Playing Blackjack with 14

In order to play each hand of blackjack profitably, a player must consider all of his options and sometimes act in a manner that is somewhat uncomfortable. When a player holds fourteen, the “comfortable” thing to do is stand, as a face card, an eight, or a nine can cause a player to go bust. Comfortable is not always “right” when playing blackjack. The choice to hit, split, stand, or double down should be made based on the dealer’s up card.

Playing a Pair of Sevens

When playing a pair of sevens, a blackjack player should sometimes hit, while splitting the pair other times. If the dealer has an up card that is an Ace, ten, nine, or eight – a blackjack player should keep the pair of sevens together and take a hit. However, if the dealer has an up card between two and seven – the blackjack player should split the pair and play each hand accordingly.

Playing a soft fourteen

When playing a soft fourteen, the minimum a blackjack player Titan Casino should do is hit their hand. In instances where the dealer’s up card is a five or six, the player should double down. In the event the dealer holds any other up card, the player holding a soft fourteen should take a hit and then reassess their options. For example, we hold Ace – three while the dealer holds an eight. We are correct in taking a hit. If our hand remains soft and under the total of eighteen, we will hit. If the hand is now valued eighteen or over, we will accept the total and stand.

Playing a hard fourteen

If the player holds a hard fourteen, they should stand only when the dealer’s up card is a two, three, four, five, or six. If the dealer holds an up card of seven, eight, nine, face, or ace – the player should hit, as doing so is more profitable than standing because the instances where the dealer busts or is outdrawn outweighs the chances that the dealer will beat us by standing with fourteen.

For example, supposing the dealer has an up card of seven, while we hold eight – six. The correct thing to do in this situation is to hit our hand. If we draw a two or an ace, we should take yet another card. If we draw anything above that, we either bust or should stand.