Blackjack
Basic Strategy
Winning blackjack starts at the Basic Blackjack
Strategy which covers six basic components of the game. The basic strategy
has some slight variations according to the casino rules and number of
decks used, but this blackjack chart is good enough to reduce the casino
edge to under 1%. Master this chart before moving on to other stratagies,
all successful blackjack play is based on the basic strategy.
 Hitting
and Standing
Blackjack fundamental #1 is to remember that the
dealer always hits on any hand 16 or lower, so you won't win
any money when you're holding less than 17, unless the dealer busts. So,
how should that statement affect your play? Here's how..
If
your hand is below 17 and the dealer is showing an Ace, King, Queen,
Jack, 10, 9, or 8, you should hit. Why? Simple. Whenever
the dealer holds one of these cards his chances of busting are much smaller,
so unless you beat a 16 you will not win many of these hands. Optimal
blackjack play "assumes" unknown cards to be worth a value
of ten.
So you may be asking when should I stand? If your
hand is above 12 and the dealer shows a 4, 5, or 6, your best play is
to stand. When the dealer is showing any of these three cards, his chances
of busting are highest. In fact, it's more than 40 percent of the time.
Think of how silly you'd feel if you took a hit with 15, caught a 10 and
busted, only to see that the dealer had 14 and would have been forced
to take a hit and draw the 10 instead of you. Every time you bust yourself
instead of busting the dealer, you're not winning as much money as you
could be winning.
Doubling Down
Speaking of money, the best and fastest way to
make it when playing Blackjack is by successfully doubling down at every
opportunity. Doubling down can make you double your bet or end up costing
you double if you do it in a bad spot. The first and most important rule
of doubling down is, always double down any hand totalling 11. No matter
what the dealer's showing, if you hit a 10 when you've got 11 he won't
beat you.
So
when else should you double down? When your hand is 10 and the dealer
is showing a 9 or lower, double it up. When
your hand is a 9 or you have a "soft" hand (an ace counted
as 11) between 13 and 17 against a dealer's 4, 5 or 6, double it up.
That's
it though. Those hands give you the best shot at cashing in when you
double down. Follow those rules and you'll end up on the winning end
of a double.
For a thorough guide to strategic doubling down
please refer to the Blackjack Strategy chart.
Splitting
The final strategy point, and what tends to be
everyone's favorite or most hated part of Blackjack, is splitting. Splitting
can be highly profitable if you do it with the right cards, or you could
end up costing you by splitting a winning hand into a pair of losers.
The first thing to remember when splitting is,
never split 10's or 5's. Ten's refers to any card valued 10, whether it
be the actual 10 or any face card. Conversely, always split aces and eights,
no matter what the dealer is showing. The reason behind splitting aces
should be obvious, but you might be perplexed about eights. A pair of
eights equals 16, which is really a middle-of-the-road hand in Blackjack.
Like we said before, with 16 your only chance of winning is if the dealer
busts. By splitting into a pair of eights, your chances of hitting two
hands higher than 16 are actually quite good.
Other than aces and eights, your best bets when
it comes to splitting is to split 2's and 3's against a dealer's 4, 5,
or 6. When it comes to the rest of the cards in the deck (4, 6, 7, 9),
the simplest rule is to only split these cards when the dealer's hand
is showing a card of lesser value. There are variations on this rule however,
so you may want to stick with aces, 8's, 2's and 3's for now.
For a thorough guide to strategic splitting please
refer to the Blackjack Strategy chart.
Soft hands
We initially mentioned soft hands in Part 1, so
now let's delve into the details. Soft hands can be tricky for the Blackjack
layman because they have their own special rules when it comes to hitting,
standing and doubling down. As a quick reminder, Soft hands are any hand
with an Ace, where the player can choose between 2 totals, ie A and 5
could be 6 or 16.
You want to hit a soft 13 through 17 whenever the
dealer is showing 7 or higher. Remember, with any soft hand no matter
what card you receive you cannot bust. Now here comes the tricky part,
doubling soft hands. If you've got a soft 13 through 17, only double down
when the dealer shows a 5 or 6. If you've got a soft 15 through 17, you
can also double up if the dealer's showing a 4. Most of the time you'll
want to stand on a soft 18, but if the dealer's sporting a 9, 10 or an
ace, you'll probably be better off taking a hit. With your soft 18, always
stand versus a 2, 7 or 8, and double down against a 3, 4, 5 or 6. No matter
what the dealer is showing, always stand on a soft 19 or higher.
Finally on soft hands, if the dealer holds a 2
and you've got a soft hand, do not double down.
Insurance
The other mistake players make when a possible
dealer's Blackjack rears its ugly head is insurance. In the long run insurance
is definitely not worth it, but one of the worst plays you can make is
insuring a hand of 20 made of up two 10's. Think of it this way; you're
insuring yourself against the dealer having a 10 when you've already reduced
the odds of him having one by having two yourself. Besides, don't we already
spend enough money on insurance away from the Blackjack table?
Another mistake a lot of Blackjack players can
make is choosing the wrong play when the dealer shows an ace and could
be holding a possible Blackjack. This is one of the worst things that
can happen to a player, when they get lucky and catch a Blackjack of their
own. If a player has a Blackjack and the Dealer is showing an Ace, the
player can still purchase insurance. Many players fear having a push forced
on them and end up taking 'even money'. Taking Insurance on your Blackjack
vs a Dealer's Ace is called 'even money' because regardless of the Dealer's
hand, you will take an 'even money' payout of 1-1 on your blackjack.
By taking even money you could be giving away potential
winnings. You may lose out on a few wins once in awhile, but your Blackjack
account will be reduced in the long run by taking even money.
For a thorough guide to insurance please refer
to the Blackjack Strategy chart.
Surrender
One final tip before hitting the tables to make
your Blackjack fortune; don't be afraid to surrender if the option is
given to you. If, after the cards are dealt, the dealer is way ahead and
the chances of you pulling out a win are slim, surrender, get 50 percent
of your bet back and live to play another hand. If you're stuck on when
to surrender and when to play on, remember this: always surrender with
a hard 15 when the dealer has a 10, and always surrender with a hard 16
when the dealer has a 9, 10 or ace.
For a thorough guide to surrendering in blackjack
please refer to the Blackjack Strategy chart.
In General
If you're looking to avoid some other common mistakes,
perk up your ears. If you think playing two hands instead of one against
the dealer gives you better odds of winning, you're mistaken. Playing
two hands will give you the same advantage as two different players playing
a single hand versus the dealer using exactly the same strategy. The advantage
there is zero.
Another way many players feel they can get an advantage
is by increasing their betting or by using a progressive betting system.
No matter if you're ahead or behind, your chances of winning the next
hand remain static so increasing your bets during a streak of wins or
losses is not necessarily a smart move. So-called progressive betting
-- betting one chip, then three, then five, etc. -- is not a smart move
either. This offers no increased chances of winning, and by losing the
hand where you bet five chips after winning the two hands where you bet
one and three chips, you wind up in the red. Unless you can count cards
and know what's coming out of the shoe, progressive betting won't pay
off.
Good luck.
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