Hard 18 vs dealer 5: hit or stand?
Stand. Hard 18 against a dealer 5 is played the same way whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17.
- Dealer hits soft 17Stand
- Dealer stands on soft 17Stand
- Stand: take no more cards.
Why
At this total, the chance of busting outweighs any gain from hitting. Let the hand stand as is.
Hard 18 means no ace is being counted as 11. Two-card ways to make it: 10 + 8 (a 10 can be a 10, jack, queen, or king). When the two cards are a pair, the pair chart applies instead: see Pair of 9s vs dealer 5.
The numbers
- A dealer 5 busts about 42% of the time.
- Taking one card on a hard 18 busts about 77% of the time.
| Dealer rule | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | Bust |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Either dealer rule | 12% | 12% | 12% | 11% | 11% | 42% |
| Play | Either dealer rule |
|---|---|
| Stand | +0.20best |
| Surrender (where offered) | -0.50 |
| Hit | -0.61 |
| Double down | -1.22 |
Scoring: a win scores +1, a loss -1, a tie 0, and a doubled hand counts twice. Surrender scores -0.50. Hit means take a card, then play on as well as possible. These are averages over many hands from the strategy audit behind the app, rounded and approximate. Any single hand can go either way.
Rules assumed
- 4, 6, or 8 decks (the chart is the same for all three)
- The dealer checks for blackjack when showing a 10 or an ace, before you act
- Double down is allowed on any first two cards
- Double after split is allowed
- Late surrender is offered, as your first decision only
- Split up to four hands; split aces get one card each and cannot be resplit
One-deck and two-deck games, tables without surrender, and dealers who do not check for blackjack change some plays. Check your table's rules before relying on any chart.
Both soft 17 rules are shown. The two charts differ on only 6 of 360 hands: see the dealer hits and dealer stands charts. The plays come from the verified 4 to 8 deck tables behind the Blackjack Trainer app (bs_4to8_h17_peek and bs_4to8_s17_peek).
Common questions: Hard 18 vs dealer 5
What is the correct play for hard 18 against a dealer 5?
Stand. This is basic strategy for 4 to 8 decks, and it is the same whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17.
Does the soft 17 rule change hard 18 against a dealer 5?
No. The play is the same whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17. Only a handful of hands on the chart change with that rule, and this is not one of them.
Why stand with hard 18 against a dealer 5, and not hit?
At this total, the chance of busting outweighs any gain from hitting. Let the hand stand as is. Average result per hand over many hands (a win scores +1, a loss -1): when the dealer hits soft 17, standing scores +0.20 and hitting scores -0.61; when the dealer stands on soft 17, standing scores +0.20 and hitting scores -0.61.
Does the play change if hard 18 has more than two cards?
No. This chart uses only your total and the dealer card, not how many cards made the total. Exact card makeup can shift a few close calls by a fraction of a percent, which is why basic strategy ignores it.
Does basic strategy guarantee a win?
No. It picks the play with the best average result, but any single hand can go either way, and the house keeps a small edge. This site and the Blackjack Trainer app are for practice only.