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Advanced Strategy for Blackjack
It is difficult to calculate the house edge in a game of Blackjack, with a new player it is thought to be in the 6% to 10% range. An experienced player using some basic Blackjack strategy is believed to be able to lower the house odds to less than 1%.
A Simplified Basic Blackjack Strategy.
Playing soft hands:
- Players having 13 to 18 - Double down if the dealer up-card is 5 or 6.
- Players having 17 or less - Hit.
- Players having 18 - Hit if the dealer up-card is 6 or less - Otherwise stand.
- Players with 19 or more - Stand.
Playing hard hands:
- Players having 9 or less - Hit.
- Players having 10 or 11 - Double down when your card total is more than the dealer's up card - Otherwise hit.
- Players having 12 to 16 - Hit if the dealer up-card is a 7 or greater value card - Otherwise stand.
- Players having more than 17 - Stand
Playing pairs:
- Always split 8's or Aces.
- Never split 10's, 4's or 5's.
- Other pairs should be split only when the dealer's up-card is a 6 or less.
Don't make insurance bets.
Some Advanced Strategies.
The basic Blackjack strategies can reduce the house edge to less than 1%. For even better odds players use other strategies to help them win.
Betting Systems:
Betting systems don't change the odds of winning, they attempt to help the player recover losing bets and increase winnings when you are on a winning streak. There are several betting systems that players use, they all have a couple of disadvantages:
- You need to increase your wagers with each loss in order to recover your losses. This would work but table limits can get in the way - if you reach the table limit you can't increase your bets to offset your losses.
- Even with a modest losing run your wagers can grow to huge amounts of money while your winning returns are small.
Money Management:
The easiest to understand, and the hardest to follow, is money management. A good money management system requires that you decide the amount will be satisfied with winning and also the amount you are willing to lose. You then divide your bankroll into units (one simple way to size your units is to make them 1% of your total bankroll) and always bet a one unit amount. When you have won or lost your predetermined limit take a break and quit for the day.
Card Counting:
Card counting works and should give you an advantage over the house. The method involves the player keeping track of the cards as they are played. Knowing that the deck has more high value cards (or low value cards) gives you an advantage in playing your hand.
One counting method starts with a total of zero then adds +1 for cards with a value of 2 to 6, 0 for cards with a value of 7 to 9 and -1 to cards with a value of 10 and the Ace. You keep track of this running total, the greater this total the greater your chances of winning are and the more you should wager.
Card counting works best when the remaining cards to play is small. To make card counting work when multi-decks are used a person counting cards needs to adjust the impact of the running total on the decision making process. To calculate this (called a "true count") you divide the running total by the number of card decks left in the shoe (estimated by subtracting a guess of the number of decks in the discard pile from the known number of decks used in the game).
Card counters are disliked by casinos and as such they attempt to discourage them by using a large number of decks (usually 6 to 8) in the shoe. They also reshuffle the deck often, usually after dealing about a decks worth of cards.
Successful card counting is hard work; it is frowned upon by casinos and only improves player odds by about 1% on average.
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