Blackjack strategy chart and rules: how to play 6 deck blackjack

Key facts

You win by finishing closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. Cards 2 to 9 count face value, tens and picture cards count 10, aces count 1 or 11.
The chart is for 6 decks (it also suits 4 to 8), dealer stands on soft 17, dealer checks for blackjack, double on any two cards, double after split allowed, no surrender.
Played perfectly with those rules, the house edge in our calculation is about 0.46% of each original bet if blackjack pays 3 to 2, and about 1.81% if it pays 6 to 5.
Some mistakes cost a lot: hitting 11 against a dealer 6 instead of doubling gives up about 34% of your bet on that hand; splitting tens against a 6 costs about 14%.
Blackjack is legal in Australian casinos in person. Online blackjack cannot legally be offered to people in Australia.

How to play blackjack, step by step

You play blackjack against the dealer only, and you win by finishing with a hand closer to 21 than the dealer's without going over. Each round runs the same way:

Bet. Put your chips in the betting box before the deal.
Deal. You get two cards face up. The dealer gets one card face up and, depending on the table, a second card face down or dealt after the players finish.
Check for blackjack. An ace plus a ten-value card as your first two cards is a blackjack. On a peek table, a dealer showing an ace or ten checks for blackjack before anyone plays.
Play your hand. Hit, stand, double or split, using the chart below.
Dealer plays. The dealer has no choices: they turn over their card and keep drawing until they reach 17 or more.
Settle. Closer to 21 than the dealer wins, the same total is a push, and going over 21 loses even if the dealer busts afterwards.

Cards	Value
2 to 9	Face value
10, Jack, Queen, King	10
Ace	1 or 11, whichever helps

A hand with an ace counted as 11 is soft: A,6 is soft 17, and it cannot bust with one more card. A hand with no ace, or an ace forced to count as 1, is hard: 10,6,A is hard 17. The chart has separate tables for each.

Your options on each hand

Every decision in blackjack is one of these, and the chart tells you which one to make.

Option	What it means	When it is allowed
Hit	Take another card	Any time you are under 21
Stand	Take no more cards	Any time
Double down	Double your bet, take exactly one more card	First two cards; after a split only if the table allows it
Split	Turn a pair into two hands, adding an equal bet	First two cards of the same value
Surrender	Give up half your bet and end the hand	Only on tables that offer it
Insurance	Side bet, usually up to half your bet, that the dealer has blackjack	When the dealer shows an ace

What blackjack pays

A winning hand pays even money, and a blackjack pays more. In a 6 deck shoe you are dealt a blackjack on about 4.75% of hands, roughly 1 in 21, in our calculation.

Result	Pays	On a $10 bet
Win	1 to 1	$10 profit
Blackjack at 3 to 2	3 to 2	$15 profit
Blackjack at 6 to 5	6 to 5	$12 profit
Insurance wins	2 to 1 on the insurance bet	$10 on a $5 insurance bet
Push (tie)	Bet returned	$0
Bust or lower total	Bet lost	minus $10

The rules this blackjack strategy is for

Blackjack strategy depends on the rules, so here they are. This chart is for a common shoe game:

6 decks (the chart is also right for 4 to 8 decks)
dealer stands on soft 17 (S17)
dealer checks for blackjack before you play (peek)
double down on any first two cards
double after split allowed
split once; split aces get one card each
no surrender
blackjack pays 3 to 2

We worked the chart out with our own solver, which calculates the exact expected result of every option for each starting hand against each dealer card, with the cards in your hand and the dealer's up card removed from a 6 deck shoe. It matches the standard total-based basic strategy for these rules.

Key: H = hit, S = stand, D = double (hit if you cannot double), Ds = double (stand if you cannot double), P = split.

Hard totals

Your hand has no ace, or an ace that must count as 1.

Your hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
8 or less	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
9	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
17 or more	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Soft totals

Your hand has an ace counting as 11.

