Soft 17: Ace-Six, and Never Standing

Updated

First, a warning about the name. “Soft 17” means two different things in blackjack, and mixing them up is the single most common source of confusion at the table. This page is about the hand you hold. The rule about what the dealer does is a separate thing entirely.

As for playing it: double against 3 through 6, hit against everything else, and never, ever stand.

The short version
Every number on this page is computed for a six-deck game with our own solver, then checked against an independent reference. The calculator will do the same for your exact table and hand.

Two things called soft 17

Your soft 17 is a hand: an ace plus a six, or any ace-containing hand totalling 17 where the ace still counts as 11. That is what this page is about.

The dealer’s soft 17 is a table rule, written on the felt as S17 or H17, saying whether the dealer draws on their own soft 17. It changes the house edge by about 0.2% and it has nothing to do with how you play your hand. If that is what you were looking for, the dealer rules page covers it properly.

Why standing is never right

A 17 is a losing hand. Not a marginal one — a losing one. The dealer beats 17 more often than they tie or lose to it, against every single upcard. Standing on a hard 17 is correct only because hitting risks busting.

A soft 17 removes that risk entirely. Draw a ten and your ace drops to 1, leaving you a hard 17 — exactly where you started. You are getting a free attempt to improve a hand that is losing by default. Against a ten, standing costs 22.4% of your bet compared with hitting.

What each option is actually worth

Six decks, dealer stands on soft 17, ace-six specifically. Bet of 1 unit, shown against the dealer’s weakest card and one of the strongest:

break even vs 6 — double +0.261 vs 6 — hit +0.130 vs 6 — stand +0.012 vs 10 — hit -0.195 vs 10 — stand -0.420
Standing is the worst bar in both groups. There is no dealer card against which standing on soft 17 is correct.

When to double instead

Against 3 through 6 you double. Against a 6 it turns the hand from +0.130 into +0.261 — one of the larger gains available from a single doubling decision.

Against a 2 you only hit: doubling there is worth -0.004 against +0.001 for hitting, so the extra bet is not paid for. It is the same reason 12 is played differently against a 2 than against a 5 — a two is not a weak card.

Keep reading

S17 against H17the dealer rule, not the hand Soft 18one point up, three answers Doubling downwhen the second bet pays

By Martin Kosek · every number on this site is computed by us, not copied.

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