What Does A Blackjack Dealer Have To Hit On

Blackjack is one of the very few casino-banked card games where the decisions players make have a direct impact on their long-term chances of winning and preserving their bankrolls. Whether you make the correct plays or not will ultimately determine whether you emerge as a long-term winner or loser.

Dealers always stand on everything greater than 17. Different tables have different rules on soft 17, but I have never seen or heard of a table where dealers hit on 18s and above (soft or not). Actually, it's great if they make an error and hit on a soft 18. When playing blackjack with a hard hand, we would recommend the following: When you are dealt a total of 5-8, always hit. When you are dealt 9, hit if the dealer shows a 2 or a 7 through ace. If you have 10, hit if the dealer shows an ace or a 10.

A year ago, the gaming control staff rejected the casinos' request to allow dealers to 'hit' on a soft 17 — a hand adding up to 17 including an ace, which can be counted as a 1 or an 11 — instead. The tables assume the dealer already checked for, and did not have, blackjack. There are 16 total tables, for 1 to 8 decks and whether or not the dealer stands or hits on soft 17. For dealer probabilities before the dealer checks for blackjack please see Dealer Odds in Blackjack under European Rules. One Deck — Stand on Soft 17. It's not a rule, it's just probabilities. 17 is a safe bet. 16 is usually a loss. Myself, I usually stay on 16 and let the dealer bust. The dealer has to beat the other players, so he will often.

When you join a blackjack table, the two most fundamental playing decisions you are facing are whether to hit or stand on your hand. Ironically, these two decisions rank last in the order of plays you can exercise at the blackjack table.

The reason for this is simple – unlike surrendering, splitting, and doubling, you can hit or stand on hands that comprise any number of cards whereas the other moves are possible only on two-card totals. Both plays are accompanied by specific hand gestures which differ depending on whether you join a shoe-dealt table or a pitch game.

The great thing about blackjack is that the game combines elements of luck, skill, and strategy. There is no need to rely on gut feelings in order to make the correct move. All you have to do is memorize basic blackjack strategy. It gives you the foundation of becoming a successful blackjack player by telling you when to hit your hand and when to stand.

Hitting a Hand in Blackjack

A new round at the blackjack table starts with everyone receiving two cards that comprise their starting hands. This includes the dealer who normally receives their first card up while their second card is dealt face-down. The players would either receive their two cards face-up in shoe-dealt blackjack or face-down in pitch games where only one or two decks are in play.

At this point, each player takes a good look at their initial two-card hand, checks the dealer’s exposed card, and decides whether to take a hit or not. Hitting is the first most common decision one makes at the blackjack table. It involves the player requesting additional cards on their initial hand.

In multiple-deck games dealt out of a shoe, the player indicates they want to hit either with a beckoning gesture with their finger or by tapping the felt next to their two cards. In pitch games where you receive your cards face down, a hit is indicated by lightly scraping the felt with your two cards.

Players are allowed to take as many hits as they like unless the last card drawn to their hand causes it to break, i.e. go over 21. You can hit any total, with the exception of pat blackjacks which automatically stand.

The main reason for drawing additional cards is to try and improve the value of your hand. Your hitting decisions are influenced by two factors – the current total of your hand and the upcard the dealer is showing.

Standing on a Hand in Blackjack

Standing on a hand is practically the opposite of hitting. The player is satisfied with their current hand value and declines additional cards from the dealer. Similarly to hitting, this decision must be designated with a physical gesture for the purpose of hindering cheaters and preventing misunderstandings on behalf of the dealer and surveillance.

This physical motion involves waving your palm horizontally over your two cards in shoe-dealt games. The gesture is different in single-deck and double-deck games where standing is indicated by sliding the corners of your cards under the chips you have originally placed in your betting box.

Forced Standing Rules for Dealers and Their Variations

Unlike blackjack players, the house representative who deals the cards does not make any decisions when playing out their hand. Instead, blackjack dealers draw cards or stand on their hands according to the forced rules specified by the gambling establishments.

