Black Jack Strategy

Since the objective is to beat the dealer without going over 21, the strategy depends upon your hand total versus the dealer's upcard.

You always hit if

• your total is less than the dealer's upcard
• If your total is less than 12

For other totals the decision depends upon the probability of beating the dealer versus the probability of going bust. For example, if your total is 13 to 16 you'll stand if the dealer's up card is a 2 through 5 and hit otherwise. The dealer will have to take at least another card and the probability of a dealer bust is greater than the probability of beating your hand.

Other decisions (using Las Vegas multiple deck) are shown in the table below.

	Dealer's Up Card
Your Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
9	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
10	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
11	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
17	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

continue to doubling strategy