# Playing Against a Dealer 5, Hand by Hand

The full dealer 5 column of the basic strategy chart: which stiffs stand, why every soft hand from soft 13 through soft 17 doubles, and the two cells that move in single deck.

Source: https://21trainer.app/articles/basic-strategy-vs-dealer-five/
Updated: October 5, 2026
Publisher: 21 Trainer, makers of Blackjack Strategy: 21 Trainer, an educational blackjack trainer for iPhone (https://apps.apple.com/app/blackjack-strategy-21-trainer/id6759527695)

> **Educational content, not gambling advice.** 21 Trainer and this article teach blackjack strategy and card counting as skills, using virtual chips only. No strategy or counting system guarantees winnings, and nothing here encourages real-money play. If gambling is a problem for you or someone you know, call 1-800-522-4700 (National Council on Problem Gambling).

The dealer's weak stretch runs from the 4 through the 6, and the 5 sits in the middle of it. Per the six deck final total distribution tables computed by Wizard of Odds, with the dealer standing on soft 17 and already checked for blackjack, a dealer showing a 5 busts 41.8 percent of the time, second only to the 6 at 42.3 and ahead of the 4 at 39.6. Our walks through [the 4 column](https://21trainer.app/articles/basic-strategy-vs-dealer-four/) and [the 6 column](https://21trainer.app/articles/basic-strategy-vs-dealer-six/) cover the neighbors.

The bust rate alone does not capture what makes the 5 fragile. Its most likely made totals are the low ones: exactly 17 and exactly 18 at 12.2 percent each, then 19 at 11.8, 20 at 11.2 and 21 at 10.8, all per the same table. A single ten value card leaves a dealer showing 5 with a hard 15 that must draw again, and every made total on the row is less likely than the bust.

## The whole column, one table

These are the strategy chart's cells for a dealer 5 upcard in the standard shoe game: four to eight decks, dealer stands on soft 17, dealer peeks, blackjack pays 3:2, double on any two cards, late surrender where offered.

| Your hand | Play against a dealer 5 |
| --- | --- |
| Hard 8 or less | Hit |
| Hard 9 | Double if allowed, otherwise hit |
| Hard 10 | Double if allowed, otherwise hit |
| Hard 11 | Double if allowed, otherwise hit |
| Hard 12 through 16 | Stand |
| Hard 17 and up | Stand |
| Soft 13 through 17 (A,2 through A,6) | Double if allowed, otherwise hit |
| Soft 18 (A,7) | Double if allowed, otherwise stand |
| Soft 19 and 20 | Stand |
| 2,2 | Split |
| 3,3 | Split |
| 4,4 | Split if double after split is allowed, otherwise hit |
| 5,5 | Double if allowed, otherwise hit |
| 6,6 | Split |
| 7,7 | Split |
| 8,8 | Split |
| 9,9 | Split |
| 10,10 | Stand |
| A,A | Split |

Two notes before the reasoning. Nothing surrenders against a 5 in any chart, at any deck count, under either soft 17 rule, because surrender is for hopeless hands against strong upcards and this column contains none. And a pair of 5s is not a pair decision at all: it is a hard 10, doubling where the total doubles and never splitting.

## Why every stiff stands

A stiff is a hard 12 through 16, and against a 5 all five totals stand, as they do against the 4 and the 6. Standing is a bet that the dealer breaks, which pays 41.8 percent of the time here. Hitting risks busting on four to eight of the thirteen ranks, and a player who busts loses no matter what the dealer does. From hard 12 up, that risk costs more than the draw gains.

The pattern across the weak upcards is a simple climb: the 2 busts 35.4 percent of the time, the 3 37.4, the 4 39.6, the 5 41.8 and the 6 42.3, all per the stands on soft 17 table. That climb is why hard 12 hits against a 2 and a 3 but stands against the 4, the 5 and the 6. Our [dealer final total distribution](https://21trainer.app/articles/dealer-final-total-distribution/) piece lays out the tables.

One distinction while the 5 is on the table. Our piece on [effect of removal](https://21trainer.app/articles/effect-of-removal-explained/) notes that removing a single 5 from a six deck shoe helps the player more than removing any other single card, by 0.141 percent under the stand on soft 17 assumptions. That is a fact about 5s leaving the shoe, and it is a different question from a 5 sitting as the dealer's upcard, which is what this column covers.

## The soft block goes all in

Against a 5, soft 13 through soft 17 all play double if allowed, otherwise hit, and soft 18 plays double if allowed, otherwise stand. That is the same shape as the 6 column, and a change from the 4, where soft 13 and soft 14 still hit in the shoe charts. Against a 5 every soft hand from soft 13 through soft 17 doubles in all six charts, single deck included, which is not true of the 4.

The reasoning is the general one for soft hands, covered in our [soft hands guide](https://21trainer.app/articles/soft-hands-blackjack/): an ace counted as 11 cannot bust on the next card, so doubling trades away only the option to keep drawing, worth giving up against a dealer who breaks 41.8 percent of the time. Soft 18 has its own piece on [the hand most players misplay](https://21trainer.app/articles/soft-eighteen-blackjack/), and the logic of committing to one card is the subject of our piece on [when to double down](https://21trainer.app/articles/when-to-double-down/).