These forced dealer rules vary depending on the gambling hall and the blackjack table you play at, but are generally classified into two main groups. The dealer is either required to draw to 16 and force-stand on all totals of 17 or must draw to 16, stand on hard 17 and hit soft 17. The dealer standing rule is printed on the layout, which makes it easy for players to distinguish what table they are playing.

Which of the two dealer rules is better from the perspective of the player, though? To answer this question, we must first explain what a soft 17 is. This is a hand that contains an Ace whose value is flexible, i.e. it can be either 1 or 11, like in the following two examples – A-6 and A-2-4. Due to the fluctuating value of the Ace, one such soft hand practically has two totals, 7 and 17.

The dealer forced standing rules should be always taken into consideration because they have a direct impact on basic strategy as well as on the house edge. A total of 17 is not strong enough in blackjack where the average winning hand totals 18.5. A dealer who hits soft 17 is less susceptible to exceeding 21 and thus, losing because of the flexible value of the Ace.

If a higher-ranking card is drawn, the dealer’s Ace will count as 1. This practically makes it impossible for them to bust by taking one more card. However, if they happen to catch a small card like a deuce on the next hit, it gets them into the safe zone and they can outdraw the player, who always stands on hard 17 according to basic strategy.

A dealer who hits soft 17 (H17) increases the house edge by 0.22%. This may seem like a small increase in the casino’s advantage but nevertheless, it leads to higher hourly losses in the long term for the basic strategy player.

Assuming you play at a full table where you flat bet at the minimum of $5 and go through 60 hands per hour on average, you will lose roughly ($5 x 60 x 0.22)/100 = $0.66 per hour due to the soft 17 rule alone.

Of course, these figures apply only over the long run where thousands of hands are involved. Nevertheless, a smart blackjack player always favors tables where the dealer stands on all 17 over those where they hit soft 17.

Key Basic Strategy Plays for Hitting and Standing

Basic strategy tells blackjack players when it is the correct time to hit and when they should stand, among other things. The decision is based on the upcard of the dealer and the player’s hand total. Basic strategy is proven to reduce the house edge, but some of the hitting and standing decisions it suggests also aim at minimizing the long-term losses players incur in unfavorable situations. With that said, you cannot overcome the house edge entirely with basic strategy alone.

The correct plays are influenced by a variety of factors which include the above-mentioned dealer forced rules, the number of decks incorporated into the game, and the possible rule variations at different blackjack tables.

The strategy is normally presented in a table format. Here are several of the most important standing and hitting decisions recommended by basic strategy for multiple-deck games where the dealer force-stands on all 17s:

• Always hit totals 4 through 8 regardless of what card the dealer shows
• Stand on hard totals of 12 if the dealer exposes small cards 4 through 6 and hit your hard 12 against all other dealer cards
• Hit 16 against a dealer with a ten-value card or Ace, otherwise surrender if allowed
• Always hit soft totals 13 through 17 and stand on soft 19
• Stand on soft totals of 18 unless the dealer is showing high cards like 9, 10, and Ace. If so, hit your soft 18.
• Stand on all hard totals of 17 or higher

Deviations from Basic-Strategy Hitting and Standing Decisions

Learning basic strategy is an absolute must for anyone who insists on becoming a winning blackjack player. With that said, basic strategy relies on limited information. It tells you the optimal plays you can make in any given situation after you have received your first two cards and have seen the dealer’s exposed card.

However, it does not take into account the way the composition of the deck or shoe changes as more and more cards are removed from play. These changes in composition are important because they have a direct impact on the house edge.

If more ten-value cards and Aces remain to be dealt, the edge swings over in favor of the player and vice versa, the dealer has an advantage when the remaining shoe or deck is richer in small cards. Smart players have learned to exploit this peculiarity of the game by keeping track of the ratio of high to low cards that remain to be dealt.

