These aren’t specific rules you need to learn, but it is better to take some moves from the simple blackjack strategy chart, than none, if you can’t memorise them all.

If you are playing at a land-based casino where you can’t set the pace of the game, it might be best to memorise key moves instead of the entire chart, to keep it simple in your head.įor example, players should hit if you have from five to eight for a hard hand and on 12 to 15 for a soft hand double on a 10 if the dealer has two to nine with a hard hand and on 18 if the dealer has two to six on a soft hand and finally never split fives, or 10s. There are also charts for other variations of blackjack, however these are less common. It is imperative you know which rule variation you are playing when using these charts as there are moves that differ from one another depending on what the dealer does. There are two strategy charts, one for when the dealer hits on a soft 17 and one for when a dealer hits on a hard 17. Each move recommended based on the player’s hand and the dealer’s hand has been created by statistics, but obviously there is still an element of luck. There are sections dedicated to hard hands, soft hands, and splits. The dealer’s card is generally along the horizontal axis while the player’s hand is along the vertical axis. These could vary depending on what chart you’re using so read the key carefully. For example H stands for hit, S represents stand, P stands for split and so on. Good online blackjack hit charts are colour coded with letters standing for the action with a key to match.

The most important key when using a blackjack strategy chart if you are reading it correctly as it tells you when to hit, stand, split, double, or surrender and if you mix these actions up and perform them at the wrong time you could lose when you potentially could’ve won.

Basic blackjack strategy charts