Your hand is 16 against a dealer 9. One Cash Out offer has the higher expected value (EV). A lower offer leaves Hit as the better choice.
Start with a fresh eight-deck shoe and enter your 10, the dealer’s 9, then your 6. The dealer stands on soft 17, doubling is allowed on any two cards, and surrender is disabled. The main bet is 10 in any consistent currency.
These are two hypothetical offers for the same teaching state, calculated with the Advantage Count v1 engine. They are not recorded casino prices. Both quote the total amount returned, including any returned stake.
Same hand, shoe and rules.
Best continuation: HIT · −0.5057 units
02 / WHAT DOES THE QUOTE INCLUDE?
Money returned is not net profit.
Receiving 5.50 from an original bet of 10 leaves a net loss of 4.50. Divide that loss by the original bet to express it in the same units as the action EVs.
| Offer | Total returned | Net money result | Net units |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 5.50 | −4.50 | −0.4500 |
| B | 4.50 | −5.50 | −0.5500 |
Select the quote contract actually shown by the platform. Our examples use Total returned (stake included), so the original stake is already included in the quoted amount.
What if the quote says Net profit instead?
The app also supports Net profit (stake returned separately). Under that contract, 5.50 on a bet of 10 means +0.5500 units, with the original 10 returned separately. Do not subtract that stake again. The EV and wager-units guide explains the common reference.
03 / COMPARE THE AVAILABLE ACTIONS
The better choice can still lose money.
Without accepting either quote, the exact calculation gives these values for this hand and composition:
| Action | EV |
|---|---|
| Hit · best continuation | −0.5057 |
| Stand | −0.5427 |
| Double | −1.0115 |
| Surrender / Split | Unavailable in this state |
Hit has the highest continuation EV: −0.5057 units. It includes the later play implied by the calculation. It does not assume another Cash Out offer will arrive after a draw.
- A: −0.4500 − (−0.5057)+0.0557 units
- B: −0.5500 − (−0.5057)−0.0443 units
The differences above are calculated before rounding. Offer A has the higher value by about 0.0557 units. Offer B has the lower value by about 0.0443 units, so the EV comparison says KEEP PLAYING with Hit.
Accepting A still fixes a loss of 4.50 on the 10 bet. Continuing has an expected net result of about −5.06 in the same currency, but an individual result can be better or worse. Expected value is a probability-weighted average.
Would a total return of 4.94 be enough to beat Hit?
No. On a bet of 10, it gives −0.5060 units, slightly below Hit’s unrounded EV. The break-even total return is 10 × (1 + continuation EV) ≈ 4.9425. A quote of 4.95 is above that boundary. At equal EV there is no expected-value advantage; the remaining variation in outcomes is different.
04 / A DIFFERENT TABLE OPTION
Cash Out and surrender have different prices.
Ordinary late surrender returns half the original wager, giving −0.5 units, when the hand and dealer-check rules allow it. Its price is fixed. Cash Out uses a variable quote entered for the current hand. Read the late-surrender definition and timing.
Surrender is disabled in our two main examples. If we change only that rule to Late surrender, this 16 against 9 can surrender. Its −0.5000 units then beat Hit’s −0.5057. Against offer B at −0.5500, the best non-Cash-Out action becomes Surrender.
05 / FROM THE QUOTE TO THE RESULT
Check the contract, state and accuracy.
- Set and apply the table rules.
Enable Cash Out offered for this practice example and select Total returned (stake included). Use the rules listed below. Start with a fresh eight-deck shoe and enter 10, dealer 9, then 6.
- Enter and compare the current offer.
In CASH OUT CHECK, set Main bet to 10 and Total amount returned to 5.50. If an actual bet is already locked for the round, the Cash Out stake must match it. Select Compare offer.
- Read the result’s accuracy.
Select FULL and wait for EXACT for this supported hand. An approximate or deferred continuation cannot establish the app’s Cash Out recommendation. FULL selects the mode; the accuracy label describes the result obtained.
- Compare both prices before recording a choice.
Expect TAKE CASH OUT for 5.50. Change the offer to 4.50 and press Compare offer again to see KEEP PLAYING. Re-enter and compare 5.50 if you want to record that offer. Editing a number does not complete the comparison.
- Record what happened.
Record Cash Out records the outcome in Advantage Count; it does not accept an offer on another platform. If you continue with Hit, enter the actual next card. A changed hand needs a fresh offer and comparison. A settled Cash Out hand may still need later visible dealer cards entered to complete the shoe count.
EV DEFERRED or EV UNAVAILABLE is not a recommendation to take the offer. A control that allows recording a choice is separate from a calculated recommendation.
Inspect the exact starting state and rules
Begin with eight decks: 416 cards. Remove one 10, one 9 and one 6 as visible cards. The unseen composition is 32 Aces; 32 each of 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8; 31 sixes; 31 nines; and 127 ten-value cards. There are 413 unknown card identities, including the reserved hole card, and 412 physical cards left in the shoe. RC and TC are zero. No other exposed or burn card is assumed.
Rules: S17, 3:2 blackjack, Ace peek only, all bets lose to dealer blackjack, any-two double, DAS and at most two split hands. Split aces are allowed, without resplit, hit or double of split aces. Surrender is disabled except in the explicitly marked comparison. Cash Out is enabled with the total-return contract. Penetration is 75%; the profile is Extended with floor TC and half-deck estimation.
The dealer’s 9 rules out a natural blackjack without a peek, so there is no Insurance or dealer-check branch here. These are ordinary, unsplit hands. The exact continuation uses the supplied rank counts and contains no future Cash Out prices. All example results were calculated on 13 September 2026.
Sources and further reading
The two offers, action values and surrender comparison are original teaching examples calculated with Advantage Count. The external sources support expected value and the surrender definition.