BlackJack for Women

Blackjack's Hitting or Standing

When playing blackjack, a player is dealt two cards to form their original hand. They have the option of either hitting the hand, (that is, taking one-or-more cards to improve their total), or standing. By standing, they waive the right to get more cards.

We know that hitting the hand is an attempt to improve the point total, but standing is used for two reasons. First of all, the hand might be so strong that drawing a card endangers it by creating a likely opportunity to bust. An example of this might be holding 10-10 for a 20 total. Only one card, an ace, will improve the hand, and every other card in the deck will destroy it by taking it over 21 and busting it. So we'd automatically stand with a 20.

It has been worked out and verified by computer that drawing a card to any total of hard 17 or more creates the same destructive situation. Therefore, with a holding of hard 17 or more, you'll automatically stand with your hand. Note that we are talking about hard 17, or more. A soft total is quite another thing.

As you recall, no hand can be soft without the inclusion of an ace. A soft total is any hand where the ace is counted as an 11, rather than a 1.

Let's assume we hold 10-7. That's a hard 17, and we have stated adamantly that this hand should not be hit. It shouldn't be hit because there are only four cards that will improve it - the ace, 2, 3 and 4 - and nine cards that will destroy it - the 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and the four 10-value cards.

However, suppose we hold an Ace-6. This is a soft 17, with the ace counting as an 11. If we hit this hand, there's no way we can bust it. That is because we can then turn the ace in a 1 and still be below 17. For instance, if we hit the Ace-6 and got a 10, we'd have a hard 17, with the ace now counting as 1 - there's no way to bust this hand by hitting it.

Let's go back to the option of standing pat. There will be times that we have a rather weak total, but we stand pat, anyway, because there may be a strong chance that the dealer will bust their hand. Remember, if we bust first and subsequently the dealer busts, we are still a loser. Therefore, in certain situations, we give the dealer the chance to bust first.

Suppose we hold a 10-6, a real stiff. Any hard total from 12-16 is known as a stiff hand. This is the worst hand we can hold because only five cards can help us, and eight cards can bust us. Yet, we must hit this hand in certain situations when the dealer holds a 7, 8, 9, 10 or ace; suppose we see that the dealer's upcard is also a 6. They may hold a 6 or higher as their hole card, and thus have a hand valued at 12 or more. If they hit that hand, and get a 10, they'll bust.

We know that the most prevalent card in the deck is a 10, for there are sixteen 10-value cards, and we have to assume, if the dealer shows a 6 as their upcard, that they may hold another card that gives them a potential bust hand. That is why we'll stand with stiff totals in certain situations.