1. Match The Dealer Blackjack
2. Blackjack Soft 17 Rule
3. Blackjack Dealer Stand Soft 17 Blackjack
4. Blackjack Dealer School
5. Blackjack Soft Hard

Training decisions are based on the blackjack strategy chart for the chosen set of rules. The default set of rules is as follows: surrender allowed; double after split allowed; dealer hits soft 17; When the dealer stands on soft 17 it is better for the player but there are some differences in the blackjack chart. Blackjack Dealer Stands Or Hits On Soft 17 PC to Tablet and Cell Blackjack Dealer Stands Or Hits On Soft 17 phones, a fantastic opportunity for people who want to play the latest slots games on the go. Slotomania offers a wide range of free slots replicating the. A 'soft 17' in blackjack. An ace and any combination of 6. Each game has a rule about whether the dealer must hit or stand on soft 17, which is generally printed on the table surface. The variation where the dealer must hit soft 17 is abbreviated 'H17' in blackjack literature, with 'S17' used for. When you are dealt a soft 17 in Blackjack, should you stand or hit? And what about doubling down? Learn more about Blackjack Strategy: https://www.888casino.

The “soft 17 rule” is a rule that requires the dealer to hit on soft 17. For many blackjack players, this rather innocuous rule doesn’t seem like a big deal, but the fact of the matterHenry Tamburin is the editor and publisher of the Blackjack Insider Newsletter and author of the best-selling Blackjack: Take the Money & Run. He is also the lead Instructor for the Golden Touch Blackjack course, a feature writer for Casino Player magazine (and 6 other publications); an owner of a casino gambling publishing company (www.rsucasinobooks.com) and the host of www.smartgaming.com. For a free three month subscription to the Henry's Blackjack Insider Newsletter with full membership privileges go to www.bjinsider.com/free. Henry's website is www.smartgaming.com it is.

First, a quick review of what we mean by a soft hand. Any blackjack hand that contains an ace counted as an 11 is a soft hand. An ace-6 hand is a soft 17 and so is an ace-3-3 hand. These hands are played much differently than their corresponding hard hands. For example, ace-6 is soft 17 whereas 10-7 and 7-9-ace hands are hard 17’s (notice that if your hand contains either no ace, or one or more aces that are each count as one, the hand is hard). The reason the distinction is made between soft and hard hands is that they are played quite differently. For example, a player who is dealt a 10-7 should always stand whereas a player who is dealt an ace-6 should never stand.

In the world of blackjack some casinos require dealers to stand when their hand is a soft 17 (designated as s17), whereas others require dealers to hit soft 17 (i.e. they have implemented the soft 17 rule or h17). You can always tell whether a casino has the soft 17 rule or not by reading the wording on the table layout. If it reads “Dealer Must Stand on all 17’s” it means the dealer will stand on soft 17. If instead it states “Dealer Hits Soft 17”, it means the dealer will hit soft 17.

What happens to the odds when the soft 17 rule is in effect? Usually the dealer will bust more often which is good for the player. However, when he doesn’t bust, what would have been a 17 often ends up to be a higher hand that more often then not will beat the player’s hand. Overall the player’s net expectation is reduced by 0.20% with the soft 17 rule which is another way of saying the casino’s edge over a blackjack player increases by that amount. The soft 17 rule, therefore, favors the casino not the player.

Fortunately, there aren’t too many adjustments that you need to make to the basic playing strategy if you are playing in a game with h17. When you are playing, in general you should:

double down on 11 against a dealer’s ace

double down on soft 19 against the dealer’s 6

double down on soft 18 against the dealer’s 2

A more accurate set of playing strategy modifications that takes into effect the number of decks of cards being used is summarized below. Notice the additional hands that you should surrender with h17. The reason is because the player’s chance of winning these hands decreases enough with h17 compared to s17, that surrender becomes the better option.

Hit soft 18 against ace

If double after pair splitting is allowed, split a pair of 9’s against an ace

If surrender is allowed, surrender hard 15 against an ace and hard 17 against an ace.

Double down on soft 14 against 4

Double down on soft 18 against 2

Double down on soft 19 against 6

If surrender is allowed, surrender hard 15 against dealer ace.

4, 6 or 8 Decks

Double down on 11 against an ace

Double down on soft 17 against 2

Match The Dealer Blackjack

If surrender is allowed, surrender hard 15 against ace, hard 17 against ace, and a pair of 8’s against dealer ace.

Unfortunately, the number of casinos that are switching to the soft 17 rule is increasing. I can remember not too long ago when nearly 100% of the strip casinos in Las Vegas had the s17 rule on their shoe games. That’s not the case anymore. Based on the information of blackjack playing conditions reported in Stanford Wong’s “Current Blackjack News” only 17% of the Strip casinos offer “only s17 games”, 40% “only h17”, and 43% a mix of s17 and h17 games. Also, just about all the casinos that cater to local players offer only h17 games and ditto for the majority of casinos located in the downtown area.

However, you shouldn’t judge a blackjack game solely on the h17 rule. Why? Because even though the casino gains an extra 0.20% with the soft 17 rule, many casinos in Las Vegas and elsewhere also give some of that edge back to the player by offering single or double deck games in lieu of 6 or 8 deck games. Throw in a few more player favorable rules, such as double after pair splitting (das), resplit of aces (rsa), or late surrender (ls), and all of a sudden a h17 game isn’t such a bad game after all.

