These cards include a 10, Jack, Queen, and King.Īce, 2 – Hit against a dealer showing 2, 3, 4, or 7, 8, 9, 10, Ace. Note “10” reflects all cards with this value. Hopefully, we can demystify playing hands with an Ace today.

I’ve shared my struggles remembering when to hit a soft 18 numerous times. Even somewhat experienced blackjack players will sometimes struggle with the correct moves on a soft hand. The hands are considered “soft” because they can be played in two ways.įor example, when a player is dealt an Ace and 5 the hand can be played as a 6 or 16. Hands with an Ace can sometimes be confusing to a new blackjack player. Today we’re going to look at the correct basic strategy plays when a player is dealt at least one Ace. Sometimes the easiest way to memorize something is to break it up into smaller pieces. If a player doesn’t feel like memorizing the correct plays they can use a physical basic strategy card at the table. It doesn’t take someone with supreme intelligence to memorize the correct plays.

Using the basic strategy when playing blackjack is simple. Let’s take another dive into the correct basic strategy moves when a player is dealt at least one Ace. If there’s one person that doesn’t know the correct play when dealt Aces, there are probably more. One of the first tips I learned when starting to play blackjack was “always split Aces and Eights.”Įven my recreational gambling friends know to do this despite their lack of interest in learning the basic blackjack strategy. This person would always double on a pair of Aces instead of properly splitting the pair. The story was fun but unfortunately, the player didn’t know the basic strategy to make the correct plays.

I was recently reading an article about a player yelling “ Ace” every time they received the card. However, they’re not the only hands that can be greatly impacted by using the correct basic strategy. We recently focused on how to make the correct plays when doubling down and splitting. Players using the mathematically correct moves for every hand leads to a lower house edge for the casino than someone who doesn’t have this skill. Basic strategy is everything for a blackjack player.

Blackjack king and ace