Single Deck Blackjack Strategy Chart

The Single Deck Basic Strategy Chart

Rules: 1 deck, dealer stands on soft 17 (S17), double after split allowed, late surrender offered, blackjack pays 3:2. A dot marks each cell that differs from the 4-8 deck chart under the same rules. Playing a different rule set? Set Decks to Single deck in the interactive strategy chart and toggle the other rules to match your table.

What Changes vs the Multi-Deck Chart

We compared every hand against every dealer upcard under one deck and under six decks (4, 6, and 8 decks share one chart), with every other rule held the same: double after split and late surrender allowed. These are all the cells where the correct play differs.

Dealer stands on soft 17 (S17): 15 changes

Dealer hits soft 17 (H17): 16 changes

Tables without surrender or without double after split shift a few more cells; the fallbacks are listed further down.

Why One Deck Plays Differently

Basic strategy for a shoe assumes the cards you see barely change what is left. In a single deck that assumption breaks. Your two cards and the dealer's upcard are 3 of 52 cards, almost 6% of the deck; in a 6-deck shoe they are under 1%. This is the card removal effect, and it explains nearly every change on the list:

• More doubles. A 9, an 8, or an 11 is built from small and middle cards. Take those out of 52 and the remaining deck is measurably richer in tens, the card you want on a double. That tips 9 against a 2, 11 against an Ace, and 8 against a 5 or 6 from hit to double, along with several soft doubles against weak upcards.
• 7,7 against a 10. A 14 needs a small card to improve, and the best one, a 7 for 21, is now half gone: two of the deck's four 7s are in your hand. Hitting gets worse, so you surrender, or stand if surrender isn't offered.
• Extra splits. Splitting 7s against an 8, 6s against a 7, 4s against a 4, and 3s against an 8 are close calls in a shoe. With one deck, the three cards on the table shift the odds just enough to favor two hands over one, and double after split supplies the rest: without it, all four go back to hitting.
• 16 against a 9 no longer surrenders. It is a close call in every game; with one deck it tips toward hitting.

The same effect is why fewer decks lower the house edge: naturals come slightly more often and doubles connect more often.

If the Dealer Hits Soft 17

Switching the single deck chart itself from S17 to H17 changes five cells, all against a dealer Ace:

• Hard 17 vs Ace: stand becomes surrender
• Hard 15 vs Ace: hit becomes surrender
• A,7 (soft 18) vs Ace: stand becomes hit
• 9,9 vs Ace: stand becomes split
• 7,7 vs Ace: hit becomes surrender

H17 costs you about 0.22% in any game. The full story of the rule, and the six cells it changes in a shoe, is in H17 vs S17.

No Surrender or No Double After Split?

If the table doesn't offer late surrender, play the four surrender cells like this:

• Hard 16 vs 10: hit
• Hard 16 vs Ace: hit
• Hard 15 vs 10: hit
• 7,7 vs 10: stand

If you can't double after splitting, these nine pair cells change:

• 7,7 vs 8: hit instead of split
• 6,6 vs 7: hit instead of split
• 4,4 vs 4: hit instead of split
• 4,4 vs 5: double instead of split
• 4,4 vs 6: double instead of split
• 3,3 vs 2: hit instead of split
• 3,3 vs 3: hit instead of split
• 3,3 vs 8: hit instead of split
• 2,2 vs 2: hit instead of split

The 6:5 Trap

Holding every other rule fixed, a single deck is worth about 0.48% to you compared with a 6-deck shoe. Casinos know "single deck" reads as player-friendly, and most single deck games you will find today pay 6:5 on a blackjack instead of 3:2. On a $10 bet, a natural pays $12 instead of $15, and that one change adds about 1.4% to the house edge, nearly triple what the single deck gives back.

• 6-deck, 3:2, decent rules: house edge about 0.5%
• Single deck, 6:5: house edge about 1.5% or worse

The payout doesn't change a single cell on the chart, so perfect play can't recover the loss. Read the felt before you read the deck count: 3:2 first, then S17, doubling on any two cards, and double after split. Every rule is priced in the house edge guide.

Should You Learn This Chart?

Learn the multi-deck chart first. It is correct for nearly every table you will sit at, and the single deck changes are refinements on top of it. If you play 3:2 single deck regularly, memorize the list above as a patch: most of it is "double a little more, split a little more." Then check yourself with the 20-hand strategy quiz, which grades against the multi-deck chart, and drill single deck hands in the trainer.