Your hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,2	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,3	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,4	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,5	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,6	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,7	S	Ds	Ds	Ds	Ds	S	S	H	H	H
A,8	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A,9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Pairs

Your pair	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
2,2	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
3,3	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
4,4	H	H	H	P	P	H	H	H	H	H
5,5	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
6,6	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H	H
7,7	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
8,8	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
9,9	P	P	P	P	P	S	P	P	S	S
10,10	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A,A	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P

If double after split is not allowed, we re-ran the pairs and four rows change: split 2s and 3s only against 4 to 7, never split 4s (hit instead), and split 6s only against 3 to 6. Sevens, 8s, 9s and aces stay the same.

Why the chart stands against a 2 to 6

The chart stands on hard 13 to 16 against a dealer 2 to 6 because those up cards bust the dealer most often. Our 6 deck calculation, dealer standing on soft 17:

Dealer shows	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
Dealer busts	35.4%	37.4%	39.6%	41.8%	42.3%	26.2%	24.4%	22.9%	21.2%	11.5%

Against a 7 or higher the dealer usually makes a hand, so you usually have to keep hitting. With an ace showing the dealer busts only 11.5% of the time, or 16.7% once a peek has ruled out blackjack. For your own chances of being dealt blackjack, winning a hand or busting, see blackjack odds.

What the chart is worth, and the rules that cost you money

With the rules above and 3 to 2 blackjack, our calculation puts the house edge at about 0.46% of each original bet when you follow the chart. That is about 46 cents per $100 bet in the long run, far lower than most casino games; our casino games guide compares it with roulette, baccarat and the rest. The same game costs very different amounts depending on the fine print:

Rule change (otherwise as above)	House edge in our calculation
None: dealer stands on soft 17, blackjack pays 3 to 2	0.46%
Dealer hits soft 17	0.67%
Blackjack pays 6 to 5	1.81%

6 to 5 is the big one. Cutting the blackjack payout from 1.5 to 1.2 times your bet costs 0.3 of a bet on the 4.75% of hands that are blackjacks, less the few that tie with a dealer blackjack. That works out to about 1.36% of everything you bet, nearly three times the whole house edge on a 3 to 2 table. The felt looks almost the same, so read it before you sit down: if it says "Blackjack pays 6 to 5", find another table.

Casinos also run variations with extra rules and side bets. In Victoria the regulator must approve the rules of the casino's table games before they are introduced or changed; its published decisions include introducing Free Bet blackjack with a "Pot of Gold" side bet (March 2024) and removing the "Five and Under" hand from Blackjack Plus (May 2026). Each variation changes the maths, so this chart and these numbers apply to standard rules only. Spanish 21 and pontoon, both dealt in Australian casinos, have their own rules and bonus payouts, covered on their own pages. Ask for the rules if the table sign is unclear.

What common mistakes cost

Every cell on the chart is the best of several options, and some wrong choices cost far more than others. These are from our solver, per hand, as a share of the original bet.

Situation	Right play	Common wrong play	Cost of the mistake
11 against 6	Double	Hit	33.7%
4,4 against 10	Hit	Split	31.9%
A,A against 10	Split	Hit	24.9%
15 against 6	Stand	Hit	21.6%
13 against 7	Hit	Stand	20.5%
9,9 against 6	Split	Stand	15.8%
10,10 against 6	Stand	Split	13.6%
A,7 against 9	Hit	Stand	8.4%
A,6 against 4	Double	Hit	6.2%
8,8 against 10	Split	Stand	5.4%
12 against 2	Hit	Stand	4.4%
16 against 10	Hit	Stand	0.6%

The famous "should I hit 16 against a 10" agony is the cheapest mistake on the list. Not doubling 11 against a 6 costs more than fifty times as much.

Pundit tip: if you only memorise three rows, make them 11 (double against everything but an ace), 12 to 16 (stand against 2 to 6 except 12 against 2 and 3), and always split aces and 8s.

