What Is a Soft 17? Soft Hands Explained
A soft 17 is any hand that totals 17 with an ace counted as 11, most often an ace and a 6. It's called "soft" because no single card can bust it: if you draw a 10, the ace simply drops to 1 and you have 17 again. That flexibility is why you should never stand on soft 17. Depending on the dealer's card you should hit it or double it.
Soft hands vs hard hands
| Hand | Total | Soft or hard | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| A, 6 | 17 | Soft | The ace can count as 11 |
| A, 3, 3 | 17 | Soft | Same: the ace still counts as 11 |
| 10, 7 | 17 | Hard | No ace |
| A, 6, 10 | 17 | Hard | The ace has to count as 1, or the hand is 27 |
A hand stays soft until a card forces the ace down to 1. From then on it's a hard hand and plays like any other.
Why standing on soft 17 is a mistake
Seventeen is the weakest finished hand in blackjack. The dealer never stops below 17, so a 17 can only win when the dealer busts. It never beats a dealer total; at best it ties one.
Hard 17 has to live with that, because hitting it busts most of the time. Soft 17 doesn't. Drawing any card from ace to 4 makes it 18 to 21, and anything else turns it into a hard hand you can keep playing.
We played the hand A,6 150,000 times against each dealer card with House21's rules, taking every option. Values are the average result per hand as a percentage of the bet, counting hands where the dealer turns out to have blackjack.
| Dealer shows | Stand | Hit | Double | Best play |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | -15.0% | 0.0% | -1.1% | Hit |
| 3 | -11.8% | +2.9% | +5.8% | Double |
| 4 | -7.3% | +6.3% | +12.5% | Double |
| 5 | -3.4% | +9.5% | +18.7% | Double |
| 6 | +1.1% | +12.9% | +26.2% | Double |
| 7 | -10.4% | +5.3% | -1.6% | Hit |
| 8 | -38.3% | -7.2% | -25.1% | Hit |
| 9 | -41.9% | -14.5% | -39.2% | Hit |
| 10 | -46.7% | -25.3% | -48.7% | Hit |
| A | -64.3% | -43.5% | -67.3% | Hit |
Standing is never the best play. Against a 6, doubling is worth about 25 percentage points more than standing: over 100 such hands at 10 chips, that's roughly 250 chips. Each figure is within about ±0.6 points.
The other soft hands
The same logic covers every soft total. In short:
- Soft 13 to 16 (A,2 to A,5): double against a 5 or 6 (A,4 and A,5 also against a 4), otherwise hit.
- Soft 17 (A,6): double against 3 to 6, otherwise hit.
- Soft 18 (A,7): the tricky one. Double against 3 to 6, stand against 2, 7 and 8, hit against 9, 10 and ace.
- Soft 19 and 20: stand.
If you can't double (you've already taken a card), hit wherever the chart says double, except soft 18, where you stand. The full table is in our basic strategy chart.
When the dealer has soft 17
The other meaning of "soft 17" is a casino rule. Some tables make the dealer hit soft 17 (written H17 on the felt); others make the dealer stand on all 17s (S17).
When the dealer hits soft 17, they sometimes improve to 18 to 21, and that's bad for you. The difference costs players about 0.22% of every bet, according to Wizard of Odds, roughly a 40% increase over a typical 0.5% house edge.
House21 uses the player-friendly rule: the dealer stands on all 17s, soft or hard. Our dealer bust table shows how often the dealer busts from each card under this rule.
Common questions
Is A,6 the only soft 17? No. Any hand totalling 17 with an ace counted as 11 is soft, such as A,2,4 or A,A,5.
Can a soft hand bust? Not on the next card. A soft hand becomes hard if a card pushes it over 21 with the ace as 11; it can bust after that.
Should I ever stand on soft 17 if I'm nervous about losing? Standing feels safe, but the table above shows it's the most expensive option against every dealer card. If you'd rather not risk more chips, hit instead of doubling.
Practice soft hands at a free table in the lobby.