This is known as card counting. The player keeps a running count as each card is dealt out of the shoe and then converts it into a true count. This conversion is necessary for shoe games and involves the division of the current running count by the number of decks that remain in play.

A high positive true count indicates the shoe is rich in high cards and vice versa, a negative true count means more small cards are still in play. Using this information, well-versed players would deviate from basic strategy for certain hitting and standing decisions. The plays suggested by the strategy are based on a neutral deck or shoe and are no longer optimal after the composition changes.

A Couple of Examples for Hitting and Standing Deviations

Blackjack pros resort to using indices for their playing deviations. An index is a number that tells you at what true count you must diverge from the basic strategy. Let’s use hard 12 against a dealer with a deuce as an example just to give you a better idea of how playing deviations for hitting and standing work.

A basic strategy chart for multiple-deck games under the S17 rule recommends you to hit your 12 against a 2. However, this play is no longer optimal once you arrive at a true count of +3. Now, there are more tens and face cards you can bust with. Therefore, you must deviate from basic strategy and stand on your 12 against the 2 when the true count is +3 or higher.

Another example is a hand of hard 16 against a dealer with a 9 as their upcard. According to basic strategy, you must hit your hard 16 against the 9 if surrender is unavailable. Unfortunately, this decision is a bad one on high positive counts of +5 or above. Respectively, the player stands (the pun was unintentional) better chances of winning if they refrain from drawing more cards because hitting is more likely to break their 16 in shoes that are rich in tens.

And one final example with a hard 13 versus a dealer showing a 3, in which case you should stand according to basic strategy. This may be a good idea in a neutral shoe but it becomes unprofitable on negative counts.

The index for this hand is -2, which is to say you deviate from basic strategy when the true count drops to -2 or lower by choosing to hit instead of standing. At this point, there are more small cards than high cards to help you improve your hand and minimize the risk of breaking it.

Playing deviations are great not only for hitting and standing but for all other possible moves in blackjack, like doubling, splitting, surrendering, and buying insurance. Not only do these deviations enable the player to generate more EV in the long term but they also reduce risk and help you tame variance.

With that said, it is impossible to use them without committing basic strategy to memory first, so we suggest this is where you start if you take your blackjack game seriously.

Many gamblers who play blackjack on a regular basis don’t take the time to have a look at every possible total value they can get in their hand. There are indeed so many cards that can form a number of combinations, especially if the decks in use are more than one.

However, if players want to master the game and make the best possible choices every time, it is crucial to know how to proceed in the most difficult situations. They need to dedicate their time and determine their goals if they need to achieve the desired results. Gamblers, who claim that they like to play just because of the thrill, fail to understand that blackjack can be not only fun but also profitable.

In this chapter, we will have a look at the two particular hands 12 or 13 players can get during the course of the game. As already mentioned, the reason why it is important for gamblers to be familiar with absolutely every hand they can get is that knowing the possible outcomes of it can help them make wiser choices. Even though one hand doesn’t determine the overall result of the game, it is very essential to try and do your best every time.

When Players Have Hand 12

Regardless of the strategy players use, they always need to take into account their hand’s total value and the dealer’s upcard. Players can form such a hand with the following combinations: 2-10, 3-9, 2-8, 5-7, A-A, and 6-6. In order to find out what is the best possible choice they can make, let’s consider the case where gamblers have a hand 12 against every possible upcard of the dealer.

What Does A Blackjack Dealer Have To Hit On

Both hard 12 and hard 13 are losing hands for the player. How they are played depends on the strength of the dealer’s exposed card. The stronger the upcard, the more aggressive approach players should adopt and vice versa.

With hard 12, you have a choice from splitting when you hold 6-6 and A-A, and hitting and standing with the other card combinations that lead to this hard total. Doubling is out of the equation because it is anything but a good move with hard 12.

