BlackJack Basics Strategy - Improving the odds of your game.
A lot of poker players take time out in the casino to have a quick gambling fis at a blackjack table. You can even find some of the majot poker sites like Ultimate Bet and Party Poker taking advantage of this "urge" as well. However, as poker players, we want the odds to be on our side and even though Blackjack is a house-favored game, this article will show you how to not lose your next tournament buy-in and may even pocket you some buffet money!
Despite what may be thought, learning basic blackjack strategy is not that hard. Basic blackjack strategy is such an open secret that even casinos will pass out cards detailing how to play perfect blackjack strategy. The reason for this is clearly not that the casinos want to give aid and comfort to the gamblers but because even when playing perfect blackjack strategy, the casino still has a percentage edge over the gambler. What that means for the gambler is that so long as the house has even the slightest edge over the player, over the long run the player will end up losing that percentage to the casino.
What determines the house advantage is the blackjack rules that the casino make up. Understand that every casino will have rules that favor the casino. There are just varying degrees of favorability. Favorable rules include the following:
- Blackjack pays 3:2
- Dealer hits on soft 17
- Splitting is Allowed
- Doubling is Allowed
- Doubling after Splitting is Allowed
Of all the rules above, the most important one is that blackjack pays 3:2. Some blackjack variations will have worse payoffs for blackjack and sometimes have only equal pay which is absolutely horrible. As far as the other rules go, they affect the house advantage by slight amounts but not nearly as much as altering the payoff for blackjack.
In order to play perfect blackjack strategy, you must memorize the following table. Tables like this have been derived by mathematicians for the best outcome probability-speaking:
The y-axis header represents the dealer's up-card and the x-axis represents the player's cards.
|
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
A |
�8 |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
9 |
H |
D |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
10 |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
11 |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
12 |
H |
H |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
13 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
14 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
15 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H/R |
H/R |
16 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H/R |
H/R |
H/R |
17 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S/R |
A, 2 |
H |
H |
H |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
A, 3 |
H |
H |
H |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
A, 4 |
H |
H |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
A, 5 |
H |
H |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
A, 6 |
H |
D |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
A, 7 |
Ds |
Ds |
Ds |
Ds |
Ds |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
A, 8 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
Ds |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
2, 2 |
H/P |
H/P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
H |
H |
H |
H |
3, 3 |
H/P |
H/P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
H |
H |
H |
H |
4, 4 |
H |
H |
H |
H/P |
H/P |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
5, 5 |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
6, 6 |
H/P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
7, 7 |
P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
H |
H |
H |
H |
8, 8 |
P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
P/R |
9, 9 |
P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
S |
P |
P |
S |
S |
10, 10 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
A, A |
P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
P |
KEY:
H |
Hit |
S |
Stand |
D |
Double |
Ds |
Double if allowed, otherwise split |
P |
Split |
H/P |
Split if double after split, otherwise hit |
H/R |
Surrender, otherwise hit |
S/R |
Surrender, otherwise stand |
P/R |
Surrender, otherwise split |
If you can memorize this table, then you've mastered basic blackjack strategy. There's a long way to go to becoming an expert blackjack player; you have to learn card counting, shuffle tracking and oh so much more. However, for a recreational blackjack player, this is all you need to play your best.