Hard Hands and Soft Hands in Blackjack

Blackjack players often mistakenly play soft hands in a manner similar to that which they play hard hands. In blackjack, a soft hand is a hand that contains an ace. The ace can count as either one or eleven and the blackjack player may use the ace as he sees fit. A hard hand is a hand without an ace. The hard hand in blackjack is absolute. Thus, when dealt a hand such as an eight and a seven, the count is fifteen, whereas a four and an ace can be either four or fourteen. By understanding that hard and soft blackjack hands play differently, a blackjack player can better maximize his profits at the blackjack table.

Playing Hard Hands

This is an area where many online blackjack players lose most of their bankroll. If you are dealt hard hands (no pair, no ace), like ten and five, or eight and six, you are in a difficult situation. This is the exact situation that you will find yourself in for the majority of your blackjack hands, as hard hands are statistically more common than hands like two aces or ten and nine.

Whenever you are dealt a hard hand, the best way to maximize your chances of ending up the winner, or losing the minimum, is to follow a blackjack strategy chart. Surrendering is rarely the right decision and should only be done when the dealer has a strong up card and you have very little cards that can make your hand presumably more powerful than the dealer’s hand. Usually you will have to hit your hard hands, but just follow the chart accordingly as sometimes even a low hand can be very profitable.

Playing Soft Hands

Although soft hands do not come nearly as often as the agonizing hard hands that regularly send a blackjack player on tilt (playing sloppy, without a solid strategy), when they do come they can be profitable. Soft hands consist of an ace with a non-face card. These are not monster hands in blackjack but they hold a lot of value when going against the dealer.

You can determine what to do depending on what the dealer’s up card is. If he has a rather weak card showing, doubling down could be a profitable option. In most cases, you will just want to hit. The chart shows a solid way to keep your winnings up with soft hands. Just remember to follow the chart for optimal blackjack play and never throw away a soft hand before hitting it at least once!