Pick the move for each dealt hand and see at once whether basic strategy agrees, and why. Basic strategy does not remove the house edge: with the usual rules it still loses about 0.57% of every bet. Every other way of playing loses more.
Your move
With these rules, basic strategy loses about 0.57% of every bet, and from 0.49% to 0.91% across the rules here. Worked out exactly for an endless shoe; with 4 to 8 decks it differs slightly.
Dealer10
You106
Your hand: hard soft a pair, total 16. The dealer shows 10.
Right.
Not this time.
Basic strategy says: HitStandDoubleSplitSurrender. Hit.Stand.Double if the rules let you; otherwise hit.Double if the rules let you; otherwise stand.Split the pair.Split if you may double after splitting; otherwise hit.Surrender if the rules let you; otherwise hit.Surrender if the rules let you; otherwise stand.Surrender if the rules let you; otherwise split.
Right 0 of 0. Streak: 0. Best streak: 0.
The trainer runs in your browser and needs JavaScript; the chart below works without it. For this hand, basic strategy says: Surrender if the rules let you; otherwise hit.
Copied.
The basic strategy chart
For 4 to 8 decks, doubling on any two cards and splitting up to four hands. Codes that depend on the rules also say what to do when the rule does not apply. It prints without the rest of the page.
Dealer stands on soft 17
Hard totals
Hand
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
A
5
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
6
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
7
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
8
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
9
H
D
D
D
D
H
H
H
H
H
10
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
H
H
11
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
H
12
H
H
S
S
S
H
H
H
H
H
13
S
S
S
S
S
H
H
H
H
H
14
S
S
S
S
S
H
H
H
H
H
15
S
S
S
S
S
H
H
H
Rh
H
16
S
S
S
S
S
H
H
Rh
Rh
Rh
17
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
Soft hands, the ace counting 11
Hand
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
A
A,2
H
H
H
D
D
H
H
H
H
H
A,3
H
H
H
D
D
H
H
H
H
H
A,4
H
H
D
D
D
H
H
H
H
H
A,5
H
H
D
D
D
H
H
H
H
H
A,6
H
D
D
D
D
H
H
H
H
H
A,7
S
Ds
Ds
Ds
Ds
S
S
H
H
H
A,8
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
A,9
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
Pairs
Hand
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
A
A,A
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
10,10
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
9,9
P
P
P
P
P
S
P
P
S
S
8,8
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
7,7
P
P
P
P
P
P
H
H
H
H
6,6
Ph
P
P
P
P
H
H
H
H
H
5,5
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
H
H
4,4
H
H
H
Ph
Ph
H
H
H
H
H
3,3
Ph
Ph
P
P
P
P
H
H
H
H
2,2
Ph
Ph
P
P
P
P
H
H
H
H
Dealer hits soft 17
Hard totals
Hand
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
A
5
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
6
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
7
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
8
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
9
H
D
D
D
D
H
H
H
H
H
10
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
H
H
11
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
12
H
H
S
S
S
H
H
H
H
H
13
S
S
S
S
S
H
H
H
H
H
14
S
S
S
S
S
H
H
H
H
H
15
S
S
S
S
S
H
H
H
Rh
Rh
16
S
S
S
S
S
H
H
Rh
Rh
Rh
17
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
Rs
Soft hands, the ace counting 11
Hand
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
A
A,2
H
H
H
D
D
H
H
H
H
H
A,3
H
H
H
D
D
H
H
H
H
H
A,4
H
H
D
D
D
H
H
H
H
H
A,5
H
H
D
D
D
H
H
H
H
H
A,6
H
D
D
D
D
H
H
H
H
H
A,7
Ds
Ds
Ds
Ds
Ds
S
S
H
H
H
A,8
S
S
S
S
Ds
S
S
S
S
S
A,9
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
Pairs
Hand
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
A
A,A
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
10,10
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
9,9
P
P
P
P
P
S
P
P
S
S
8,8
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
Rp
7,7
P
P
P
P
P
P
H
H
H
H
6,6
Ph
P
P
P
P
H
H
H
H
H
5,5
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
H
H
4,4
H
H
H
Ph
Ph
H
H
H
H
H
3,3
Ph
Ph
P
P
P
P
H
H
H
H
2,2
Ph
Ph
P
P
P
P
H
H
H
H
H
Hit.
S
Stand.
D
Double if the rules let you; otherwise hit.
Ds
Double if the rules let you; otherwise stand.
P
Split the pair.
Ph
Split if you may double after splitting; otherwise hit.
Rh
Surrender if the rules let you; otherwise hit.
Rs
Surrender if the rules let you; otherwise stand.
Rp
Surrender if the rules let you; otherwise split.
The columns are the dealer's face-up card.
How it is checked
Both charts, for a dealer who stands on or hits soft 17, were compared cell by cell with the Wizard of Odds charts for 4 to 8 decks, and the second also with Wikipedia's independent table: all 350 cells of each chart agree. Practice hands are dealt from an endless shoe with your browser's random generator, and a blackjack is dealt again, since it needs no decision.
What this leaves out
The few exceptions that depend on the cards in a hand rather than its total, and the differences with 1 or 2 decks.
Card counting and side bets. The trainer asks only for the first move of each hand.