Optimal Dealer "Strategy"?

Typical blackjack games, the dealer must hit on 16 and stand on 17 (or hit soft 17).

Is H17 the most house-advantageous rule? How would the odds change if the dealer had to hit a hard 17? Or had to stand on a 16?

H17 is more advantageous for the house, because in general a hand of 17 will lose a little more than 50% of the time and the chances of winning are slightly increased when hitting for more cards to possibly make 18-21 or bust.

Hitting soft 17 is optimal dealer stragedy and is the only change in hitting rules that a casino will make. The dealer does not make stragedy decisions they just play the way the casino tells them to. A dealer will never hit a hard 17 even if everybody else has 18 or better. That would be against the rules of blackjack for the dealer to hit a hard 17. Hitting a soft 17 is bigger advantage to the house than always staying on it.

Thanks for the responses, but I think my initial query must have been unclear.

I am asking for the optimal strategy for the dealer. That is, if a casino were to redesign the rules, what would benefit the house the most. Assume the dealer still plays by a rigid set of rules that is independent of the players' hands.

I.e., would dealer hits to hard 16 and soft 18 benefit or hurt the house?
what about dealer hits to hard 15 and soft 17? how would that change the house edge?

To the first part of your question the answer is no. Rules such 6:5 blackjack are MUCH worse. If you want to bank a strong game for say a single session fundraiser event, ties lose is generally a good way to secure a winning night. Your question about hitting 17 or standing on 16 would require custom simulation to calculate edge but I would guess that both would make the house weaker.
I good list of rule variations and the effect they have on edge can be found on the wizard of odds site.
-BW

It would kill the house to have the dealer standing on 16 or hitting 17. The dealer's strategy is extremely simple and unsophisticated - which is why blackjack is a beatable game. The house's huge advantage is position. It would be especially bad for the house if people recalibrated their play based on the fact that the dealer was now standing on 16 or hitting 17.

I appreciate your time in responding, but my questions is still not being answered. I'll assume the blame for poor phrasing, though I am not quite sure how else to state it.

Thanks anyway.

I understand what you are asking, but don't know the answer.

Obviously, if the dealer's rules changed, so would basic strategy. Without re-deriving BS for various dealer rules, I'm not sure what the answer is.

But someone with a combinatorial analyzer might be able to run this for kicks.