The good news for blackjack rookies is that the optimal playing strategy for unpaired hard 12 (i.e. any hand that does not contain two cards of the same value) is not influenced by playing conditions and deck number. The correct moves coincide across all blackjack variations, including European games that lack hole cards.

If the dealer’s upcard is 4, 5, or 6, gamblers should stand. If the dealer has any other card, gamblers should hit. The logic behind standing when the dealer shows 4 through 6 is that these upcards result in very high bust rates for the dealer. Unlike players who can decline additional cards on any total they deem fit, the dealer must hit until they reach their standing position of 17 or greater. This puts the dealer in a volatile position, increasing their probability of a bust.

Small cards 4 through 6 are the worst for the dealer as they bring the highest bust percentages. Assuming the dealer has peeked under their hole card and does not have a blackjack, their probability of busting with a 4 in a standard six-deck S17 game stands at 0.395805, or roughly 39.6% of the time.

The dealer probabilities of busting with a 5 and a 6 are even higher at 0.418406 (41.8%) and 0.422842 (42.3%). This is why you stand on your hard 12 versus small upcards 4 through 6, keeping your fingers crossed for a dealer bust, and hit versus the other upcards as they improve the dealer’s situation.

The position of a player who holds a hard 12 is not enviable, either. In general, hard 12 through hard 16 are some of the lousiest hands you can get stuck with. These are inevitably long-term losers against most dealer upcards no matter whether you choose to stand or hit. You can see this from the figures in the table below as estimated by gambling expert Michael Shackleford.

The example is with a 12 against a weak 6 and a strong dealer 10 in a common multi-deck variant where the dealer stands on soft 17. Nevertheless, hard 12 offers poor odds to the player regardless of what upcard they are up against. It makes sense the best playing decision is the one that yields the lowest negative expectation for you.

2 or 3 as the Dealer’s Up Card

It is worth mentioning that when the player’s hand totals 12 and the dealer’s upcard is either 2 or 3, they need to be extra cautious and remember how to proceed in this situation. In the worst-case scenario, players can draw any of the face cards or a 10 which will inevitably result in going bust.

The possibility that the players’ hand will lead to this unfortunate outcome is not very small either – four out of thirteen, or roughly 30% of the time. Players need to focus on the cards that will leave them with a power hand – a 7, an 8, or a 9. If gamblers are lucky enough to get any of them, it guarantees them a total of at least 19, which is above the average winning hand of 18.5.

Moreover, the rest of the cards in the deck won’t result in a loss for the players so the bottom line is that players are not in the worst position with hand 12. Holding hard 15 or hard 16 is far more terrible, for example.

The trouble is most novices handle hard 12 against these two dealer upcards incorrectly. One of the biggest blunders a blackjack player can make is standing on 12 versus the dealer’s deuce. This stems from the fear of drawing a high card on the hard hand, which would result in a bust and an automatic loss.

Such players frequently abide by the Rule of 10. They make their decisions based on the assumption the dealer always has a ten-value card in the hole. Respectively, the reasoning is that the dealer would flip over a ten next to their deuce, draw another high card, and bust. The player stands rather than hits their 12 out of fear they would “take the dealer’s bust card”.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing since the true odds favour hitting 12 versus 2. In reality, there are five card denominations (5 through 9) you can improve your total with versus four cards that would cause you to break your 12 with a hit (K, Q, J, and 10). The odds clearly are in favour of hitting, not standing.

Also important is the fact that the dealer is not in such a bad spot when starting with a deuce. The probability of them busting is estimated at 0.353504, or approximately 35% of the time in six-deck S17 games.

If we ignore the pushes, hitting the 12 against the deuce results in a win roughly 37% of the time and leads to a loss a little over 63% of the time. Assuming you are betting £1 on each hand, you will suffer net losses of approximately £26 every one hundred hands on average.

Meanwhile, standing on hard 12 results in a win roughly 35% of the time and leads to a loss around 65% of the time, giving you average net losses of £30 per every one hundred rounds when we ignore the pushes. It is only natural for players to prefer hitting over standing on 12 against a deuce because it reduces their long-term losses.

