davek: why stand on S18 vs 8?

[davek]

I am sure there is a good reason, but why does basic strategy tell us to stand on soft 18 vs a dealer 8? It seems you are playing for a push in these cases. You hit on soft 17 vs 7 (indeed you always hit) and you hit soft 18 vs 9 and above, so why not hit vs an 8?

DaveK

[Parker]

> I am sure there is a good reason, but why
> does basic strategy tell us to stand on soft
> 18 vs a dealer 8? It seems you are playing
> for a push in these cases. You hit on soft
> 17 vs 7 (indeed you always hit) and you hit
> soft 18 vs 9 and above, so why not hit vs an
> 8?

It may seem like you are "playing for a push," but the odds with 18 vs 8 are actually 25 to 20 in the player's favor. So you stand. With 18 vs 9 or 10, the odds shift to the dealer's favor, so you take your chances with a hit.

You always hit soft 17 because you cannot win with a 17 unless the dealer busts.

The 25 to 20 figure is from Fred Renzey's Blackjack Bluebook II - highly recommended.

[Don Schlesinger]

> I am sure there is a good reason, but why
> does basic strategy tell us to stand on soft
> 18 vs a dealer 8? It seems you are playing
> for a push in these cases. You hit on soft
> 17 vs 7 (indeed you always hit) and you hit
> soft 18 vs 9 and above, so why not hit vs an
> 8?

Here is some info from the brand-new Appendix A of BJA3: It is for the 6-deck s17 game.

A,7 Stand: 0.108057 Hit: 0.041028

It gives the expectations for playing the hand both ways. As you can see, you're 6.7% better off standing on the hand.

Don

[chgobjpro]

.......Appendix E of Wong's Professional BJ?

> Here is some info from the brand-new
> Appendix A of BJA3: It is for the 6-deck s17

[Don Schlesinger]

> .......Appendix E of Wong's Professional BJ?

Yes, but Wong does 1-deck and 6-deck only, whereas BJA3 will have 1-, 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-deck.

Don

[Ed Tice]

If it makes you feel better, I believe that you hit this at a TC of -15 when counting Hi-Lo. If counting something else check the index numbers for your system. I might be wrong about this index as I try to leave a table before a count hits -15.

Ed

> I am sure there is a good reason, but why
> does basic strategy tell us to stand on soft
> 18 vs a dealer 8? It seems you are playing
> for a push in these cases. You hit on soft
> 17 vs 7 (indeed you always hit) and you hit
> soft 18 vs 9 and above, so why not hit vs an
> 8?

> DaveK