Basic strategies have been developed for single deck. 2 deck. 4 deck, 6 deck and 8 deck games with various rules for each. Although there's not much difference between any two strategies. having the correct one for the rules and number of decks you're playing with can be worth up to a few hundredths percent. The color-coded chart on the next page applies to 4 through 8 decks

when the dealer stands on soft 17. You can double down on any first two cards, but not after splits and you can re-split pairs out to four hands, except for Aces which receive only one card each.

Strategy #1: Hard Hand Strategy The first strategy is the hard hand strategy. We call it that because it refers to the hard total of the first two cards you are dealt, meaning any card total not containing an ace or a pair of cards with the same value. For example, you're dealt a seven and a five; thus your total is a hard 12. If you have a six and an eight, you'd have a hard 14, and so on. It's impor¬tant to note that you will use the hard hand strategy even if you have more than two cards.

For example, if you have a four and a three and you are dealt a two, then another four, you would still draw another card if the dealer had a seven or higher because you have a hard 13. Look at the tables in Figure 5-1 and note the strategy you should take if you're dealt a hard 12 and the dealer has an eight as his up card. Look across the "12" column until you reach the dealer's "8" column and you'll find the recommended strategy. Your strat¬egy in a single-deck game would be to hit.

Strategy #2: Soft Hand Strategy The second strategy is the soft hand strategy, which is used when one of the initial two cards you're dealt is an ace. For example, if you're dealt an ace and a four, your total is 5 or 15. In a double-deck game (see Figure 5-2), if the dealer had a six as his up card, according to the soft hand strategy sec¬tion you would double (10w-n, meaning you would double your original bet and take only One card. An important note: If, for example. you play the ace and six and ,ire hit with a seven. you now-. have a hard 14 and Should now play the remainder of your- hand using the hard hand strategy section. Again. I'm assuming you understand the basics of hitting. Standing. doubling down. Splitting, and the surrender option.