A soft hand is a hand that includes an ace valued as 11, as opposed to 1. Soft hand is the name of the player's hand with Aces which are counted as 11. There are set of possible and advised decisions for players taking in account the number of points in player's and dealer's hands. These were the basic rules for playing but players are free to make their own decision if they like.

Blackjack is the most popular casino table game of all drawing in countless numbers of hungry players both in the brick and mortar casino, and in online casinos.

Are you a player who is knowledgeable about blackjack strategy? In this article, we detail the basic blackjack strategy charts and provide you with other handy tips to give you the best possible chance of leaving the casino – physical or virtual – in profit.

Basic Blackjack Terms

As with every classic casino table game, there is a lot of lingo thrown about which might sound double Dutch to novice blackjack players. What on earth does it all mean?

Ultimately, you will become more familiar with all the blackjack lingo as you develop your game, whether that is in the brick and mortar casino or at an online casino.

Nonetheless, we have listed some handy basic blackjack terminology below:

• Stand. The player stays with the cards they were dealt
• Hit. The player is dealt another card, and they can be dealt more if they wish. If the total of the cards exceeds 21 at any point, the player is bust and loses the hand
• Surrender. This is where the player gives up half his bet to forfeit the hand
• Double down. The player doubles their original bet and is dealt one more card, and it can only be one
• Split. If a player is dealt a pair (two 4s for example), or two ten-valued cards, such as a queen and a king, the player can split those cards into two different hands. The player is then dealt another card to each hand. The player must make a second bet of equal value to the first to use the split
• Hard hand. A hand without an ace
• Soft hand. A hand with an ace

Blackjack Strategy Chart

The first thing to get to grips with is ‘basic strategy’ which is probably the most essential ingredient of blackjack strategy.

The basic strategy detailed below is based on blackjack games played with 4 or more decks. Essentially, the basic strategy is a template which shows you the best course of action to take based on the cards dealt.

The below chart: Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart

More Blackjack Tips

The tables above are based on the standard blackjack rulesets. However, there are many different variations of blackjack both in physical casinos and in the online casino landscape.

These variations have different rulesets, so be mindful of the fact that some of the strategies above may not directly apply to the particular blackjack game you are playing.

In fact, the most useful thing you can do is check the specific ruleset of the blackjack game you are playing as soon as you sit down at the table.

Here are some general pointers and questions to keep in mind when playing your particular game of blackjack:

• How many decks are used?
• Are surrenders permitted and are they early or late ones?
• Are there any restrictions on double downs?
• Are there rules regarding splits?
• Is the dealer obliged to hit on a soft 17?

Here are some extra tips which relate to any blackjack game:

• Do not take on any side bets
• Don’t take insurance. This is a side bet which can be placed if the dealer’s face card is an Ace to ‘insure’ you against the dealer having a blackjack. In reality, the odds are stacked against you and it is not worth taking this bet up
• If it is not possible to split your pair, treat your pair as a hard hand

Basic Blackjack Strategy Guide

The charts above may look a bit intimidating and confusing if you are seeking a simple strategy to take to the blackjack table. However, there is a simpler method you can use to memorise the general points of the blackjack strategy above.

Also, you won’t be surprised to hear that in brick and mortar casinos you won’t exactly be welcomed with open arms into a casino if you rock up with these charts in hand.

The majority of casinos simply won’t allow you to enter with these kinds of guides. So, here are simplified guides of the charts above:

Player’s Hand Dealer’s Upfacing Card

Player’s Hand Dealer’s Upfacing Card

Player’s Hand Dealer’s Upfacing Card

Extra tips:

• Surrender 16 when the dealer has a 10
• If strategy says to double but it’s not permitted, hit. If you have a soft 18, stand

Are You Ready To Master Blackjack?

Blackjack strategy is all about being mindful of the best action to take. If you memorise the main points of the charts above, you will be well on your way to mastering the wonderful world of blackjack.

There are advanced techniques which you can use, chief of which is blackjack card counting, which is essentially a method of tracking the cards which are dealt. However, this technique will not work with online blackjack games, as the virtual deck is shuffled for every single hand.

The best thing you can do to begin is to be fully aware of the specific ruleset relating to the blackjack game you are playing.

That being said, the majority, if not all, of the information in the charts will be applicable to any blackjack game. We are confident in saying that you will be thanking us for these magical blackjack charts!

Are you a blackjack buff? Are there any specific strategies which you use at the blackjack table? Comment below and let us know!

An Introduction to Hard and Soft Blackjack Hands

The game of blackjacks is finally about the different hands, and there are two basic types of hands – hard and soft hands. You may be asking yourself a number of questions, from the elementary (‘so what are blackjack hands?’, what are the hard and soft blackjack hands’?) to other questions (‘how do they differ from each other?’).

Often when you play blackjack, you will come across the usage of the term ‘hand’, and variations, such as ‘hard hand’ and ‘soft hand’. Before getting into what are hard and soft blackjack hands, you must understand that the key to both these types of hands is the ace.

Knowing about hard and soft hands is important because only then will you be able to formulate the proper strategy when you play your hand. This is apart from the fact that the concept of soft and hard hands also influences the dealer’s game, regarding when to hit or stand, for instance.

What Does Soft Hand Mean In Blackjack

Hard and Soft Hands – What is a Soft Blackjack Hand?

As mentioned earlier in this article, the key to both the hard and soft blackjack hands is the ace. So what is a soft blackjack hand? The soft blackjack hand is basically a hand that has an ace. In the soft blackjack hand, the ace has a value of 11. These are the two key elements in the soft blackjack hand – the presence of the ace and its attached value. There is one other thing about the soft hand that you will learn next.

When you compare the hard and soft blackjack hands, the soft hand gives you an advantage in terms of card options. You can add a third card to a soft hand and still be confident of not going bust. Take a look at the following example to understand this better.

Suppose you have a soft hand comprising an ace, which counts as an 11, and a 6 (this hand is also called the ‘soft 17’). Normally, if you now drew a card that brought your total count higher than 21, say a 5, you would lose. However, in the case of the soft blackjack hand this is not the case. In such a scenario, the ace would now count as just 1 and you are safe!

What Does Soft Hand Mean In Blackjack Stand

Hard and Soft Hands – The Hard Blackjack Hand

What Does Soft Hand Mean In Blackjack Machine

A hard blackjack hand differs from a soft hand in two aspects primarily. First of all, a hard hand does not necessarily need to have an ace; it may have one, but it is okay even if it doesn’t have one. The second point of difference is in the value of the ace – the hard hand ace has a value of just 1, and that value is inflexible, unlike in the soft hand.

What Does Soft Hand Mean In Blackjack Machines

Basically, between the hard and soft blackjack hands, it is the flexibility of the soft hand that gives it an edge over the hard hand even when it comes to the strategy charts.