GAME STRATEGY

Blackjack Basic Strategy

The exact play for every hand. Memorize this and you'll wash playthrough requirements with the lowest possible losses.

Basic strategy is a fixed set of rules that tells you the mathematically correct play for every hand you'll ever be dealt. It doesn't guarantee wins, but it minimizes the house edge down to around 0.5%, which makes it the single best game for clearing playthrough requirements with minimal losses.

How to use this: Find your hand total in the left column, then find the dealer's up card across the top. The cell where they meet tells you what to do.

Hard Totals (no Ace, or Ace counted as 1)

Hit Stand Double if allowed, otherwise Hit

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+	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Soft Totals (hand includes an Ace counted as 11)

Your Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,2 - A,3	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,4 - 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	D	D	D	D	S	S	H	H	H
A,8+	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Why this matters for washing

When you're clearing a playthrough requirement, every hand you play is exposure to risk. Basic strategy keeps that risk as close to neutral as mathematically possible. Combined with small bet sizes spread across many hands, this is the most reliable way to clear requirements without giving back a big chunk of your bonus.

Reminder: Bet small and play many hands. $1 across 100 hands beats $20 across 5 hands every time when it comes to minimizing variance.

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