Free Bet Blackjack Strategy Chart: Every Hand, Solved

Free Bet Blackjack gives you two things for nothing: free doubles on a hard 9, 10 or 11 and free splits on every pair except tens. The house puts up the extra bet, and if that hand loses you lose only your original chips. The price is one rule: when the dealer ends on exactly 22, every hand still standing pushes instead of winning.

The complete Free Bet Blackjack strategy chart, every hand against every dealer upcard

S = stand, H = hit, D = double, P = split. Six decks, dealer hits soft 17, double after split, re-split to four hands, no surrender. Every cell is an exact calculation, the same one the Casino Trainer app grades your play against.

The three rules that matter most

1. Always take the free double on hard 9, 10 and 11, against every dealer card. A free double can only win you money: the extra chip is the house's. Even 9 against an ace, which you would only hit in a normal game, doubles for free.

2. Split every pair except tens, against every dealer card. The second hand is a free bet, so it costs nothing when it loses. Even 4s and 2s against a 10 split here. The one exception is 5s: doubling the free hard 10 is worth more than splitting them.

3. Hit stiff hands more than you are used to. In regular blackjack a dealer bust is your best friend when you stand on 12 to 16. Here a dealer who busts on exactly 22 only pushes, so standing is worth less. Hard 12 hits against 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and Ace, where a standard chart stands against 4, 5 and 6.

The full chart as a table

Your hand 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
Hard 5 H H H H H H H H H H
Hard 6 H H H H H H H H H H
Hard 7 H H H H H H H H H H
Hard 8 H H H H H H H H H H
Hard 9 D D D D D D D D D D
Hard 10 D D D D D D D D D D
Hard 11 D D D D D D D D D D
Hard 12 H H H H S H H H H H
Hard 13 H S S S S H H H H H
Hard 14 S S S S S H H H H H
Hard 15 S S S S S H H H H H
Hard 16 S S S S S H H H H H
Hard 17 S S S S S S S S S S
Hard 18 S S S S S S S S S S
Hard 19 S S S S S S S S S S
Soft A,2 H H H H H H H H H H
Soft A,3 H H H H H H H H H H
Soft A,4 H H H H H H H H H H
Soft A,5 H H H H D H H H H H
Soft A,6 H H H D D H H H H H
Soft A,7 S S S D D S S H H H
Soft A,8 S S S S S S S S S S
Soft A,9 S S S S S S S S S S
Pair 2,2 P P P P P P P P P P
Pair 3,3 P P P P P P P P P P
Pair 4,4 P P P P P P P P P P
Pair 5,5 D D D D D D D D D D
Pair 6,6 P P P P P P P P P P
Pair 7,7 P P P P P P P P P P
Pair 8,8 P P P P P P P P P P
Pair 9,9 P P P P P P P P P P
Pair 10,10 S S S S S S S S S S
Pair A,A P P P P P P P P P P

What the free bets are worth

Played this way, Free Bet Blackjack gives the house about 0.95% of each original bet, against about 0.5% for the regular six-deck game with the same rules. The free doubles and splits are generous, but pushing every dealer 22 costs you more than they give. It is still a fair game next to most side bets and carnival games, and the free bets make it more fun to play.

These numbers come from the app's exact solver. Free re-splits are valued per branch of the hand, which counts the rare hand that pairs up three times over very slightly generously.

Practise it until it's automatic

Casino Trainer deals you real hands of this game, grades every decision against the same exact solver that produced this page, and shows what each mistake cost. Virtual credits only, never real money.

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