Playing Hard Hands in Blackjack

Unlike other popular card games, Blackjack is not a game of mere luck. Blackjack is a game dictated by strategy, card skills, speed of thought, and sound reasoning ability. If you are well aware of the basic blackjack strategy and how to play hard hands, soft hands, and pairs, you can easily reduce the house edge and win the game. In this article, let us discuss how to play hard hands in blackjack.

In Blackjack, hard hands are those hands which lack an Ace value card. You can increase your chances of winning by playing hard hands correctly. Here is how to play hard hands in blackjack.

• Check the dealer’s up card.
• Check your initial two cards.
• Always stand, if your card value is 17 to 21.
• Always hit, if you are having 8 or less.
• Double, if your card value is 9 and the dealer’s up card is 3 to 6. Else hit.
• Double, if your card value is 10 and the dealer’s face card is 2 to 9. Otherwise hit.
• If your card value is 11 – double if the dealer’s up card is 2 to 10. Always hit if the dealer’s face card is an Ace.
• Hit, if your card value is 12 and the dealer’s face card is 2 or 3. If the dealer’s face card is 4, 5 or 6, Stand. Else hit.
• Stand if your card total is 13 to 16, and the dealer’s card is 2 to 6. Otherwise hit.

Almost all the decisions of the players are communicated to the dealer with the help of blackjack hand signals. Hence it is important that the player must be knowledgeable of all the blackjack hand signals used in the game. Remember, dealers only monitor players hand signals, not the conversation of the players.

Playing Pairs in Blackjack

If a player has two same cards in his initial hand, then it is called ‘pairs’. If you know how to play pairs using the basic blackjack strategy, you can considerably reduce the house edge. In this article, we will discuss how to play pairs in blackjack.

To start playing pairs, first check what is the value of the dealer’s up card. Look at the pair you have in you hand.

• Always stand, if you are having a pair of 10s.
• Always split, if you are having a pair of 8s or Aces.
• If you are having a pair of 2s or 3s, then split if the dealer’s face up card is 2 to 7, else hit.
• Split if the dealer’s face up card 2 to 7, and you are having a pair of 7s. Otherwise hit.
• If you are having a pair of 4s, then split if the dealer’s face up card is 4 or 5, else hit.
• If you are having a pair of 5s, then double if the dealer’s face up card is 2 to 9, else hit.
• If you are having a pair of 6s, then split if the dealer’s face up card is 2 to 6, else hit.
• If you are having a pair of 9s, then split if the dealer’s face up card is 2 to 6, or 8 or 9. If the dealer’s face up card is Ace, 7 or 10, then stand.

These tips for playing pairs in blackjack are focused on 4 to 8 deck blackjack games, and where the casinos allow splitting and doubling. Before you play blackjack, make sure that the casino you selected allows splitting and doubling. To decrease the house advantage and increase your chances for winning blackjack, learn the various strategies for single deck and double deck blackjack games. Enjoy Blackjack!

Hard Hands and Soft Hands in Blackjack

In Blackjack, a hard hand is a hand which has an Ace card which is valued as “1”. On the other hand, a soft hand is a hand which has an Ace card whose value is 11. Blackjack allows players to assign the value for Ace cards as 1 or 11. Therefore the value of Ace's card depend on the player, but this causes certain hands to have a dual value which is lesser the hand bust. That is, if a hand of A/2 can be valued as Soft 13 or Hard 3, it depends on how the Ace value card is calculated.

Let us look on some examples of hard hands and soft hands of blackjack:

If you are dealt with:

An Ace card and a 7 card can be valued as Hard 8 or Soft 18.
An Ace Card and a 9 card can be valued as Hard 10 or Soft 20.
An Ace Card and a 6 card can be valued as Hard 7 or Soft 17.

Learning to tell apart a hard hand from soft hand is a part of the basic blackjack strategy. Some basic blackjack strategy relies on blackjack players to determine which is a hard hand and which is a soft hard. However, when a player utilizes the basic doubling down strategy, he/she must be aware of the difference between hard hands and soft hands. Though, this is only a small part of the blackjack basic strategy, this is quite essential for a player to learn and play blackjack well.