The Ace must be counted as only 1 to avoid going over 21. A hand that contains an Ace is called a "soft" total if the Ace can be counted as either 1 or 11 without the total going over 21. For example (Ace, 6) is a soft 17. The hand (Ace,6,10) on the other hand is a "hard" 17, since now the Ace must be counted as only 1.

The dealer must play his hand in a specific way, with no choices allowed. There are two popular rule variations that determine what totals the dealer must draw to. In any given casino, you can tell which rule is in effect by looking at the blackjack tabletop. It should be clearly labeled with one of these rules: "Dealer stands on all 17s“ or "Dealer hits soft 17”

One deck – dealer up card 10 or Ace, your hand 16, surrender or hit // 7-7 against dealer 10 stand or surrender