Atlassino Academy · Blackjack · Lesson 8

Soft hands and the ace declared 1 or 11

The hands where an ace counts as 11, at Córdoba tables where an ace among your first two cards is declared 1 or 11 for the rest of the hand.

About 15 minutes
Illustrated hosts: Leo and Maya
Last checked 25 October 2026

A soft hand is a hand where an ace counts 11 and can still drop to 1. One card cannot take it over 21: at worst the ace steps down. At Córdoba tables an ace among your first two cards does not get that freedom: you declare it 1 or 11, and it stays that way.

You are dealt an ace and a 7. The dealer shows a 10 and asks you: one or eleven?

The short answer

An ace and a 2 to 6: declare it 1 and take a card, against every dealer card. An ace and a 7, 8 or 9: declare it 11 and stand, against every dealer card. An ace that arrives as your third card or later is not declared, and that hand is the one soft hand left at these tables: take a card on soft 13 to 17, stand on soft 18 against a 2 to 8 and take a card against a 9, 10 or ace, stand on soft 19 and 20.

Leo lays his palm over an ace of hearts beside a six of spades, with a ten of clubs and a seven of diamonds making the same total further along the felt, while Maya reads the second pair from the rail.

Leo smiling, explaining with an open hand.

Leoformer dealer · rules and maths

Everywhere else in this course an ace is the card that has not made up its mind. At these tables you make it up for the ace, at the deal, and the rest of the lesson is about doing that well.

The ace you declare

When one of your first two cards is an ace, the dealer asks you to say what it counts: 1 or 11. The answer holds until your hand is settled.

Declared 11: a 17. The ace stays 11. Take a card and anything above a 4 takes the hand over 21.

Declared 1: a 7. The ace stays 1. No single card can take a 7 over 21, and a 4 makes an 11, not a 21.

So there is no soft hand on the two cards you are dealt: whichever way you declare, the hand is a hard one from that moment. How every card counts is in the first lesson of this track.

What to declare

Eight decks · the dealer stands on every 17 · double on 11 only · the ace declared at the deal · house edge 2.08% with the full chart

An ace among your first two cards, at Córdoba tables
Dealt	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,2	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
A,3	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
A,4	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
A,5	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
A,6	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
A,7	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A,8	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A,9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Sdeclare 11 and stand
Hdeclare 1 and take a card

An ace and a 2 to 6: declare 1. Declared 11 the hand would be a 13 to 17, too little to stand on and too much to draw to. Declared 1 it is a 3 to 7, and one card cannot take it over 21.

An ace and a 7, 8 or 9: declare 11 and stand, against every dealer card. An 18, 19 or 20 is a hand to keep; declared 1 it would be an 8, 9 or 10 that has to be built again.

No double on these hands: the rules allow a double only on two cards that make 11.

What the declaration costs

Take the same two cards to a table where the ace can still change, and they are worth more. The ace that drops from 11 to 1 when a big card comes is what makes a soft hand safe to draw to, and the declaration takes that away.

The same two cards, on an example bet of 10 units: an ace that can still change, and an ace declared at the deal
You are dealt	Dealer shows	Ace that can change	Ace declared	The declaration costs
A,6	a 6	Take a card: +1.29 units	Declare 1 and take a card: +0.31 units	0.98 units a hand
A,2	a 5	Take a card: +1.36 units	Declare 1 and take a card: +0.05 units	1.31 units a hand
A,7	a 9	Take a card: −0.99 units	Declare 11 and stand: −1.83 units	0.84 units a hand
A,7	a 10	Take a card: −2.07 units	Declare 11 and stand: −2.41 units	0.34 units a hand

Three cells of the chart move with it: an ace and a 7 against a 9, a 10 or an ace. With an ace that can change, the chart draws to that soft 18; declared, the chart stands, because drawing now means starting again from a hard 8. Over the whole chart the same rules with an ace that can change would leave the house 1.28% of every bet; with the declaration they leave 2.08%. The two other rulebooks in One game, three rulebooks ask for no declaration, and that lesson sets all three side by side.

The ace that comes later

The declaration covers an ace among your first two cards. An ace you draw later counts 11 while that keeps the hand at 21 or under, and 1 after that, and that hand is a soft hand in the usual sense: one card cannot break it.

You take one card. Where does each seventeen land?
Your hand	The card you take
Your hand	A	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
A hard 17: a 10 and a 7	18	19	20	21	22 — over 21, hand lost	23 — over 21, hand lost	24 — over 21, hand lost	25 — over 21, hand lost	26 — over 21, hand lost	27 — over 21, hand lost
A soft 17: a 2, a 4, then an ace	18	19	20	21	12	13	14	15	16	17

A soft hand with the ace drawn later, by the dealer’s card
Soft	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,2	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
A,3	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
A,4	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
A,5	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
A,6	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
A,7	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H
A,8	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A,9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Sstand
Htake a card

Soft 13 to 17: take a card, against every dealer card. Soft 18: stand against a 2 to 8, take a card against a 9, 10 or ace. Soft 19 and 20: stand.

These rows are worked out for an ace that can change. No amounts are shown for them: our figures are for two-card hands, and these hands have three cards or more.

What a wrong call costs

Amounts are for an example bet of 10 units; at twice the bet, twice the cost. Amounts are in betting units, not pesos: a unit can stand for any amount, and the arithmetic is the same at any scale.

Declaring too high

An ace and a 6 against a 10, declared 11

0.93 units

each time you declare 11 and stand on the 17, against declaring 1 and drawing to a hard 7.

Fix: an ace and a 2 to 6 is declared 1.

