Soft Hand
In blackjack, any hand containing an Ace that is currently counted as 11 without busting.
Detailed Explanation
A soft hand is one containing an Ace being counted as 11. For example: Ace-6 = soft 17 (either 7 or 17), Ace-4 = soft 15. The 'softness' refers to the flexibility of the hand — if the player draws a card that would cause a bust, the Ace automatically reverts to counting as 1 rather than 11, preventing the bust. This makes soft hands far less risky to draw to than equivalent hard hands.
Correct basic strategy for soft hands differs significantly from hard hands. Soft 17 (Ace-6) should always be hit or doubled, never stood on. Soft 18 (Ace-7) against a dealer's 9, 10, or Ace should be hit; against a 3–6, it should be doubled. These counterintuitive plays are the most frequently violated aspects of basic strategy.
Casino rules regarding whether the dealer must hit on soft 17 significantly affect the house edge. Dealers required to hit soft 17 gives the house an additional 0.2% advantage over rules where dealers stand on all 17s.
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