When to Double Down in Blackjack – Top Tips

There are three important situations in which you should double down when playing real money blackjack. These aren’t necessarily the only situations you should do it in (you’ll have to use your intuition and experience to determine the others), but they are good starting points.

When Your Cards Total 11

The reason to double down in blackjack is to maximize your winnings. When you have a hand worth 11, you’ve got a great chance of hitting blackjack. If you don’t, you’ve still got a great chance to hit a hand worth 17 or more.

When you’ve got 11, the odds are in your favor. That’s when you want to double down and go for it.

When You Have Soft 16, 17, or 18

A ‘soft’ hand in blackjack means you have a card plus an ace. When your soft hand equals 16, 17, or 18, you might think it’s good enough, but you have a good chance to improve your hand, and there’s little chance of going bust as the ace will automatically be played as 1 if that’s to your advantage.

When You Have Hard 9 or 10

A hard hand is made up of cards with no ace. For example, a hard 10 could be made up of two fives. In this case, you can’t go bust, and you’ve got a great chance of getting a card that gives you a total of 17 or more.

Please note: it’s a rule of thumb that you should double down only when the dealer’s card is low. Remember, the more chance she has of getting blackjack, the more chance you have of losing double your initial bet if you opt to double down.