Its a standard rule in many casinos that the dealer must stand on a soft 17. with combinations such as ace-six or four-ace-two.
In some casino the rules are that the dealer must hit these totals.
Which is better for players?
Many players are puzzled which is the best answer. In the Basic Strategy players are told that having a soft 17 they should hit or double, this suggests that the dealer will do likewise and would favor the house.
A quick review of what is meant by a soft hand. A blackjack hand that has an ace whichis counted as an 11 is a soft hand. An ace-6 hand is considered as a soft 17 and so is a hand that contains an ace-3-3. These hands are played differently to other corresponding hard hands. For example: an ace-6 is soft 17 whereas a 10-7 and 7-9-ace hands are considered hard 17’s (please note: if your hand contains no ace, or one or more aces that are counted as one, it is considered to be a hand hard). The reasons for the distinction being made between soft and hard hands is because they are played differently. For example: a player that is dealt a 10-7 should stand whereas a player that is dealt an ace-6 should never stand.
Give a thought to players that sit on 16s or below against a six, they figure the dealer going bust, then they lose when the hole card for the dealer turns out to be an ace making it a total of 17.
What would happen if the dealer had to draw? Players don't lose any worse if a 17 is improved, and there is a good chance that the dealer, by drawing, will go bust and therefore pay everyone. Could this mean that when the dealer hit soft 17 it favors the players?
What are the probabilities?
Calculations for options show that casinos have a greater edge when the dealers hits rather than stands on a soft 17s.
With eight-deck games and no re-splitting, one assumes that players are able to double on any two-card hands this includes those that are formed by splits, overall, the house advantage for Basic Strategy is 0.486% and if the dealers stands on a soft 17s, and 0.699% if they hit.
Games where the dealer hits soft 17 have almost half as much of a house advantage as those that stand on this total. The penalty can be sizeable.
