Blackjack basic strategy chart for 8 decks

The rules this chart is for

This chart is built for the game the course teaches: live-dealer online blackjack dealt from a real shoe.

• 8 decks, with about half the shoe dealt before the shuffle
• The dealer stands on soft 17
• Double on any first two cards, including after a split
• One split per hand (no resplitting), and split aces get one card each
• No surrender
• Blackjack pays 3:2

If your table's rules are different, a handful of cells change. The course covers how each rule shifts the chart.

How to read it

Find your hand down the left side and the dealer's upcard along the top. The cell where they meet is the play. Use the pairs table when your first two cards match, the soft totals table when you hold an ace that counts as 11, and the hard totals table for everything else.

• HHit
• SStand
• DDouble (hit if you can't double)
• DsDouble (stand if you can't double)
• PSplit

Patterns that help it stick

• Against a dealer 2 to 6, the chart stands on hard 13 to 16 and lets the dealer draw. Hard 12 stands against 4 to 6.
• Hard 11 doubles against everything except an ace in this game, and hard 10 doubles against 2 to 9.
• Aces and eights split against any upcard. Tens stand, and a pair of fives plays as a hard 10.
• Soft 18 (A-7) is worth extra practice: stand against 2, 7 and 8, double against 3 to 6, and hit against 9, 10 and an ace.

Practise until it's automatic

Reading the chart is the first step. Making the play without looking is the goal. The trainer demo deals hands at an 8-deck table and shows what basic strategy plays after each of your decisions, so you can check yourself as you go.

Where it fits

Once basic strategy feels natural, the next steps are keeping a count and converting it. Start with Hi-Lo card counting, then learn the true count.