Knowing when to hit, stand, split, double down, surrender or take insurance forms the "Basic Strategy" of Blackjack. Despite the name, there is nothing basic about it - this is a set of rules worked out by thorough statistical analisys. For each combination of cards the Basic Strategy suggests the move that will result in the highest chance of winning money over the long term.

Any hand with 11 or less points can be hit safely without going bust. So always hit any hand of 11 or less points. However sometimes these hands should be split or doubled down on.

Also remember that when you are dealt an Ace, you can use it as a 1 or 11-value card and can change that during the play.

Never hit a hand with a value of 17 points or greater. The only exception to this is a "soft 17" where an Ace card is included and has been counted as 11 to create the total.

The basic hitting and standing strategy is:

• Hit anything below 12
• Stand on anything above 16

• Hit if the dealer's card is between 7 and Ace (11).
• Stand if the dealer's up card is below 7

Soft totals are made up out of an Ace and another value card(s). (If you recall, an Ace can be counted as 1 or 11.)

If you have an ace in your hand but no 10 value card:

• Hit if the soft total is 17 or less
• Double if the soft total is 17 or less and the dealer has a 4, 5 or
• Stand with soft total of 19 or 20

We covered the doubling down strategy for a soft total in the section above. The basic strategy for making the decision to double down should be:

• Never double if your hand totals less than 8
• Always double down on 11
• If you have 10, double down if the dealer has 2 to 9.

• Always split 8s and Aces
• Never split 4s, 5s and 10 value cards