Soft 17 in blackjack, explained

A soft 17 is any blackjack hand worth 17 that includes an ace counted as 11, like ace-6 or ace-2-4. It’s “soft” because the ace can drop to 1, so one more card can never bust it.

Soft 17 vs hard 17

Soft 17: A-6, A-3-3, A-2-4, A-A-5. The ace counts as 11, so taking a card is risk-free: if you go over 21, the ace simply becomes 1. Hard 17: 10-7, 9-8, 10-4-3. No ace counted as 11, so any card above a 4 busts you.

“Dealer stands on soft 17” vs “dealer hits soft 17”

Every blackjack table prints its rule on the felt. S17 means the dealer stops on any 17, soft or hard. H17 means the dealer takes another card on soft 17 but stops on hard 17. Hitting soft 17 gives the dealer a chance to improve a weak 17 into 18 to 21, so H17 is worse for players. In a typical six-deck game it adds about 0.2% to the house edge.

How to play your own soft 17

Never stand on soft 17: a 17 only wins when the dealer busts or makes less, and you can draw without risk. Basic strategy for six decks with the dealer standing on soft 17:

• Dealer shows 3 to 6: double down if you can, otherwise hit.
• Dealer shows 2 or 7 to ace: hit.

Soft 18 is the tricky one

A-7 is the hand players get wrong most. Against a dealer 3 to 6, double (or stand if you can’t). Against 2, 7 or 8, stand. Against 9, 10 or ace, hit. The full picture is on our blackjack strategy chart.

Why it’s called soft

The name comes from the ace’s flexibility: the total can “give” by 10 if needed. Once the ace has to count as 1 to keep you under 22, the hand becomes hard.

Questions people ask