How to play soft 18: A,7 against every dealer card

Soft 18 against every dealer card

Average result per first bet of each move with A,7, 6 decks, dealer hits soft 17. Against a 10 or an ace the dealer has already checked for blackjack. A double counts both bets; +1 means you win your bet, −1 that you lose it.

What is a soft 18?

A soft 18 is an ace and cards that add up to 7, with the ace counted as 11: A,7 is the usual one, and A,2,5 or A,3,4 are soft 18s too. "Soft" means the ace can drop back to 1, so one more card never busts the hand.

Your A,7 against a dealer 9, 6 decks: 309 cards you have not seen.

So a hit on soft 18 never ends the hand at once. It improves the hand 23.0% of the time, keeps 18 31.1%, and leaves 12 to 17 – where you can hit again – 46.0%.

Soft 18 vs 10: hit, do not stand

Against a 10, standing on soft 18 averages −0.180 per bet and hitting −0.143. Hitting saves 3.7 cents per $1 bet.

With a 10 showing and no blackjack, the dealer finishes on 19, 20 or 21 52.9% of the time and beats your 18. Your 18 wins only when the dealer busts or stops on 17: 34.9%.

Standing wins 34.9%, pushes 12.2% and loses 52.9%. Hitting (and playing on in the best way) wins 37.4%, pushes 10.8% and loses 51.7%: it wins more often and loses less often.

Against a 9 and an ace it is the same answer. Against a 9, standing averages −0.183 and hitting −0.098; against an ace, −0.225 and −0.160. The gap is widest against a 9.

Why you double soft 18 against 2 to 6

A double gets one card only, and no card can bust soft 18. With 2 to 6 showing the dealer busts often: 35.7% of the time with a 2, 43.9% with a 6.

Against a 6, doubling averages +0.357 per first bet and standing +0.223. The closest call is against a 2: doubling +0.116, standing +0.113 – a difference of 0.003 of a bet. Where the dealer stands on soft 17, standing wins that call: +0.124 against +0.121 for doubling.

More on the move itself: double down.

Stand on soft 18 against a 7 or 8

Against a 7, standing averages +0.402 per bet, more than hitting (+0.172) or doubling (+0.224). A dealer 7 finishes on 17 more often than on any other total – 37.1% of the time – and your 18 beats it.

Against an 8, standing averages +0.108, hitting +0.041 and doubling −0.028. A dealer 8 finishes on 18 – a tie with your hand – 36.2% of the time.

Soft 18 with three or more cards

The best move for exactly these cards, 6 decks, dealer hits soft 17.

After three cards you can no longer double, so where the chart says double (Ds), you stand. Against a 9, 10 or ace every soft 18 is a hit, however many cards it has.

When the rules change the answer

H hit, S stand, Ds double (otherwise stand).

Compared with the standard 6-deck game, the move changes here:

• 6 decks, dealer stands on soft 17: stand against a 2.
• 1 deck, dealer hits soft 17: stand against a 2.
• 1 deck, dealer stands on soft 17: stand against a 2 and an ace.
• Double on 10 and 11 only (6 decks, H17): stand against 2 to 6.
• European, no hole card (6 decks, S17): stand against a 2.

Tables that allow doubling on 9, 10 and 11 only are the same as 10 and 11 only here: soft hands cannot be doubled, so soft 18 stands where it would double.

Double after split matters only for a soft 18 you make after a split, such as a 7 that gets an ace: without that rule you stand there instead of doubling.

Your own table's full chart: blackjack strategy chart.

Common mistakes with soft 18

What each wrong move costs on average against the chart's move, in cents per $1 bet (6 decks, dealer hits soft 17).

18 is a strong total against a 7 or 8, but not against a 9, 10 or ace: there a hit loses less than standing.

Does the dealer hit soft 18?

No. The dealer stands on soft 18 under every rule set; the "dealer hits soft 17" rule covers soft 17 only. See soft 17.

Other hands, worked out the same way: should you hit on 12, 13 or 14, should you hit on 15 and should you hit on 16.

Questions people ask