Soft Hand Play in Blackjack Against Weak Dealer Cards

Added: May 15, 2014

Different decisions in blackjack can be categorized in different ways. You could categorize them based on the dealer's up card, and you could categorize them by the type of hand you have. If you categorize a situation in many different ways, then you get a very detailed subsection of blackjack strategy that you can focus on to make meaningful, long-lasting improvements that will help to boost your payout rate on a very detailed level. That's exactly what we want to do here by looking at situations where you have a soft hand against a weak dealer card.

The weak dealer cards are six and lower, but the higher the card in that range, the weaker the dealer actually is. This means that, in order, the weakest dealer cards are six, five, four, three and two. The higher your soft total, the stronger your hand, and the more likely you should double. By comparing your hand and the dealer's card, you can figure out exactly when you should double and when you should hit instead.

Along these lines, it's no surprise that you should hit when you have a soft 14 against a three or that you should double when you have a soft 18 against a six. Note that while you should always stand if you have a soft 19 or higher, you should also stand with a soft 18 if you're not doubling. With a soft 17 or lower, you should hit if you're not doubling. Other than these general guidelines, we have a trick for you to know when to double.

If you have a soft hand between 13 and 18, and you're facing a dealer with a six or lower, then here's how to know if you should double or hit. Take the amount of your total and add the dealer's card to it twice. If you get 23 or higher, then you should double. With 22 or lower, you should just hit. It's that simple.

Let's use this in an example. Suppose you have a soft 15 against a four. Add four to 15 twice to get 23. Since you have more than 22, you should double. This shortcut works as long as you remember that it only applies to weak dealer cards and when you have a soft total of between 13 and 18 in multi-hand blackjack games.