A Guide to the Basic Strategy of Atlantic City Blackjack

What is the correct basic strategy for Atlantic City blackjack?

The following basic strategy is for typical Atlantic City rules.

HOUSE RULES:

• Cards are dealt from 6 decks.
• Dealer must stand on any 17.
• Double-down allowed on soft hands.
• Pairs may be split only once.
• Player may double-down after splitting pairs.
• Surrender is not allowed.

Strategy Table

|—might bust—| |—might stand—| <—- dealer possibility
—+—————————————-
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 X A <—- dealer’s up card
—+—————————————- Pairs
XX | S S S S S S S S S S
99 | PS PS PS PS PS S PS ps s s
88 | Ps Ps Ps Ps Ps Ph ph ph ph ph
77 | ps ps Ps Ps Ps ph h h h h
66 | ph ph ps Ps Ps h h h h h
55 | DH DH DH DH DH DH DH DH H H
44 | h H H PH PH H h h h h
33 | ph ph Ph Ph Ph ph h h h h
22 | ph ph Ph Ph PH ph h h h h
AA | PH PH PH PH PDH PH PH Ph Ph Ph
—+—————————————- Soft Hands
AX | S S S S S S S S S S
A9 | S S S S S S S S S S
A8 | S S S S S S S S S S
A7 | S DS DS DS DS S S h h h
A6 | H DH DH DH DH H h h h h
A5 | h H DH DH DH h h h h h
A4 | h H DH DH DH H h h h h
A3 | H H H DH DH H H h h h
A2 | H H H DH DH H H h h h
AA | H H H H DH H H h h h
—+—————————————- Hard Hands
21 | S S S S S S S S S S
20 | S S S S S S S S S S
19 | S S S S S S S S S S
18 | S S S S S S S s s s
17 | s s s s S s s s s s

16 | s s s s s h h h h h
15 | s s s s s h h h h h
14 | s s s s s h h h h h
13 | s s s s s h h h h h
12 | h h s s s h h h h h

11 | DH DH DH DH DH DH DH DH DH H
10 | DH DH DH DH DH DH DH DH H H
9 | H DH DH DH DH H H h h h
8 | h H H H H H h h h h
7 | h h h H H h h h h h
6 | h h h h h h h h h h
5 | h h h h H h h h h h
4 | h h h h H h h h h h
—+—————————————-
S=stand H=hit D=double P=split Q=surrender

NOTES:

1. If more than one option is listed, options to the left are preferred over options to the right. Options less favorable than STAND or HIT are not shown
2. Use the ‘Hard Hands’ table only when the other tables do not apply.
3. If splitting Aces is not allowed, use the ‘Soft Hands’ table.
4. Uppercase options favor the player, lowercase options favor the house.

What is the correct strategy for late surrender?

Basic strategy for late surrender in Atlantic City multi-deck games is:

Surrender hard 16 (but not 8-8) vs. 9, 10, ace
Surrender hard 15 vs. 10

If you are the least bit risk-averse, you should also:

Surrender hard 15 vs. ace

At some casinos, you can surrender your first two cards. You lose half your bet in return for not having to play through the hand. With early surrender, you get back half your bet even if the dealer has blackjack, while with late surrender you lose anyway when the dealer has blackjack.

More from Living in Spain

---