For example, summarized below is the casino’s edge for typical blackjack games you will find in Las Vegas (this of course excludes those dastardly 6-5 single games which you should not play). . Note that the casino edge over a basic strategy player for a single deck game with h17 is only 0.18%, a good blackjack game by anyone’s standard. Compare that with the rather high 0.79% for the comparable 6-deck game. In fact even a h17, 6 deck game with a bunch of added player favorable rules still only makes the game average for basic strategy players by Vegas standards.

# Decks Rules Casino Edge

Single deck h17 0.18%

Single deck h17, rsa 0.15%

Single deck h17, das 0.06%

Double deck h17 0.53%

Double deck h17, rsa 0.48%

Double deck h17, das, rsa 0.35%

Double deck h17, das, rsa, ls 0.28%

6 deck h17 0.76%

6 deck h17, rsa 0.69%

6 deck h17, ls 0.67%

6 deck h17,das 0.63%

6 deck h17, das, rsa 0.56%

6 deck h17, das, ls 0.54%

6 deck h17, das, ls, rsa 0.46%

In northern Nevada most casinos offer single deck games with h17 but they restrict doubling to only hard 10 and 11. The latter is a casino player favorable rule that results in this game having a casino edge of 0.44% (ie. it converts a good blackjack game to at best average).

The bottom line is that the soft 17 rule is tolerable in a single deck game (with no restrictions on doubling) and also in a double deck game if das, rsa, or ls is offered. For 6 (or 8) deck games, given a choice between h17 or s17 game, you are better off playing a s17 game.

'I played blackjack in a casino and noticed that whenever the dealer had a soft 17 hand, he would take a card. I thought dealers were supposed to stand on 17.'

As a general rule, casino rules specify that dealers must draw on '16 or less' and stand on '17 and more'. In fact it states that right on the layout. However, when the dealer's 17 contains an ace that is counted as 11, the hand is known as a soft 17 (e.g. Ace, 6 or Ace 2, 4 are soft 17's). And in some casinos, the rules specify that dealers must hit their soft 17 rather than stand and it will state that on the layout (this is known as the soft 17 rule).

So what's the big deal you say. Does it really make a difference on that one hand whether or not the dealer stands or hits? Well it is a big deal because that one slight rule change increases the casino's edge over players by about 0.2%.

The reason that the player's expectation decreases when the dealer must hit soft 17 is that even though the dealer will bust slightly more often when he hits compared to standing on 17, the times he doesn't bust he will more often end up with a hand that totals higher than 17. The net result is the casino's edge increases by 0.2%.

Your best bet is to not play blackjack in casinos that have the soft 17 rule especially when 6 decks of cards are used. But if you have no choice, then you should modify your basic playing strategy on these three hands (for a typical 6-deck game). They are as follows:

Double down on 11 (e.g. 6,5) against dealer's ace upcard (instead of standing)
Double down an soft 19 (Ace, 8) against dealer's 6 upcard (instead of standing)
Double down on soft 18 (Ace, 7) against dealer's 2 upcard (instead of standing).

Sometimes new casinos come under a lot of heat from blackjack players when they implement the soft 17 rule at their blackjack tables. This was the case in a new Mississippi casino that opened with this player unfavorable rule. Critics (myself included) and players voiced their discontent loud and clear especially since most of the other near bye casinos did not have this rule. It didn't take long before the casino changed the rule to 'dealer's standing on soft 17' and took out ads in local papers to announce the change.

Blackjack Soft 17 Rule

The soft 17 rule historically has been part of the blackjack games in the downtown Las Vegas and Reno casinos. Here you'll find mostly the more player favorable single deck (vs. 6 deck) blackjack games. The casino's offer the more favorable single deck games but then take some of that player advantage away by implementing the soft 17 rule. But still a single deck game with the soft 17 rule is a better game for most blackjack players than a typical multiple deck game.

The following chart that summarizes the effect of the casino's advantage over the basic strategy player when the soft 17 rule is in effect (i.e. dealer must hit soft 17). H17 =dealer hits soft 17. S=17 means dealer stands on soft 17. DAS=double after pair splitting allowed. NoDAS=doubling after pair splitting is not allowed.

# Decks Rules Casino Edge
1 H17, noDAS 0.18%
1 S17, noDAS -0.01%(Player has the advantage)
1 H17, DAS 0.06%
1 S17, DAS -0.13% (Player has the edge)
2 H17, noDAS 0.40%
2 S17, DAS 0.19%
6 H17, DAS 0.63%
6 S17, DAS 0.41%
You can see why casinos that offer single deck games usually implement the soft 17 rule. If they didn't a typical basic strategy player would have the edge. Notice the casino's edge in 6 deck games with the soft 17 rule. Their edge is 0.63% which is fairly high for most blackjack games.

Blackjack Dealer Stand Soft 17 Blackjack

Fortunately in all of the Gulf Coast casinos, the rules specify that the dealer's must stand on soft 17. In the Tunica based casinos, currently all the casinos hit soft 17 except the Isle of Capri and the Grand (the Grand has a mix of hit and stand soft 17). The casinos in Tunica compensate for the hit soft 17 rule by offering more player favorable single deck games then the casinos along the Gulf Coast.

Blackjack Dealer School

The bottom line is that the soft 17 rule is palatable in single deck games, but with 2 and 6 deck games you should try to play in casinos where the rules specify that dealers must stand on soft 17. That's the smart way to play blackjack.

Blackjack Soft Hard

Dr. Henry Tamburin is one of America's most popular casino gaming writers and the author of 6 best-selling casino books including his Blackjack: Take The Money & Run. For a free copy of Tamburin's Blackjack Insider Newsletter visit his web site at www.smartgaming.com. For a free copy of Tamburin's Casino Gambling Catalog call 1- 888- 353-3234.