Blackjack Strategies
For those who can follow blackjack strategy, it is one of the best casino games to play both in a land-based casino and in an online casino. Before attempting to follow any strategy, it is important to fully understand the game of blackjack. Mastering basic blackjack is fairly simple. It is, however, important to fully understand blackjack betting and the odds that casinos offer in order to have a fuller picture of how the game should be played.
Blackjack has a fairly low house edge when compared with other casino games. This means that if a player who knows the rules, and carefully applies a tried and tested strategy, it is more likely that they will win at blackjack as opposed to most other casino games.
Those who only know the basic rules of the game are simply hoping for good cards and luck in order to win. This is possible, since the game of blackjack is a game of chance, but the less that can be left up to chance, and the more that can be left up to skill, the better chance there is of winning.
Mathematics and Blackjack Strategy
There is blackjack strategy available that has been mathematically tested, with those testing it going as far as putting the information through a computer program in order to work out the best way to increase the player’s chance of winning, and to reduce the house edge to as little as possible. It is important to remember that the rules in some casinos will differ slightly, which may necessitate a slight adjustment to some of the basic blackjack strategy.
It is possible to find a copy of the basic blackjack strategy card on the Internet, however, it is helpful to most players to work out what the options are before trying to follow the strategy in a casino.
Blackjack Strategy Card
Below is some advice from the basic blackjack strategy card with some explanations. The player’s hand will be listed, after which the best play is listed based on what dealer card is showing.
Playing soft hands, or hands that contain at least one Ace:
Ace and 2 or Ace and 3 - If the dealer has either the 5 or the 6, double. If not, then hit.
Ace and 4 or Ace and 5 - If the dealer has a 4, 5, or 6, double. If not, then hit.
Ace and 6 - If the dealer has a 3, 4, 5, or 6, double. If not, then hit.
Ace and 7 - If the dealer has 2, 7, or 8, stand. If the dealer has 3, 4, 5, or 6, double. If not, then hit.
Ace and 8, or Ace and 9 - It is not worth going bust, so it is best to stand.
Playing hard hands, or hands that do not contain any Aces:
8 or lower - hit.
9 - If the dealer has 3, 4, 5, or 6, double. If not, then hit.
10 - If the dealer has any number from 2 until 9, double. If not, then hit.
11 - If the dealer has any number from 2 until 10, double. If the dealer has an Ace, hit.
12 - If the dealer has a 4, 5, or 6, stand. If the dealer has anything else, hit.
13, 14, 15, 16 - If the dealer has anything from 2 until 6, stand. If not, then hit.
17, 18, 19, 20 - No matter what the dealer’s first card is, it is best to stand when having a hand total of any of these values.
21 - For a natural blackjack, there is no question that you will be standing.
Playing Pairs in Blackjack:
Aces - Always split.
Twos or threes - If the dealer has anything from 2 until 7, split. If not, then hit.
Fours - If the dealer has either a 5 or a 6, split. If not, then hit.
Fives - If the dealer has anything from 2 until 9, double. If not, then hit.
Sixes - If the dealer has anything from 2 until 6, split. If not, then hit.
Sevens - If the dealer has anything from 2 until 7, split. If not, then hit.
Eights - Always split.
Nines - If the dealer has 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, or 9, split. If the dealer has Ace, 7, or 10, stand.
Tens - Always stand.
After the decision has been made of how to deal with the pair, players can continue to use the guidelines above to continue playing their hand/s.
