Hard Hand

A blackjack hand without an Ace, or with an Ace valued at 1 is said to be Hard, as it may only be given one value. For example, a hand consisting of a 7, 8 and Ace would be a Hard 15. In this example, the Ace must be counted with a value of one, as if it were counted as an 11 the hand would add up to 25 (i.e. bust).