The same tendencies and harmful reasoning are to be observed with novices who hold hard 12 against the dealer’s 3. They are too scared to hit, as basic strategy tells them to, so they choose to stand instead and lose more money in the long run. This is yet another terrible but unfortunately common bad decision.

The dealer is not as weak when starting with a 3, busting only 37.4% of the time. Basic strategy again recommends hitting in this case because this play cuts down your negative expectation, leading to lower long-term losses with your hard 12 vs. 3. The difference is minuscule, as you can see above, but things will add up over thousands of hands played.

As for hard 12 that contains 6-6 or A-A, we shall tackle these situations in more depth in individual articles. For now, it suffices to mention you should always split paired aces. The correct plays for 6-6 are influenced by playing conditions, and more particularly by the number of decks.

When Players Have Hand 13

Regardless whether players have a hand 13, 14, 15, or 16, they should use the same strategy against the dealer up card. This is very convenient as there is no need players to remember different moves when their hand totals any of the above mentioned cases. These four types of hands put player in a very risky position and it is crucial to remember how to play them best.

Now let’s focus on hand 13 in particular and see what is the best move players can make. When gamblers find themselves in a situation where their hand totals 13 and the dealer’s upcard is from 2 through 6, they should stand. For the rest of the possibilities of the dealer’s upcard, players need to hit, i.e. against stronger cards 7 through ace. There are no exceptions to these rules no matter how many decks are used. Whether the dealer must hit or stand on soft 17 is also not relevant.

The reason why players should hit in such cases is that the dealer has the so-called standing hand. The dealer has such a hand whenever they show a card from 7 through ace. This puts them in an advantageous position as all that is needed for them is to reveal their upcard. In other words, the dealer is more likely to reach their standing total of 17 or higher when starting with 7 or above.

Their probability of busting decreases proportionally to the strength of their upcard, i.e. the higher its value, the lower the odds of the dealer breaking their hand. A dealer who stands on soft 17 in six-deck games will bust roughly 26.2% of the time with a 7, 24.4% of the time with an 8, and 22.9% per every hundred hands with a 9.

The bust rates decline even further when the dealer begins with a ten-value card or an ace to 23% and 16.7%, respectively. Thus, gamblers need to remember to refrain from any aggressive moves and play cautiously if they have the already mentioned situation.

Odds and Probabilities

What Does A Blackjack Dealer Have To Hit On The Market

It is not easy to estimate in a timely manner what the odds and probabilities are when a certain situation occurs. This is why players should be prepared beforehand and know the chances a particular hand gives them and what is the best move they can make.

What Do Blackjack Dealers Have To Hit On

Throughout the years, many experts and mathematicians took their time to estimate the odds and probabilities of the possible different hands gamblers can get throughout the course of the game.

It is estimated that in cases when players have hand twelve their chance of going bust is 31%. Whenever they have hand thirteen, the odds of going bust increase to 38%. These odds and probabilities are based on a game which includes many decks and are true if players’ choice is to hit.

Conclusion

It is really important for players to understand that whenever their hand totals less than 19, they are in a bad position as the average winning hand is 18.5. Even 18 doesn’t guarantee them a certain win, what is left for a hand 12 or 13.

What Does A Blackjack Dealer Have To Hit On The Road

However, having any of these two hands doesn’t doom players to a certain loss either. All that gamblers need to understand is that knowing how to proceed in a certain situation directly affects their moves and choices and determines the course of the game. This is the only way they will be able to tackle with such situations and achieve the desired result.

What Does A Blackjack Dealer Have To Hit One

Using the right strategy doesn’t guarantee players their losing hand will transform into a winning one but it gives them the chance to make a choice which will let them lose the least amount of money. If players find themselves in the situation when they have a hand 12 or 13, they need to remember when to hit and stand and follow basic strategy throughout the whole game.