Blackjack Doubling a Soft 18 - Doubling Soft Eighteen

When to Double Down on a Soft Eighteen

When playing blackjack, either on the Internet, or in a casino, it would not be so uncommon to be dealt a soft eighteen. A soft eighteen, with two cards combined, is an ace and a seven. This hand is called a soft eighteen, because if you hit and receive a ten valued card, you would not bust, you would now have a hard eighteen. This hand could also be counted as an eight.

A lot of blackjack players have a lot of ideas as to what to do with a soft eighteen. Some say always hit it, some say to sometimes double down and some say to go with your gut instinct. All players base their strategy on math, card counting, a hunch or basic strategy. As I always advise, it is best to follow basic strategy for blackjack, it beats guessing and it is a great way to play consistently, which prevents times where you just want to kick yourself, for not doing what you knew was the right thing.

You can find and purchase a blackjack basic strategy card at a lot of casino gift shops and even on the Internet. It is very important to remember when shopping for a blackjack basic strategy card that to make sure it is designed for the game in which you plan to play. For example, the small, credit card sized basic strategy chart that I follow is designed for tables in which the dealer stays on all seventeens, as opposed to the dealer hitting a soft seventeen. I suggest that if the table you plan to play at hits soft seventeens, then you should shop for a basic strategy card that applies to those conditions.

According to the blackjack basic strategy card that I am looking at, it says that when you are dealt an ace and a seven and the dealer is showing an up card of a two, you should not double down on your soft eighteen, instead you should simply stay on your soft eighteen. In the case where you are dealt an ace and a seven and the dealer is showing an up card of a three, four, five or a six, you should not simply hit or stand on your soft eighteen, you should double down on your soft eighteen, by waiting for the dealer to offer you a hit, and placing a second wager out there, up to the amount of your original bet, but not to exceed your original bet and the dealer will give you only one additional card, a good one or bad one, doesn't matter, because you are only getting one card. Hopefully it will be a three for twenty one, or a two for twenty, but even if it is an ace, you are still looking good with a nineteen. With a four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or ten valued card, you may not have a great looking hand, but hopefully the dealer will break and all hands, including your ugly thirteen, will get paid. Basic strategy for blackjack also recommends that if you have a soft eighteen and the dealer has a seven or an eight as an up card showing, you should not double down, nor hit, but simply stand on the soft eighteen. In the cases where you would be dealt an ace and a seven and the dealer is showing an up card of a nine, ten valued card or an ace, you should not double down on your soft eighteen, not stand either, but should hit your soft eighteen.

Granted, just because you follow basic strategy to the letter and always hit your soft eighteen and sometimes double down on your soft eighteen when instructed to, does not mean you will win every time you are dealt a soft eighteen, or even every time you have a big bet out there and double down on your soft eighteen, it simply means that hopefully you will come out ahead more times than not when you play by the basic strategy for blackjack.