What to Do When You Have a Soft 17

Published on Thursday, 18 July 2013 09:20

Written by Sam

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A lot of blackjack players ask me what they should do when dealt a soft hand. A “soft hand” is when you have an Ace and any other card that isn’t a 10 or face card. Being dealt an Ace along with another card will help you build an advantage over the House, but only when played properly. When you use a black jack strategy that properly deals with soft hands, you will gain an advantage.

In a casino, gaining any advantage over the house edge is an uphill battle. When you use the best strategy for blackjack, you can stack small advantages together to close the gap.

Let’s take one specific example of a soft hand and see how it should be played.

Say you’re dealt an Ace and a Six, giving you a soft hand value of 17. Should you stand, hit, or double down this hand?

That depends on the dealer’s up card.

• If the dealer’s up card is a 2, you should stand with your soft 17.
• If the dealer’s up card is a 3, 4, 5, or 6, you should double down your hand.
• If the dealer’s up card is anything else, you should hit your soft 17.

When playing your soft hands properly, you will gain a small, but remarkable advantage of 0.88% over the house. That’s almost one extra win for every 100 hands you play.

A 0.88% edge doesn’t sound like much, but think about this. If you were a car dealership with a 1% advantage over each of your competitors, it would play out in the long run in your favor — in a big way.

You have to keep stacking up those cruddy little 1% and 2% advantages every chance you get. It may not be what some consider “professional blackjack,” but it’s a proven method to stretch your gaming dollar.

Learn about the rest of my soft hand strategies by visiting my Exclusive Offer page. And as always, if you’ve used my strategy, I’d love to hear from you. Just fill out the form on my website.