Blackjack Hands: Soft Hands and Soft 17
Learning the rules of blackjack hands is relatively easy. Really – even If your blackjack experience is limited to watching 007 play against a villain on the big screen, you probably know the winning hands.
It might be cliché, but blackjack is a game that’s “easy to learn but takes a lifetime to master.” And today we’ll talk about the master level tips “Soft Hands” and a “Soft 17”, and how this knowledge can improve your blackjack game.
Soft hands refer to flexible blackjack hands that can have more than one value. Normally these are hands that contain an ace since aces have a value of 11 or 1. Soft hands give you a free pass from going bust while trying for a better hand. Let’s say Diamond Jim (The Blackjack King of Detroit) has a soft hand of a 5 and an ace. That hand is either a 6 or a 16. Since most dealers must play to 17, Diamond Jim’s going to want to beat the dealer (if the king wants to remain on the throne.) He’s going to draw another card, and hope for a 5. If he draws an ace though a 5 he’s improved his hand. Long live the king!
However, here’s the beauty of soft hands - If he draws a 6 or greater, he’s still ok - he considers the ace a 1 and refrains from busting.
Soft hands can also give you an insight on the dealer’s chances for winning. A dealer with an ace is the worst situation you can get. Because of the four cards with a value of ten (10, Jack, Queen and King), there’s a greater chance of the dealer getting blackjack with the next card than any other combination. However, having an ace also means the dealer hand is “soft”, which could further work to your disadvantage (depending on the venue). This is because of the “Soft 17 rule”.
A “soft 17 rule” is generally a rule for the dealer and means they have to draw another card if they have a soft seventeen or under. Soft 17 rules aren’t great for players because dealers won’t bust as often since they have their own “get out of busting” card (just as it favors a player to hit a soft hand, it will also favor the dealer to do the same.) Keep in mind that all casinos don’t have a soft 17 rule. Some casinos reverse it with a “Hard 17 rule” which states dealers must draw to a 17 or greater, but then stay there – that one is a little better for players. So it’s definitely to your advantage to know the hard from the soft, and understand that “dealer must hit on soft 17” actually doesn’t favor you.
So there you have it – a soft tip from the masters that’ll bring you a few more winning hands of blackjack. Good luck!
