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Lesson 2.6 Basic strategy
Read a Rules Screen and Know What Each Rule Costs
In this lesson you learn to read the rules screen of an online blackjack game. After it, you will know which four rules matter most, which version of each rule is better for you, and how much each one changes the house edge – the share of every bet the game keeps on average.
The four rules to look for
Every online blackjack game has a rules or help screen. Look for these four lines before you play your first hand.
| Rule | Better for you | Worse for you | What the worse version costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackjack payout | 3:2 | 6:5 | 1.36 percentage points |
| Soft 17 | Dealer stands (S17) | Dealer hits (H17) | 0.21 percentage points |
| Double after split | Allowed (DAS) | Not allowed | 0.14 percentage points |
| Surrender | Offered (LS) | Not offered | No surrender: 0.09 percentage points higher |
With standard rules – 6 decks, 3:2, dealer hits soft 17, double after split, no surrender – the house keeps about 0.62% of each bet with perfect basic strategy.
Blackjack payout and soft 17
A blackjack is an ace and a ten-value card as your first two cards. The rules screen says how much it pays.
At 6:5, a blackjack pays less than at 3:2. This one line adds 1.36 percentage points to the house edge.
The game keeps about 1.98% instead of 0.62%. Read more on 6:5 blackjack.
Check the payout line first. If it says 6:5, that rule costs you more than any other rule on the screen.
A soft 17 is a 17 that includes an ace counted as 11. The ace counts as 11 unless that would bust the hand; then it counts as 1.
Here the dealer has soft 17.
When the dealer hits soft 17, the house edge goes up by 0.21 percentage points.
With the dealer standing, the same table has an edge of about 0.40%. See soft 17 for details.
Double after split and surrender
Double after split (DAS) means that after you split a pair – two cards of the same value – you may double down on a new hand. Here you split a pair of 8s and get a 3 on the first 8.
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
The chart says to double hard 11 against a 6. Without DAS, you can only hit this hand, and the house edge goes up by 0.14 percentage points.
Surrender means you give up half your bet and the hand ends. Without surrender, the chart for hard 16 is stand against 2–6 and hit against 7–A.
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
When late surrender is offered, this hand changes: you surrender hard 16 against a dealer 10.
Late surrender lowers the house edge by 0.09 percentage points, to about 0.53%. Learn when to use it on blackjack surrender.
Put the rules of a game into the house edge calculator to see the total cost in one number.
- 6:5 payout: adds 1.36 percentage points
- Dealer hits soft 17: adds 0.21 percentage points
- No double after split: adds 0.14 percentage points
- Late surrender: takes away 0.09 percentage points
Practice reading rules and playing hands in the trainer below.
Practise: 25 hands
Only hands from this lesson. Your first answer counts.
The lesson on one card
- Open the rules screen before your first hand.
- Blackjack pays 3:2 is the rule you want; 6:5 adds 1.36 percentage points.
- Dealer hits soft 17 adds 0.21 percentage points to the house edge.
- No double after split adds 0.14 percentage points to the house edge.
- Late surrender lowers the house edge by 0.09 percentage points.
- Basic strategy lowers the house edge; it does not remove it.
Check yourself
1. The rules screen says "Blackjack pays 6:5". What does this do?
It adds 1.36 percentage points to the house edge.
Right. A 6:5 payout pays less for every blackjack. That one rule adds 1.36 percentage points compared with 3:2.
It pays more than 3:2, so the game is better for you.
Not quite. 6:5 pays less than 3:2 on the same bet. The payout picture shows a smaller amount at 6:5.
It changes nothing, because blackjacks are rare.
Not quite. A paid blackjack happens about once every 22 hands. The smaller payout on those hands adds 1.36 percentage points to the house edge.
2. Which of these rules lowers the house edge?
Dealer hits soft 17
Not quite. When the dealer hits soft 17, the house edge goes up by 0.21 percentage points. Dealer stands on soft 17 is the better version for you.
Late surrender
Right. Late surrender lets you give up half your bet on a weak hand. It lowers the house edge by 0.09 percentage points.
No double after split
Not quite. Without double after split you lose some doubling chances. This adds 0.14 percentage points to the house edge.
3. Table A pays 3:2, the dealer hits soft 17 and there is no double after split. Table B pays 6:5, the dealer stands on soft 17 and double after split is allowed. Which table has the lower house edge?
Table A
Right. Table A has two weaker rules that cost 0.21 percentage points and 0.14 percentage points. Table B has the 6:5 rule alone, which costs 1.36 percentage points – more than those two together.
Table B
Not quite. Table B has better soft 17 and split rules, but its 6:5 payout costs 1.36 percentage points. That is more than the two weaker rules at Table A together.
Both tables have the same house edge
Not quite. Each rule changes the house edge by a different amount. The 6:5 payout costs far more than hits soft 17 and no double after split combined.