Soft hands: the ace is your friend

A "soft" hand is any hand with an Ace counted as 11. Examples: A,6 (soft 17), A,7 (soft 18). The magic of soft hands: you can't bust on a single card. If you'd bust, the Ace just drops to 1. This changes everything. Soft hands should be played aggressively: - Never stand on soft 17. A 17 loses to every dealer 17+. Hit or double. - Soft 18 vs weak dealer (2–6): DOUBLE. You already have a made hand and a free reroll. - Soft 18 vs 9, 10, A: HIT. Dealer will usually beat 18. - Soft 13–16: Double vs the weakest dealer cards (4, 5, 6), else hit. The mistake to avoid: standing on soft 17. Never do this.