Your hand
Table rules
A 10, J, Q and K all count as 10, so there is just one 10 button. Suits don't matter.
Best move
The blackjack calculator above tells you whether to hit, stand, double, split or surrender, for any hand against any dealer card. Unlike a strategy chart it also shows the numbers: what each option is worth on average and how often you win, push or lose if you make the best move. Tap your cards in, choose the dealer’s up card, and set the table rules if they’re not the usual ones. It’s free and works on your phone.
Take A-6 against a 4. Lots of players hit it, and that’s not terrible: hitting wins about 6p for every £1 you bet. Doubling wins about 12p. Same hand, but twice the money goes on the table at the moment you’re the favourite.
Using the blackjack calculator
Add cards by tapping the buttons under “Your cards”. Tap a card in your hand to take it back out. Picture cards count as 10, so there’s one 10 button and suits are ignored. Under “Table rules” you can set the number of decks, whether the dealer hits soft 17, doubling after a split and surrender. The calculator remembers your rules for next time.
You’ll see:
- Best move, with a line on how close the call is. Some decisions are worth a few pence per £1, others are worth 50p or more.
- Average result for every option, as a percentage of your bet. −20% means you lose 20p per £1 over the long run. Double and split are counted on your original bet, so a double at +12% really is twice a +6% hit.
- Win, push and lose chances if you take the best move, plus how often the dealer busts with that up card.
Three-card hands are different
A chart treats every 16 alike. The calculator doesn’t, because the cards already out of the shoe change what’s left. Put in 10-6 against a 10 and hitting just beats standing. Put in 10-2-4, the same 16, and standing comes out ahead, by a hair. The 2 and the 4 you’ve used are cards that would have helped you, so there are fewer of them left to draw.
These differences are small in a six-deck game and bigger with one or two decks. They won’t make you rich, but they’re real.
The dealer’s up card does most of the work
How often the dealer busts, by up card, in a six-deck game where they stand on soft 17 (after checking for blackjack):
| Dealer shows | Busts |
|---|---|
| 2 | 35% |
| 4 | 39% |
| 6 | 42% |
| 7 | 26% |
| 9 | 23% |
| 10 | 23% |
| Ace | 17% |
That jump between 6 and 7 is why so much of basic strategy flips there. Against a 6 you stand on 13 and let the dealer take the risk. Against a 7 you hit, because 17 is now the dealer’s likely finish.
How it calculates
Every possible way the hand can play out is counted exactly, with each card drawn coming out of the shoe, yours and the dealer’s. It assumes the dealer checks for blackjack, you can double on any two cards, and you split once. Split aces get one card each. Nothing is simulated, so the same hand always gives the same answer. Some hands with lots of small cards take a second to work out.
If you’d rather learn the moves than look each one up, the blackjack strategy chart has every hand on one page and you can print it.