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After all players have played their hands, from
the dealer's left to right, the dealer will play
his hand. The dealer has no free will but must
always play by certain house rules. Usually the
rule is that the dealer must hit until he
reaches a score of 17 or more. Some casinos
stipulate that if the dealer has a soft 17,
consisting of an ace and any number of cards
totaling 6, he must also hit. If the dealer
busts all players that did not bust
automatically win.
The Basic Strategy
The most important thing to know about blackjack
is the basic strategy. This strategy is simply
the best way to play every possible situation,
without any knowledge of the distribution of the
rest of the cards in the deck. Following is the
basic strategy for four of more decks when the
dealer stands on soft 17. Links are also
provided to more basic strategy charts for other
rules. However the most common game is the
multiple deck game (4 or more decks) where the
dealer stands on soft 17. If you only memorize
one table I would suggest the one below. It can
be played effectively under any rules.
To use the basic strategy look up your hand
along the left vertical edge and the dealer's up
card along the top. In both cases an A stands
for ace. From top to bottom are the hard totals,
soft totals, and splittable hands. Rule
variations can have an effect on some borderline
situations. The most flexible rules are the
number of decks, whether the dealer hits or
stands on a soft 17, and whether doubling is
allowed after splitting
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