Being dealt a soft 17 can be a rather tricky hand to play with.
A good many players will play this hand as if it were a hard 17. And while a 17 has the potential to be a relatively strong blackjack hand, playing a soft hand like its hard counterpart is not always the most advantageous why to play it.
The Ace that makes a soft hand what it is creates a whole other way to play. This is why basic strategy has a different way to play soft hands.
But the first thing that you need to know is that a soft 17 is not the same as a hard 17. It gives you flexibility.
Let’s say that you have been dealt a soft 17. And we are going to assume, like a serious blackjack player should, that the dealer’s hole card is a 10—that is the worst case scenario. If the dealer’s up card is an 8, 9, 10 or Ace, you would normally be stuck if you had a hard 17. But a soft 17 allows you to switch to a more defensive strategy.
With the Ace’s ability to serve as a 1 or an 11, you can reduce a soft 17 to a hard 7 and hit. This is giving you another chance to build a stronger hand. You might be able to hit to a hard 18 or more, and give yourself a bit of a better leg to stand on. At any rate, it is better than simply playing a soft 17 like a hard 17.
In fact, hitting is what basic strategy advises. It also advises to take further advantage of a soft 17 by doubling down against a dealer’s up card of 3, 4, 5 or 6. That is when the dealer has the greatest chance of busting, and your strategy should put you in place to take advantage of it.