ace too when the dealer hits soft 17).
- Stand on 12 against a 4, 5 or 6. The dealer's weakest upcards bust most often; let them take the risk.
- Hit 12 to 16 against a 7 or higher. It feels wrong, but standing loses more often.
- Soft 18 isn't a stopping point. Against a 9, 10 or ace, hit it.
Insurance and even money
Insurance pays 2 to 1, but in a six-deck shoe the dealer completes a blackjack under an ace only about 31% of the time — you need over 33% to break even. That makes insurance one of the worst bets on the table, with a house edge around 7%. Even money is exactly the same bet with a friendlier name: decline both.
How the rules change the chart
Use the controls above and watch the cells move. When the dealer hits soft 17, you double more aggressively (11 against an ace, soft 19 against a 6) and surrender more (15 and 17 against an ace). Without double after split, splitting small pairs is less attractive, so 4s become a hit and 2s, 3s and 6s split less often. With fewer decks doubling gains value: 9 against a 2 becomes a double, and in single-deck games so do hard 8 against a 5 or 6 and soft 17 against a 2.
The charts here cover the main adjustments. Exact single-deck play has further composition-dependent refinements — for example, some hands play differently depending on which two cards make the total.
Want to know how each rule moves the house edge? See rule variations explained.
Beyond basic strategy
Basic strategy assumes you know nothing about the cards already played. Card counters track the ratio of high to low cards left in the shoe and change both their bets and some plays when it shifts — the Salon's optional Hi-Lo count display (Settings → Preferences) lets you watch that number move. Counting only works with a real shoe and deep penetration; a continuous shuffling machine resets the count every round.