Hit or Stand: Blackjack Hard Hands and Soft Hands

No matter how you think about it, gambling really hangs on a player's luck at least to a certain degree depending on the game you play. That might be the spirit and the theme making gambling so exciting. Fortunately, the degree to which a player's skill is required in certain games can also tip the scales into the player's favor.

Such a game is blackjack where players have a chance to make the possibilities better for them. It doesn't mean that luck can't sway in the casino's favor. It only means that you have a chance to beat the odds in blackjack by following basic strategy.

The most common decisions you'll make in a game of blackjack is either to hit or to stand. To hit means to get another card from the dealer and add its value to your current value of your hand. In contrast, to stand means to stick with what your present total and don't take another card. The danger lies in hitting too much and busting or standing prematurely and get a weaker hand compared to the dealer's.

Basic strategy helps out when dealing with decisions like when to hit and when to stand in blackjack. One last thing before going over the actual strategy is to know what is a hard hand and a soft hand. Simply put a soft hand is hand that has an Ace on it where it is valued at 11 points. A hard hand is a hand in blackjack that has an Ace where its value is one or a blackjack hand that has no Ace. We now proceed to the strategy used in blackjack.

Let's start with blackjack's basic strategy for hard hands. If the total for your hand currently is anywhere from 17 to 20 you must stand regardless of the card the dealer shows. If that is not the case then you should read on. If your dealer shows a card anywhere from seven to ten or perhaps an Ace you should hit on a total of 16 or less.

If the dealer shows any card from four to six you should hit if your total is 11 or below else you must stand. If the dealer shows either a two or three you should hit if your total is 12 or less else you must stand. Let's move on to the soft hands.

Regardless of what card the dealer shows you must stand on a total of soft 19 or soft 20. But if your total is a soft 18 (meaning that you have a seven and an Ace) you should hit if the dealer shows anywhere from two to eight. But you should stand if the dealer shows any picture card or a nine or a ten. If you have a soft 17 or less you must hit.

This is your blackjack strategy for soft and hard hands. When to hit and when to stand are easy decisions in blackjack.