Basic Strategy in Blackjack
The serious player's best weapon in casinos
Jumping into the exciting world of blackjack new players are inundated with exotic stories involving card counting and advanced player strategies. With names like spooking, ace tracking and the zen count it's no wonder that the most fundamental skill is often overlooked.
Yet basic strategy is the single most powerful tool in the blackjack players arsenal. It is basic strategy more than any other technique or trick that will sway the odds away from the casino and into your own pocket as a successful player.
Depending on your sense of adventure, basic strategy can be considered more or less sexy as players don't need elaborate disguises or schemes. Most casinos will even let you bring a little basic strategy card to the blackjack tables. But to really be a proficient player you need to memorize basic strategy and respond intuitively rather than cross referencing the chart every time the dealer puts down cards.
History and variations
The general idea behind basic strategy is really very simple. First you want to get to 21 without going over but more importantly you want to beat the dealer's hand.
As seasoned players and software simulations have proven, there are certain card variations and combinations that are more statistically probable. In a traditional single deck game with full penetration it becomes easy to notice. Adding decks and varying the shuffling method are the most powerful tools that the casinos have to maintain the house advantage.
Blackjack players however are notorious for their creativity and statistical know-how. To maintain the same optimum playing strategy across all the possible game variations different basic strategy charts have been created. Each one takes into account every aspect of the game and a game simulation is run several thousand times to establish these statistically probable card combinations so that the player's basic strategy method is supremely effective.
The differences between the 2 deck basic strategy chart and the 8 deck basic strategy chart are not enormously different, but it is important to note that blackjack is a game of infinitely small percentages with professional players working hard to earn a single percentage point away from the house.
Like the simulations run to optimize basic strategy, professional players know that the way to make real money in blackjack is to play a lot of games over a long period of time to earn the small percentage points over the house and ride through the normal bankroll fluctuations before making a profit. There are even online calculators and software that can tailor make a basic strategy chart according to the rule and deck variations that you stipulate.
Okay, okay. So you're amped to get started now. First we'll run through the basic moves and how they are reconsidered through permutations of basic strategy before providing complete information and charts for frequently used basic strategy deck variations.
The most natural method for memorizing basic strategy is the use of flash or memory cards. That way you can flip through them anywhere you happen to be at any time. Much more suave than holding up a table game to figure out if you should hit, stand, split or double down.
Playing Tips
Hit
- In general if your hand is below 17 and the dealer's hand is anything above an 8, the recommended action is to take a hit, simply because the odds are more likely that the dealer's hand will bust.
- "Soft hands" containing an ace might screw that up a bit so it is important to also consider what cards the dealer is showing and weigh the odds. It is recommended to take a hit when you have a soft hand with a value between 13-17 if the dealer is showing a 7 or higher card.
- Take a hit on soft 18 only if the dealer is showing a 9, 10 or ace card.
Stand
- Stand on any hand above 14 when the dealers card is showing a 4, 5 or 6.
- Always stand on a player's 16 when a dealer shows a 10 if the player has 3 or more cards.
- When the player's hand shows a soft 18 stand when the dealer shows a 2, 7, 8 or when there are 3 or more cards.
- Always stand on a soft 19 or higher hand. The risk of busting is simply too high.
Split
- Never split 5's or 10's or face cards.
- Always split Aces and 8's regardless of the dealer's cards.
- Split 2's or 3's when the dealers hand shows a 4, 5 or 6.
- More splitting variations should be based on the basic strategy chart most appropriate for the game variation that you are playing. Any general advice is likely to be contradicted in play.
Double Down
- Always double down on 11.
- Double up when a player's hand shows a 10 and the dealer's card is a 9 or lower.
- Once again "soft hands" require an exception tactic. In this case you want to double down if your hand is a soft 13-17 only if the dealer has a 5 or 6.
- If your cards are a soft 15-17 you can chose to double up but only if the dealer is showing a 4.