Declaring too low

An ace and a 7 against a 10, declared 1

0.65 units

each time you declare 1 and draw to a hard 8 instead of standing on 18. Against a 9, 0.26 units.

Fix: an ace and a 7, 8 or 9 is declared 11, and you stand.

The house keeps its edge; the chart only makes it smaller. Play every cell of the chart and these rules still leave the house 2.08% of every bet.

At the table, with Maya

The dealer asks. With an ace among your first two cards, the dealer asks you to declare it before you play the hand.
Say it once. The answer holds until the hand is settled: there is no taking it back after the next card.
A later ace is not declared. It counts as the hand needs.

Maya with a hand on her chest, speaking gently and seriously.

Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks

A rule that makes the game dearer is a reason to look at your limit again, not a reason to chase. Decide your time and your money before you sit down, and keep to them. If the money starts to feel like money you need, stop and call one of the lines below.

If it stops being fun

If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. Minimum entry age: each province sets its own. Where we found the rule or regulator that sets it, we cite it on the page; those we found set it at 18. More on responsible gaming.

Show all provinces

0800-666-6006Buenos Aires City (CABA) · Línea de orientación por juego problemático (LOTBA) · Monday to Friday, 9 to 17

0800-444-4000Buenos Aires Province · Programa de Prevención y Asistencia al Juego Compulsivo (IPLyC)

0800-777-2983Cordoba · Línea 0800-777-AYUDA (Lotería de Córdoba) · 24 hours

0800-268-5640Santa Fe · Línea gratuita de la APRECOD (Santa Fe) · Every day, 8 to 24

0800-888-2202Entre Rios · Departamento Juego Responsable (IAFAS, PREVENJUEGO)

0261-424-7536Mendoza · Programa de Juego Responsable (IPJyC) · Monday to Friday, 8 to 14

0800-888-5836Misiones · Programa de Juego Responsable del IPLyC S.E. (0800-888-LUDO)

0800-888-2008Chaco · Línea de Juego Responsable (Lotería Chaqueña)

0299-403-8900Neuquen · Líneas de contacto, orientación y tratamiento (IJAN, juego responsable) · Monday to Friday, 8 to 15

0800-222-1700Rio Negro · Línea de Orientación al Jugador Problemático (Lotería de Río Negro)

02901-433515Tierra del Fuego · Departamento Juego Responsable (IPRA, Ushuaia)

0800-555-7678Tucuman · Juego Responsable, Ley 8986 (Caja Popular de Ahorros)

0800-999-1314San Juan · Línea gratuita del Programa Provincial de Juego Responsable (Caja de Acción Social) · Monday to Friday, 08 to 12

If you are thinking about suicide, call 135 or 0800 345 1435 from anywhere in the country

Practice table

Two levels: first the ace dealt to you, which you declare, then the ace that comes later, which you play as a soft hand. Every answer is a cell of the chart for these rules, read from the engine. Amounts are for an example bet of 10 units, an example and not a suggested bet; hands of three cards carry no amount.

The practice table needs JavaScript. Here is one hand from it, with the answer.

Dealer shows a 6

You

Your hand an ace and a 2

You are dealt an ace and a 2. The dealer shows a 6 and asks you to declare the ace: 1 or 11. What does the chart say?

Declare it 11 and stand on 13 Standing on 13 costs 1.76 units a hand against declaring the ace 1 and taking a card. Once declared 11, the ace cannot drop back to 1.
Declare it 1 and take a card — the chart’s move Yes. Declared 1, the ace makes a hard 3, and no single card can take a hard 3 over 21. The ace stays a 1 for the rest of the hand.

With an ace that could still change its mind, this would be a soft 13, and the chart would take a card. Declared at the deal, the same two cards are worth 1.35 units a hand less on an example bet of 10 units: the ace can no longer step from 11 down to 1, or from 1 up to 11, as the cards come.

How the practice table works

One strip, no rounds. Every square on the strip is one hand of this lesson, and they are all there from the start. The square keeps your first answer; when a level’s squares are full the next level begins by itself.

Levels. Level 1: an ace among your first two cards, declared at the deal. Level 2: soft hands of three cards, with the ace as the third card.

Where to play, and further reading

Blackjack in Argentina The casinos that list blackjack, with the minimum bets they quote.

18+ under each province’s rules · Play responsibly · the helplines are further up this page

How it’s worked out

Rules, numbers and hosts

Rules. The figures on this page follow the rules Lotería de Córdoba publishes for Córdoba casinos: at least eight decks (the figures take exactly eight), the dealer standing on every 17, blackjack paid 3 to 2, a double only on a two-card 11, an ace among the first two cards declared 1 or 11 for the whole hand, and a dealer’s second card turned over after the players. The rule speaks of the first two cards; we read an ace drawn later as counting 1 or 11 as the hand needs. It is a preset for learning, not a statement about any one casino: the room settles anything its rulebook leaves open.

Numbers. Every figure is worked out when the page is built, by our blackjack engine. For a hand with a declared ace the engine compares standing on the total with the ace at 11 against drawing on either total, and the chart shows the higher average. “An ace that can change” is the same rules with the declaration taken out. A cost is the difference of two averages for an example bet of 10 units, each rounded to the hundredth first. The landing totals are card arithmetic. The averages are worked out for two-card hands, so hands of three cards carry no amount.

Hosts. Leo and Maya are illustrated characters. Their backstories, a former dealer and a former floor supervisor, are written for the course: neither is a real person, and neither speaks for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from their experience.

No promise. Blackjack is played against the house. The chart lowers the price of playing; nothing on this page removes that price or tells you how an evening will end.

Spotted a mistake on this page? Tell us