Vegas Strip (6-deck, H17): blackjack house edge & basic strategy

Typical modern Las Vegas Strip shoe game. 6 decks, ~75% penetration, dealer HITS soft 17, US hole-card peek, double any two cards, double after split, late surrender, blackjack pays 3:2.

House edge

0.53% per initial bet with perfect basic strategy (win 42.4% / push 8.3% / lose 49.4% of rounds). Derived by seeded Monte Carlo simulation of 300,000 rounds under the exact rules below.

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Table rules

Decks6
Shuffleshoe, ~75% penetration
Dealer soft 17dealer hits (H17)
Dealer 22busts normally
Hole cardUS style — dealer peeks for blackjack
Blackjack pays3:2
Free Betnot offered
Double downany two cards
Double after splitallowed
Splittingup to 4 hands; no resplitting aces, one card on split aces
Surrenderlate surrender

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
9HDHDDHHHHH
10DDDDDDDDHH
11DDDDDDDDDD
12HHHSSHHHHH
13SSSSSHHHHH
14SSSSSHHHHH
15SSSSSHHHRH
16SSSSSHHRRR
17SSSSSSSSSR
18SSSSSSSSSS
19SSSSSSSSSS
20SSSSSSSSSS

Soft totals

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

Pairs

Pairs: rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard
2345678910A
2,2PPPPPPHHHH
3,3HPPPPPHHHH
4,4HHHPPHHHHH
5,5DDDDDDDDHH
6,6HPPPPHHHHH
7,7PPPPPPHHHH
8,8PPPPPPPPPP
9,9PPPPPSPPSS
10,10SSSSSSSSSS
A,APPPPPPPPPP

Dealer outcome odds

Probability of each dealer final result, by upcard:

Dealer final-total probabilities by upcard (BJ = blackjack)
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 Strip (6-deck, H17)?

With perfect basic strategy the edge is about 0.53% 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 Strip (6-deck, 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.

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