Hard 16 vs a dealer 10 — why the chart says hit

What the table does

You assign three piles: the dealer’s upcard, your hand, and any other cards you saw. The app then looks up the basic strategy action under the rules you set (decks, H17/S17, DAS, surrender), updates a running count and, for balanced systems, a true count, and shows a bet ramp. It does not play the hand for you and it does not connect to a casino.

Hard 16 vs a dealer 10 — hit or stand?

A hard 16 is a 16 with no ace counted as 11 — typically a ten and a six. The dealer showing a 10 (ten, jack, queen, or king) is a strong upcard. Standing feels safer. Long-run expected value says hitting loses less.

Default in Anvil Table: multi-deck, dealer hits soft 17 (H17), double any two, DAS, late surrender — 16 vs 10 is a chart surrender. Turn Surrender to None (or use the 16 vs 10 drill) to see the hit / I18 stand.

With Hi-Lo on and the $5 Hi-Lo deviations plan, this is also Illustrious 18 #2: stand at floored true count 0 or higher when surrender is off. Drill it in the Hi-Lo trainer. Notes: Illustrious 18.

Rules that change the chart

Counting is a separate layer

Basic strategy is the floor. Counting tracks whether the remaining shoe is rich in tens and aces. Anvil Table includes nine systems. A common Hi-Lo mapping: 2–6 +1, 7–9 0, 10s and aces −1 — see the Hi-Lo page.

Try the 16 vs 10 drill

Open the 16 vs 10 drill. The trainer deals a study shoe so the floored true count sits at 0; with indexes on, the badge should read stand. With surrender off and indexes off, the same 16 vs 10 is a chart hit.

Sources

Chart cells follow the usual multi-deck published basic strategy (see Don Schlesinger, Blackjack Attack, and the Wizard of Odds strategy engine). Methodology lists what Anvil Table computes versus what it does not.

FAQ