neversplit5s said:
I was about to post a similar post on this subject - why if S17 has better odds are there more doubles with H17. A friend asked me about that, and the reasoning I gave was that it's because of one of the properties of doubling down - you only get one more card. Since after doubling you may end up with a stiff had that you can't do anything about and will win only if the dealer bust, the higher bust rate with H17 can make doubling the right play in borderline cases that you wouldn't double on with S17. Although H17 also means that the dealer is more likely to make a good hand, that is less of an issue when doubling since you wouldn't draw more cards anyway if you had a pat hand. Am I correct in this reasoning?
H17 effects are threefold:
1) your double becomes a stiff and you need the dealer to bust.
In this case the only difference is if the dealer hits to so soft
17(you lose at S17) but the dealer must hit giving you a second
chance the dealer to bust. Obviously this is good.
2) your double becomes 17. This is identical to above except instead of
a loss in S17 you would start at a push on dealer soft 17. H17
changes that push to another chance for the dealer to bust or
push but now you may lose where you would have pushed.
3) your double becomes a pat hand of 18 to 21. Here in S17 you would
win against soft 17. However in H17 the dealer has a second
chance to beat you. Obviously this is not good.
The cumulative affect of the probability of these three possible interactions for each hand match up determines whether H17 helps or hurts a particular double decision. Sometimes this affect is enough to change the basic strategy tables in one direction or the other.
Hopefully this helps clear up any questions on the subject.