Blackjack Basic Strategy — Charts, Rules & EV

Basic strategy is the mathematically optimal way to play every blackjack hand before you account for the cards already dealt. It is derived purely from your hand, the dealer's up-card, and the rule set — and it shrinks the house edge to roughly 0.5% under common rules.

What basic strategy decides

For any hand you hold, basic strategy tells you the single highest-EV action:

• Hit — take another card
• Stand — keep your total
• Double down — double your bet for exactly one more card
• Split — separate a pair into two hands
• Surrender — forfeit half your bet (when the rules allow it)

Every recommendation is just the action with the highest expected value (EV) for that exact situation. There is no guessing involved — it is arithmetic.

The charts depend on the rules

There is no single "correct" chart. The optimal play changes with the rules, especially:

• Dealer hits or stands on soft 17 (H17 vs S17)
• Number of decks (single, double, 6, 8)
• Double-after-split (DAS), surrender, and resplit rules

Because Fullcount computes EV directly from the exact rule set, each rule page shows the chart and house edge for that game rather than a generic table.

Try it on a real rule set

Below is the calculator pre-loaded with the Vegas Strip S17 rules. Enter a hand and dealer up-card to see the exact EV for every action under that game:

Rules of thumb that always hold

A few decisions are correct under virtually every common rule set:

• Always split Aces and 8s. Never split 10s or 5s.
• Never take insurance. It is a side bet with a negative EV for the player.
• Double 11 against almost any dealer up-card.
• Stand on hard 17 or higher.

These are starting points — for the precise chart, pick your game from the blackjack rule variants and read the rule-specific strategy and RTP.

Explore each decision

Each basic-strategy decision has its own detailed guide:

• When to hit or stand
• When to double down
• When to split pairs
• When to surrender
• Soft hands strategy (soft 17 & 18)
• Blackjack insurance — why to never take it

Why exact beats approximate

Most strategy charts (and counting systems like Hi-Lo) are approximations that exist because a human has to memorize them. Fullcount removes that constraint: it recomputes the exact composition-dependent EV for your specific shoe and rules, so the recommended action is always the true highest-EV play.