Single Deck Classic (S17): blackjack house edge & basic strategy

Old-school single-deck game, very player friendly. 1 deck, dealer stands on soft 17, US hole-card peek, double any two cards, no double after split, split to two hands only, blackjack pays 3:2.

House edge

0.05% per initial bet with perfect basic strategy (win 43.6% / push 8.5% / lose 47.9% of rounds). Derived by seeded Monte Carlo simulation of 300,000 rounds under the exact rules below.

Practice these rules in the simulator →

Table rules

Decks1
Shuffleshoe, ~75% penetration
Dealer soft 17dealer stands (S17)
Dealer 22busts normally
Hole cardUS style — dealer peeks for blackjack
Blackjack pays3:2
Free Betnot offered
Double downany two cards
Double after splitnot allowed
Splittingup to 2 hands; no resplitting aces, one card on split aces
Surrendernot offered

Basic strategy chart

H Hit · S Stand · D Double · P Split · R Surrender. Rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard (A = Ace).

Hard totals

Hard totals: rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard
2345678910A
5HHHHHHHHHH
6HHHHHHHHHH
7HHHHHHHHHH
8HHHHHHHHHH
9DHDDDHHHHH
10DDDDDDDHHH
11DDDDDDDDDD
12HHSSSHHHHH
13HSSSSHHHHH
14SSSSSHHHHH
15SSSSSHHHHH
16SSSSSHHHHH
17SSSSSSSSSS
18SSSSSSSSSS
19SSSSSSSSSS
20SSSSSSSSSS

Soft totals

Soft totals: rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard
2345678910A
A,2HHHDDHHHHH
A,3HHHDDHHHHH
A,4HHHDDHHHHH
A,5HDDDDHHHHH
A,6HDDDDHHHHH
A,7SDDDDSSHHH
A,8SSSSDSSSSS
A,9SSSSSSSSSS

Pairs

Pairs: rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard
2345678910A
2,2HHHPHHHHHH
3,3HHHPPPHHHH
4,4HHHHHHHHHH
5,5DDDDDDDHHH
6,6HPPPPHHHHH
7,7PPPPPPHHHH
8,8PPPPPPPPPP
9,9PPPPPSPPSP
10,10SSSSSSSSSS
A,APPPPPPPPPP

Dealer outcome odds

Probability of each dealer final result, by upcard:

Dealer final-total probabilities by upcard (BJ = blackjack)
Upcard1718192021BJBust
214.2%13.0%13.2%12.4%11.8%0.0%35.5%
313.5%12.9%12.7%12.0%11.5%0.0%37.3%
412.9%12.8%12.1%11.7%11.3%0.0%39.2%
512.1%12.1%11.8%11.7%10.8%0.0%41.4%
616.7%10.9%10.4%10.2%9.7%0.0%42.1%
737.1%13.9%7.9%7.9%7.2%0.0%25.9%
812.7%35.9%13.0%7.0%7.1%0.0%24.4%
912.2%12.0%34.7%11.9%6.3%0.0%22.9%
1011.1%11.1%11.2%34.1%3.4%7.9%21.2%
A13.0%12.7%13.1%13.0%5.3%31.3%11.7%

Frequently asked questions

What is the house edge at Single Deck Classic (S17)?

With perfect basic strategy the edge is about 0.05% in favour of the house, per initial bet. Derived by Monte Carlo simulation of 300,000 rounds under these exact rules.

Does the dealer hit or stand on soft 17 at Single Deck Classic (S17)?

The dealer stands on all 17s (S17), which is the more player-friendly rule.

How often does the dealer bust with a 6 showing?

Under these rules the dealer busts 42.1% of the time with a 6 up — the weakest dealer upcard.

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