Blackjack Hit Or Stand On 16
- Hit: Take another card. Afterwards you will have the option again to either hit or stand. If you go over 21 you will be bust and your hand will lose. Double: You will be offered this normally if you have 9, 10, 11, or any ace. If you click double your stake will now be doubled, so in the example above my bet will be £10.
- Blackjack buffs really hate a hard 16 against a dealer's seven- through ace-up. This, whether the 16 is a 9-7 or 10-6 two-card combination, or a larger set such as 7-8-A or 5-3-4-4. And the antipathy is well warranted. These are the weakest positions in which players can find themselves.
- You have an option to add more blackjack cards by choosing 'hit', but you lose automatically if your value of cards exceeds 21. Step 5: click ‘stand’ Click 'stand' when you are ready to play your hand. Step 6: learn the dealer’s hand. The dealer will reveal his hidden blackjack card and must always hit if they have 16 or lower.
- At the purely basic strategy level, you're instructed to just always hit 16 against a 10, although many 16's against a 10 should actually be stood on. At a slightly deeper level of play, you're a smidge better off to hit the 2-card 16 and stand on all 3 or more card 16's, although, some 3 and even 4 card 16's should actually still be hit.
Even so, certain guidelines can help you decide whether you should hit or stand on 16. To clarify, the basic blackjack strategy can show you the way in this situation. How To Play Soft 16 In Blackjack. So, we start with soft 16, which is a hand that contains an Ace counted as 11. As you know, the Ace is the chameleon of blackjack.
My question is if it is better to stand or hit if you have a 3/4/5 card 16 vs a 7, 8, 9, A. I understand the difference between hitting and standing is really really small but I guess it makes a little bit of a difference in the long run.
Also does it make a difference if it's a soft instead of a hard 3/4/5 card 16 against a 10? You would still hit in that case right?
EDIT: Nevermind! Wizard goes through all this thoroughly already in the appendices on the blackjack page.
You'd NEVER stand on a soft 16 regardless of the dealer's upcard (unless the next card to be dealt has been flashed and it would be better for the dealer to get it). You can't bust or weaken such a hand by taking another card. (For soft hands you'd have to have at least 18 to think about standing, and even with a soft 18 there are cases you'd still hit or double.)
Single Deck - http://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/appendix/3c/
Double Deck - http://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/appendix/3b/
Of note is this snippet from the Double Deck link:
The following lists will show exactly how to play your cards immediately after a shuffle in a double deck game where the dealer stands on a soft 17.
It states 'immediately after a shuffle'.
My question would be how to play this into the deck with no advantage play? Continue standing on a 3-card 16 vs 10 up?
It states 'immediately after a shuffle'.
My question would be how to play this into the deck with no advantage play? Continue standing on a 3-card 16 vs 10 up?
Yes, if you aren't counting at all, you would need to assume the count is zero. And when you have a 3-card hard 16, this would create a positive count which means you should stand. Now if you would bother to count, then you should hit when the count is negative (deck less rich in ten cards) and stand when the count is positive (deck more rich in ten cards).
There may be a few obscure composition-dependent exceptions for the other upcards (especially in pitch games) but in general unless you're counting you'd always hit 16 vs. 7-9 or A.
Wait, what? I thought that standing a 16 on 7-9 would be better than standing on the 10 since there's a better chance of the dealer bust, while your odds are relatively unchanged.
Yes, if you aren't counting at all, you would need to assume the count is zero. And when you have a 3-card hard 16, this would create a positive count which means you should stand. Now if you would bother to count, then you should hit when the count is negative (deck less rich in ten cards) and stand when the count is positive (deck more rich in ten cards).
Essentially, the Wizard's comment was made for AP's then? A BS player would continue on standing 3-card 16 vs 10, correct?
Wait, what? I thought that standing a 16 on 7-9 would be better than standing on the 10 since there's a better chance of the dealer bust, while your odds are relatively unchanged.
Check out this link:
Blackjack Appendix 9 — 2 Decks, Dealer Hits Soft 17 - http://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/appendix/9/2dh17r4/
Wait, what? I thought that standing a 16 on 7-9 would be better than standing on the 10 since there's a better chance of the dealer bust, while your odds are relatively unchanged.
I believe it's because the dealer makes some of their strongest hands with a ten up (lots of 20s), so you're better off just standing and praying for a bust (at least with a positive count) instead of trying to improve your hand with a hit. With the ten up, if you hit to 18, you aren't out of the woods yet. You'd be in much better shape if the dealer had a 7 up.
Essentially, the Wizard's comment was made for AP's then? A BS player would continue on standing 3-card 16 vs 10, correct?
Well, it's such a marginal play, the correct play depends on card composition of your hand given no other info, and he wanted to point that out since you can obviously realize how many cards exist in your own hand. A Basic Strategy player should hit two card hard 16s vs 10 and stand with 3+ card hard 16s vs 10.
Well, it's such a marginal play, the correct play depends on card composition of your hand given no other info, and he wanted to point that out since you can obviously realize how many cards exist in your own hand. A Basic Strategy player should hit two card hard 16s vs 10 and stand with 3+ card hard 16s vs 10.
Some refine that by advocating the rule of 45. This would have the player stay on three card 16s containing a 4 or a 5 while hitting all other combinations. This is for basic strategy players only and it is very, very close. A three card 16 against a seven is not close and should be hit without hesitation.
Here are the links for anyone wondering: Single Deck -
' target='_blank'>http://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/appendix/3c/Blackjack Hit Or Stand On 16 00
I'm no blackjack expert so when I started playing the IGT full pay video blackjack (100.03%) I had to go to a blackjack expert to get the strategy. It was single deck, first hand off. I gleaned the entire strategy from the Wizard's of Odd's compositional dependent blackjack strategy. Thanks, Shack! I made a lot of money at that game whenever I found good cashback.