Vegas Single Deck (6:5, H17): blackjack house edge & basic strategy

The modern single-deck trap found all over the Strip: just 1 deck, but blackjack pays only 6:5 and the dealer hits soft 17. The short payout more than cancels the single-deck advantage, making this worse than most 3:2 shoe games. Double any two, no double after split, no surrender.

House edge

1.60% per initial bet with perfect basic strategy (win 43.5% / push 8.5% / lose 48.0% 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 hits (H17)
Hole cardUS style — dealer peeks for blackjack
Blackjack pays6:5
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

2345678910A
5HHHHHHHHHH
6HHHHHHHHHH
7HHHHHHHHHH
8HHHHHHHHHH
9DDDDDHHHHH
10DDDDDDDHHH
11DDDDDDDDDH
12HHSSSHHHHH
13HSSSSHHHHH
14SSSSSHHHHH
15SSSSSHHHHH
16SSSSSHHHHH
17SSSSSSSSSS
18SSSSSSSSSS
19SSSSSSSSSS
20SSSSSSSSSS

Soft totals

2345678910A
A,2HHHHDHHHHH
A,3HHDDDHHHHH
A,4HHHDDHHHHH
A,5HHDDDHHHHH
A,6DDDDDHHHHH
A,7SDDDDSSHHH
A,8SSSSSSSSSS
A,9SSSSSSSSSS

Pairs

2345678910A
2,2PPPPPPHHHH
3,3PPPPPPPHHH
4,4HHPPPHHHHH
5,5DDDDDDDHHH
6,6HPPPPHHHHH
7,7PPPPPPHHHH
8,8PPPPPPPPPP
9,9PPPPPSPPSS
10,10SSSSSSSSSS
A,APPPPPPPPPP

Dealer outcome odds

Probability of each dealer final result, by upcard:

Upcard1718192021BJBust
213.2%13.2%13.3%12.6%11.9%0.0%35.8%
312.6%13.1%12.8%12.2%11.7%0.0%37.7%
412.1%12.9%12.2%11.9%11.5%0.0%39.4%
511.7%12.2%11.9%11.8%10.9%0.0%41.6%
611.5%11.7%11.3%11.1%10.6%0.0%43.8%
737.0%13.9%7.9%7.9%7.2%0.0%26.0%
812.6%35.9%13.0%7.0%7.1%0.0%24.4%
912.2%12.1%34.7%11.9%6.3%0.0%22.8%
1011.1%11.0%11.1%34.2%3.4%7.9%21.3%
A5.7%14.1%14.4%14.2%6.5%31.0%14.2%

Frequently asked questions

What is the house edge at Vegas Single Deck (6:5, H17)?

With perfect basic strategy the edge is about 1.60% 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 Vegas Single Deck (6:5, H17)?

The dealer hits soft 17 (H17), which adds roughly 0.2% to the house edge compared with standing.

How often does the dealer bust with a 6 showing?

Under these rules the dealer busts 43.8% of the time with a 6 up — the weakest dealer upcard.

How much does the 6:5 blackjack payout cost you?

A natural blackjack pays only 6:5 here instead of the standard 3:2. That single rule adds roughly 1.4% (at 6:5) to the house edge — more than every other rule on the table combined. Prefer a 3:2 game whenever one is available.

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