How to play a 16 against a 10

This month's Casino Player magazine has lots of good information, and I'll be posting some of it over the upcoming days.

In blackjack, here are the rules for playing a 16 against a dealer's 10 up card.
  • If you have a 10 and 6 or a 9 and 7, surrender if you can. If you can't surrender (not allowed), then hit.
  • If you have a pair of 8's, then split them. If you happen to draw another 8 on the split (so you again have 16) and you can't resplit (not allowed), then stand.
  • If you get a 16 after three or more cards (e.g. you start out with a 4-8 and then hit and get a 4), then stand.
  • If you have a soft 16 (e.g. Ace-5 or 3-Ace-2) then hit.


I always had a "gut feeling" about that third one - the "card" (see wizardofodds.com for an example) says to hit a hard 16 against a 10, but the card also doesn't differentiate between a two-card 16 and a three-card 16. I didn't know if it made a difference or not, but most of the time I would stand on a three-card 16, and now I have some proof as to why I should.

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