Soft 19 and soft 20 stand, in every chart, under either soft 17 rule. They are made hands, and against a 5 the chart does not spend a second bet trying to improve them. Soft 19 matters in the comparison with the 6 below.

## The pairs: seven rows split, one conditionally

Seven of the ten pair rows split against a 5 with no condition attached: 2,2, 3,3, 6,6, 7,7, 8,8, 9,9 and A,A. An eighth, 4,4, splits only when double after split is allowed, and outside single deck it hits otherwise. In the shoe charts the pair hits against a 4 and starts splitting against the 5, the border our piece on [splitting 4s and 6s](https://21trainer.app/articles/splitting-fours-and-sixes/) walks in detail. The condition exists because much of the split's value comes from hands that develop into doubles afterward, the subject of our piece on [double after split](https://21trainer.app/articles/das-double-after-split/). Twos and threes split unconditionally here, per our piece on [splitting 2s and 3s](https://21trainer.app/articles/splitting-twos-and-threes/). Fives play as a hard 10 and double, and tens stand: a hard 20 against a dealer who finishes on exactly 21 just 10.8 percent of the time is about as comfortable as this game gets.

## How the column moves with the rules

The 5 column is stable: between the four to eight deck charts and the two deck charts nothing moves, and the cells are identical in all four under either soft 17 rule. Only single deck changes anything, and it changes exactly two cells. Hard 8, a hit everywhere else, becomes double if allowed, otherwise hit, in both single deck charts. And 4,4 moves from split if double after split is allowed, otherwise hit, to split if double after split is allowed, otherwise double. Short decks shift borderline cells because each dealt card changes the makeup of the remaining cards far more than it would in a shoe, and the lesson stays ordinary: play from the chart computed for your game.

## The 5 against the 6: one cell apart

Read the 5 column beside [the 6 column](https://21trainer.app/articles/basic-strategy-vs-dealer-six/) and almost nothing changes. In the four to eight deck and two deck charts where the dealer stands on soft 17, the two columns are identical cell for cell. The only difference anywhere in the chart file is soft 19, which stays a stand against a 5 in every chart but plays double if allowed, otherwise stand, against a 6 when the dealer hits soft 17 and in both single deck charts.

The 6 column piece explains the mechanics: hitting soft 17 turns some of the dealer's soft 17s into 19, 20 and 21, totals that tie or beat a standing 19, and against a 6 the thin margin for standing tips toward the double. Against a 5 that tipping does not happen. One cell apart is as close as two columns get.

## Practicing the column

Columns make good practice units, about twenty decisions against one upcard. Drill the 5 column until every cell answers itself, then fold it back into mixed practice where the upcard arrives unannounced. The errors worth hunting are the ones flagged here: standing on soft hands instead of doubling, and treating 4,4 as a plain hard 8 when double after split is on the table. In 21 Trainer you set the deck count, the soft 17 rule and double after split, and the strategy chart redraws for the selection; in Pro, the Weakness Drill and accuracy heat maps show whether errors cluster in these cells.

## Frequently asked questions

### Do you hit 12 against a dealer 5?

No. Basic strategy stands on hard 12 through 16 against a 5. Standing is a bet that the dealer breaks, which happens 41.8 percent of the time per the six deck stands on soft 17 tables. Hitting risks busting on any ten value card, and from hard 12 up that risk costs more than the draw gains.

### Should you double soft hands against a dealer 5?

Most of them. In the standard shoe game, soft 13 through soft 17 all play double if allowed, otherwise hit, and soft 18 plays double if allowed, otherwise stand. Soft 19 and soft 20 stand. A soft hand cannot bust on the next card, so doubling costs only the option to keep drawing, which is a trade worth making against this upcard.

### Do you split 4s against a dealer 5?

Yes, when doubling after a split is allowed; otherwise hit. In games of two decks or more the pair hits against a 4 and starts splitting against the 5, and much of the split's value comes from hands that develop into doubles afterward. In single deck it is more aggressive still: split if double after split is allowed, otherwise double.

### How often does the dealer bust with a 5 showing?

41.8 percent of the time per the six deck tables computed by Wizard of Odds where the dealer stands on soft 17 and has no blackjack, rising to 42.0 percent when the dealer hits soft 17. That is the second highest bust rate of any upcard, behind only the 6 at 42.3 and ahead of the 4 at 39.6.

### Is playing against a dealer 5 the same as against a 6?

Almost. In the four to eight deck and two deck charts where the dealer stands on soft 17, the 5 and 6 columns are identical cell for cell. The only difference anywhere is soft 19, which stands against a 5 in every chart but plays double if allowed, otherwise stand, against a 6 when the dealer hits soft 17 and in both single deck charts.

## Keep reading

- [Playing Against a Dealer 4, Hand by Hand](https://21trainer.app/articles/basic-strategy-vs-dealer-four/)
- [Playing Against a Dealer 6, Hand by Hand](https://21trainer.app/articles/basic-strategy-vs-dealer-six/)
- [Soft Hands: Why Ace-Six Is Not a 17](https://21trainer.app/articles/soft-hands-blackjack/)