What are the good Blackjack hands?

Now it gets more complicated. Here we see the same 340 hands. But instead of the frequency of each hand, we see the advantage of each hand. That is, average gain or loss if you get the hand. Green and red have a negative advantage. Blue, yellow and purple have increasing degrees of positive advantage. Obviously, Blackjack is the best hand. There is a gain of 150% except against an ace or ten where there is a bit of a downward slope. As you would expect, stiffs (12-16) are the worst hands and 17 is nearly as bad.

But this chart also shows that the upcard is very important. You can see red areas on either side of the chart where the advantage falls below -50%. These are hands against a dealer ten or ace. And you will see a ridge down the center of the chart where the dealer upcard is a six. A dealer six is particularly good with player pairs. It is no surprise that 16 against ten and ace are the lowest valleys in the chart.

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 © 2009 Norman Wattenberger