 
Multi-Card
Soft Hands
by Henry Tamburin,
published on Monday, January 14
2002
Most blackjack players usually know
how to play a two-card hand where
one card is an ace (known as soft
hands). However, where they often
get confused is when the soft hand
contains 3 or more cards. This occurs
when a player is dealt a small card
to a small soft hand (for example
hitting a soft 13 and drawing a
5 for an 8 or 18 hand). Should the
player hit or stand? It really depends
on what the dealer is showing. But
since I often see players making
the wrong play with these hands,
I’ve developed a couple of
simple rules to help.
The reason most
players get confused with multi-card
soft hands is because there first
reaction is to figure out whether
or not to double down. But when
they realize they can’t double
down on a 3-or-more-card soft hand
they get flustered and often stand
when they should have hit.
For example if you
are dealt an ace, 6 (soft 17) and
the dealer shows a 5 the correct
basic strategy play is to double
down. But if you were dealt an ace,
3 (soft 14) and hit and draw a 3
you hold a soft 17 hand which you
cannot double down. The reason you
can’t double down is the basic
casino rule that only allows players
to double down on their initial
two card hand; once you draw a third
card, doubling down is no longer
a playing option.
The first rule for
handling multi-card soft hands is
as follows:
Always stand on
a multi-card soft 18 through 21
except hit a multi-card soft 18
against a dealer 9, 10 or ace (remember
multi-card means a three or more
card soft hand).
Standing on soft
18 against the dealer 9, 10 or ace
is always troubling for most players.
They mistakenly believe an 18 is
a good enough hand and it’s
crazy to hit it. Well here are the
facts.
If you have a soft
18 and the dealer shows a 9 and
you stand, you will win on average
41% of the time and lose 59%. That
means if you bet a buck a hand,
after 100 hands you’d are in
the hole by $18. If instead you
hit the soft 18 against the 9, your
chances of wining improve to 45%
of the time vs. 55% of the time
losing. The net after 100 hands
is to be down $10. So in the long
run you’d lose $18 when you
stand and $10 when you hit. Either
way you are losing money but it’s
a lot better to lose $10 in the
long run then $18 (you at it this
way, you’ll have $8 more in
your pocket when you hit soft 18
against the 9 vs. standing).
If you do the same
analysis with soft 18 against the
10 and ace here’s what you
find after 100 hands.
You’d save
$4 by hitting the multi-card soft
18 against the 10 vs. standing.
You’d save about 40 cents by
hitting soft 18 against the ace
vs. standing. Again, the soft 18
against the 9, 10 or ace is a losing
hand (you win less then 50% of the
hands) but you can minimize your
loss by always hitting. Also the
difference in savings is less when
the dealer shows a 10 and still
less the ace showing. In fact in
a single deck game when the dealer
hits soft 17 (rather than stand)
the right play is to hit soft 18
against the dealer ace (in all other
cases – single or multi-deck
games, dealer hitting or standing
on soft 17 you should hit soft 18
against the ace).
Now what about the
multi-card soft 17 or less hands.
Usually players mistakenly stand
which is the wrong play (in fact
one of the most misplayed hands
is when players stand on soft 17
when the dealer shows a 7). In all
cases of being dealt a multi-card
soft 13 through 17 no matter what
the dealer shows you should always
hit. So the next time you are dealt
an ace, 3 and you draw another 3
for soft 17 you should hit again
regardless of what other players
may tell you.
Therefore the second
rule for multi-card soft hands is
to always hit soft 17 or less.
How would you play
this hand? You are dealt ace 2,
and the dealer shows a 7. Your first
draw is an ace and the second draw
card is a 3. Now what do you do?
You’ve converted an initial
soft 13 hand into a multi-card soft
17 hand. According to our second
rule you should hit again.
How about this scenario
-dealer shows a 7 and you have an
ace, 4. You draw a 2 then another
ace for a multi-card soft 18. According
to our first rule you should stand.
Keep these two multi-card
rules for soft hands in mind the
next time you play blackjack and
you’ll never be confused again
when you are dealt these hands.
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