How to Play Every Possible Hand in Blackjack Correctly

In the world of Blackjack there are several types of hands and in each of them you can and should play differently. Even though the luck element will always interfere with your results, you can learn how to differentiate the hands and know which path to take in order to try to maximize your chances of winning the game. 

In this article, we will not cover the basic rules of blackjack – if that is what you are looking for, you can read those here. Instead, here we will distinguish the different possible hands and tell you the best action to take with each of them. 

Also, we will give you an inside look on both the best blackjack hands and the worst blackjack hands to begin with. 

BLACKJACK

Ex: Ace and Ten

A hand made up of an Ace and a card worth 10 points is the best hand in Blackjack, because you immediately win 1.5x the value of your bet, unless the dealer also gets Blackjack. In this case there will be a tie and the amount will be refunded. There is no better hand than the Blackjack hand.

HARD HAND 

Ex: Queen, Two and Ace

A hard hand is a hand that has no Ace or it has one but it is not flexible.  For example: if you have a Q, a 2 and an ace, this would be a hard hand, because if the ace would be counted as 11, the total would surpass 21. 

SOFT HAND 

Six and Ace

This hand consists of two cards or more, containing an Ace that can be worth either 1 or 11 points, therefore giving you more flexibility. 

PAIR AND SPLIT 

Ex: Eight and eight

This hand is made up of two cards that have the same value. This type of hand can be divided and give rise to two hands. Considering that it is unlikely to win with a hand valued 16, it would be more interesting to split the hand and try to keep two hands of 18, for example.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS IN BLACKJACK

Knowing the types of hands, let's now talk about the recommended actions to different situations. 

INSURANCE

This action means that when the dealer has an Ace in his hand, the player can insure his bet. In this situation, the player pays half of the amount initially bet and if the dealer has Blackjack, the player receives the entire bet amount. If the dealer does not have Blackjack, the player loses the insurance but continues with his bet in the game.

HIT

This action means that the player asks the dealer for a new card in order to improve his hand. This situation should occur when your hand is too low and/or you don't feel confident enough with your hand. Never forget that if your hand surpasses the value of 21 you are automatically excluded from that round.

STAY

In case you are satisfied with your hand, you must stay. It means that you intend to keep your hand and you do not want any more cards from the dealer. This situation should occur when you consider that your hand is strong enough to beat the Dealer, or that the risk of busting is high if you ask for another card.

SPLIT

Here the player can split his hand into two hands, but only when he has two cards of the same value. It is important to bear in mind that splitting a hand into two should only happen when the original hand is not strong enough to beat the dealer. Usually, a split happens when there are, for example, two sevens or two eights. You should never split a strong hand like an 18 or 20.

DOUBLE

You can double the value of your hand when the total value of your two starting cards is 8, 9, 10 or 11. When doubling the bet, the player will have to pay the same amount of his initial bet, and automatically receives a card, not being able to ask for more cards from then on. 

SURRENDER

This action means that you can fold the game, forfeiting half of your initial bet. This type of action is usually used by players with intermediate hands like 12, 13, 14, 15 or 16, where the hand is not strong enough to beat the Dealer, and the risk of going bust when asking for another card is too great.

BEST STARTING HANDS IN BLACKJACK

BLACKJACK VS ANY CARD OTHER THAN 10 OR ACE

The best hand in Blackjack is intuitive; it is when the player has a Blackjack (21), which consists of an Ace and a card with a value of 10 (a Ten, a Jack, a Queen or a King). The mathematical value of the hand is 150% of the player's stake in a traditional 3:2 payout Blackjack game. This means that for every 100 dollars wagered when the player has a Blackjack, he will win 150 dollars.

THE HARD 20 VS 8

The Hard 20 consists of two cards with a value of 10. It is a very strong hand in Blackjack. It is more valuable against 8 as the dealer's upcard. The player wins 79.18% of his bet when he has a hard 20 against 8 as the dealer's upcard. For every hundred dollars wagered, the player will win an average of $79.18. The only hand that can beat a 20 is a dealer's total of 21.

In some cases, the dealer will get this total through a number of combinations, such as six as a hidden card for a total of 14 and then getting a 7 for a total of 21. Combinations that result in the dealer getting 21 are several, but computer simulations determine that the percentage of the bet that the player wins when all these combinations are accounted for is 79.18%.

THE HARD 20 VS. 7

The hard 20 against the 7 has a mathematical value of 77.32%. For every $100 wagered when the player has a 20 against a 7 as the dealer's upcard, the player will win an average of $77.32. The upcard of 7 is important because the rules of the game dictate that the dealer must stand when they add up to a total of 17. And because there are more 10-value cards in the deck than any other value, there is a high probability that the dealer will get a card with a value of 10 as a hidden card. There is a finite probability of the dealer getting a total of 20 or 21, in which case the dealer would tie with or beat the player, respectively.

WORST STARTING HANDS IN BLACKJACK

The 16 VS. 10

A total of 16 against a 10 as the dealer's upcard is the worst possible starting hand a player can have. This total yields a negative expectation of 0.5398%. This means that for every $100 wagered in the situation where the player has a total of 16 against a 10 as the dealer's upcard, the player will lose $53.98 in the long run. Occasionally, a player will get a 5 or a lower card and stand firm, and the dealer will have a weak hidden card in his hand and will be eliminated; thus counting victories. But when all results are considered, the average loss for the player is 0.5398% of his bet.

The 16 VS. AT

A player total of 16 against a dealer's Ace is the second worst starting hand a player can have. This total against this dealer's upcard yields a negative player expectation of 0.5171%. From the same derivation above, the player loses $51.71 for every $100 wagered in this scenario. A total of 16 for the player gives the player the fewest cards possible to make a hand, while an Ace gives the most cards for the dealer to make a hand.

The 16 VS. 19

A player total of 16 against the dealer's upcard of 9 is the third worst starting hand a player can have. This total against the dealer's upcard yields a negative player expectation of 0.5093%. From the same derivation as above, the player loses $50.93 for every $100 wagered in this scenario. A total of 16 against the dealer's upcard of 9 gives the player only a few cards to make a hand. A nine is a strong card for the dealer, and since the preponderance of cards in the dealer are 10-value cards, there is a high chance that the dealer has a total of 19.

Good luck and good bets!