Closest calls on the chart

A few cells are nearly a coin toss. In our solver:

16 against 10: hit beats stand by about 0.6% of the bet with a 10,6. With three or more cards, standing can be right.
12 against 4: stand beats hit by about 0.7% with a 9,3, an 8,4 or a 7,5. With a 10,2 the two are within 0.1% and hitting edges ahead, but the chart keeps the simpler "stand".
9 against 2: hitting beats doubling by about 0.8%.
A,6 against 2: hitting beats doubling by less than 0.5%.

These are the spots where card counters change their play. For a basic strategy player, the chart's answer is right on average.

If the dealer hits soft 17

On H17 tables the dealer draws to a soft 17. We re-ran the solver with that rule, and three cells change:

Your hand	Dealer card	S17 play	H17 play
11	A	Hit	Double
A,7	2	Stand	Double (stand if not allowed)
A,8	6	Stand	Double (stand if not allowed)

Everything else stays the same. The dealer hitting soft 17 is bad for you overall, because the dealer improves soft 17s instead of standing on them. That is why the rules table above puts an H17 game at about 0.67% instead of 0.46%.

Insurance and side bets

Insurance is a side bet that the dealer has blackjack when an ace is showing. It pays 2 to 1. In a 6 deck shoe with no tens in your hand, the dealer has a ten underneath about 31.1% of the time, so insurance loses about 6.8% of what you put on it. Basic strategy never takes it, even with a blackjack of your own. Other side bets have their own pay tables and their own house edge, so check the pay table before you play one. Our blackjack side bets guide ranks Perfect Pairs, 21+3 and the rest by house edge.

Using this strategy in Australia

Blackjack is legal in Australian casinos in person. Online blackjack is a casino-style game that cannot legally be offered to people in Australia under the Interactive Gambling Act, and ACMA lists poker, blackjack and roulette among illegal online services. That includes live dealer casinos and live blackjack tables, which stream a real dealer but are still online casino games; are online pokies legal in Australia covers casino games too. If you are comparing games for their maths, our roulette strategy and how to play baccarat guides use the same approach.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you play blackjack?

Place a bet, get two cards, and decide to hit (take a card), stand, double (double your bet for one more card) or split a pair into two hands. Then the dealer draws to 17 or more by fixed rules. If you are closer to 21 than the dealer without busting, you win even money.

What does blackjack pay?

A normal win pays 1 to 1 and a push returns your bet. A blackjack should pay 3 to 2, so a $10 bet wins $15. Some tables pay only 6 to 5 ($12 on $10), which lifts the house edge from about 0.46% to about 1.81% in our calculation.

What is basic strategy in blackjack?

Basic strategy is the best play for every combination of your hand and the dealer's face-up card, for a given set of rules, worked out by calculating the expected result of each option. It does not need card counting, and it does not guarantee a win: it cuts the house edge to about 0.46% with the rules on this page, in our calculation.

Should you always split 8s in blackjack?

With these rules, yes, even against a 10 or an ace. Against a 10, standing on 16 loses about 54 cents per dollar on average in our solver, while splitting loses about 48 cents. Splitting is still a losing spot, just a less bad one.

Should you hit or stand on 16 against a 10?

Hit, if you have a two-card 16 and cannot surrender. It is the closest call on the chart: in our solver hitting a 10,6 against a 10 loses about 53.5 cents per dollar and standing about 54.1 cents.

Should I take insurance?

No. Insurance pays 2 to 1 if the dealer has blackjack. In a 6 deck shoe, with no tens in your own hand, the dealer completes blackjack about 31.1% of the time, so insurance loses about 6.8% of what you put on it.

Does the chart change for online or live blackjack?

Only if the rules change. Check the number of decks, whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17, whether you can double after splitting and what blackjack pays. Online casino games cannot legally be offered to people in Australia, so check the law before you play online.

Sources

Official pages we relied on. If anything here has changed, tell us via the contact page and we fix it.

Blackjack strategy: how to play, the 6 deck basic strategy chart and the rules that cost you