Casino Trainer
Practice blackjack basic strategy
Ten hands. You see the dealer’s upcard and your two cards, then choose hit, stand, double, split or surrender. The page marks the play and explains it in words. No signup, no download, and nothing to bet.
This is practice, not a casino. Correct basic strategy lowers the house edge. It does not make the game profitable, and this page does not promise winnings.
Rules this drill uses
One ruleset, named up front, so the answers are not a mix of charts.
- 6 decks. The 4–8 deck basic-strategy chart. Not single deck or double deck.
- Dealer hits soft 17 (H17). The felt often says “dealer must hit soft 17”.
- Double any first two cards. Double after split is allowed (DAS).
- Late surrender is allowed, so surrender is a real button, not a hidden rule.
- Blackjack pays 3:2. The dealer peeks for blackjack. Insurance is not offered.
The printable blackjack strategy chart is the dealer-stands-on-soft-17 chart and lists the six plays that change on this page. The hand-by-hand articles use the same hit-soft-17 rules as the drill. Strategy comes from the Wizard of Odds 4–8 deck chart (Michael Shackleford), including the published changes when the dealer hits soft 17. It matches the Casino Trainer app’s default six-deck game.
Ten-hand drill
Hand 1 of 10 · 0 correct
Dealing the first hand…
Dealer
Your hand
Split is not available. These two cards are not a pair.
Keyboard: H hit, S stand, D double, P split, R surrender, N or Enter for the next hand.
Continue in Blackjack & Poker Odds Trainer
This drill is one ruleset and the opening two cards. The Casino Trainer app, listed as Blackjack & Poker Odds Trainer, deals the same decisions, grades them, and prices a mistake. Virtual credits only — never real money. Free on the App Store and Google Play. This page needs no account.
What a round is teaching
Every hand is the first two cards, which is when double, split and surrender are decided. A ten, jack, queen and king are all tens. A king and a queen are a pair of tens: stand, do not split. Hard 13 stands against 2 through 6 and hits against 7 through ace, whether the cards are 10-3 or 9-4. Open a hand from an article to practise that total only, for example hard 13, hard 16, soft 18, or a pair of 8s.
If a table does not offer a double, hit where the chart says D and stand where it says Ds. If it does not offer surrender, hit where it says R and stand where it says Rs. The feedback on this page says which of those applies. The drill itself allows both, because that is the ruleset above.
This is not Spanish 21 and not Free Bet Blackjack. Those games have their own charts. For how each rule moves the house edge, see blackjack house edge. Hard 13 is worked cell by cell on 13 versus every upcard. Soft 18 is on ace-7, and 8s are on the pair of 8s. Aces are always split: pair of aces.
Frequently asked questions
- What rules does this blackjack practice use?
- Six decks. The dealer hits soft 17. You may double any first two cards, and you may double after a split. Late surrender is allowed. Blackjack pays 3:2, and the dealer peeks for blackjack. Insurance is not part of the drill. The page does not switch between charts: it is not the stand-on-soft-17 chart, and it is not Spanish 21 or Free Bet Blackjack.
- Is this real-money gambling?
- No. There is nothing to bet, no account, and no chips with cash value. It is a free practice page. The Casino Trainer app uses virtual credits only and never real money.
- What if the table does not allow surrender or a double?
- The play changes, and the explanation says how. D means double if you can, otherwise hit. Ds means double if you can, otherwise stand. R means surrender if you can, otherwise hit. Rs means surrender if you can, otherwise stand. A pair of 8s against an ace is surrender if you can, otherwise split. This drill allows the double and late surrender, so it grades those full plays.
- Why might this disagree with a chart I printed?
- Many printed charts assume the dealer stands on soft 17. This drill is the dealer-hits-soft-17 game used on the hand-by-hand articles. Six plays change: hard 11 against an ace, hard 15 against an ace, hard 17 against an ace, soft 18 against a 2, soft 19 against a 6, and a pair of 8s against an ace. The strategy chart page lists those six cells.
- Will basic strategy make blackjack profitable?
- No. Basic strategy cuts the house edge on a common six-deck game to well under one percent, and the edge stays with the house. One night can still go your way. A long run still favours the casino. This page does not promise winnings.
- How is this different from the Casino Trainer app?
- This page teaches one ruleset and the first two cards, with nothing to install. The app grades the same decisions with its solver, including later cards, other blackjack rules, and ten more games, and it prices a mistake in expected value. It is free to download on the App Store and Google Play.
Sources
Michael Shackleford, Wizard of Odds, 4-Deck to 8-Deck Blackjack Strategy, text strategy for a dealer who stands on soft 17, with surrender, and the listed modifications when the dealer hits soft 17. Checked against the Casino Trainer six-deck solver and the hand pages on this site, which state the same shoe: six decks, dealer hits soft 17, double after split, late surrender, blackjack pays 3:2.