Why Do You Need to Use Blackjack Strategy Charts?

At first glance, blackjack strategy charts might seem almost impossible to memorize. However, it's only until you gain enough experience.

blackjack strategy charts, blackjack strategy

At first glance, blackjack strategy charts might seem almost impossible to memorize. However, it’s only until you gain enough experience.

Any of the best free online blackjack games will require at least a basic strategy from you. And if you do not want to learn any, it means you just do not know how important having the strategy is. First of all, it simply reduces the house edge in the game. Blackjack already has one of the lowest edges at online casinos. However, with the right strategy, you can further reduce it.

Yet, remember that different blackjack games have different sets of rules. Hence, you can’t use the same strategy on all Blackjack games. We will the basics of the blackjack strategies for the beginning and then you can decide what strategy can be used for which game.

Blackjack Strategy Charts Basics

Compared to the dealer, Blackjack players have different moves in the game. You can surrender, split, double down or hit. So, we will break down what each of these moves means.

Let’s start from surrendering. This move can be good to choose whenever the player’s hand is 16 in total. It’s also important that the dealer’s upcard should be 9, 10, or an ace. Alternatively, the player can also have 15 against the dealer’s upcard of 10.

Next, split. Whenever you have a hand of 8-8, ace-ace, the best option is to always split. It does not matter what the dealer’s upcard is though. However, the decision regarding whether to split or not will depend on the upcard that the dealer has. For instance, you should mostly split whenever it’s 9-9 if the dealer’s upcard has a lower value than 10. And you should split 7-7 when the upcard is lower than 8.

Now, let’s come to the double-down option. If the player’s hand’s worth is 10/11 that also involves 5-5, doubling down is the option to pick. When you pick this option, you match the initial bet. You just need to put your chip by the first wager. And you get an extra card in exchange.

blackjack strategy charts, blackjack tips — Are you ready to break down different movies in blackjack? Picture Source: Pexels

And finally, hit. Players always need to decide whether they should hit or stand in the game. Therefore, it’s so much important to know the basic blackjack rules. If you stand when you need to hit or vice versa, you may just lose the game. First of all, which one of these moves you pick depends on the dealer’s upcard. Hit when you have a hand of 8 or less than it. And all the hands that have the value of 11 you should either hit or double down. If your hand’s total is, say, 17, never pick the hit option.

Some More Tips

We have covered above the basics of the blackjack strategy. Obviously, that’s not enough if you want to win at Blackjack. So, we decided to share some more tips with you.

There are actually many cases when you can split. First and foremost – always split when you have aces and eights. And never split when you have tens. When you have a pair of 9’s against the dealer’s 2-9, split. If that’s not the case, then, stand. Here are some other pairs that you should split:

7’s pair vs the dealer’s 2-7
6’s pair vs the dealer’s 2-6
4’s pair vs the dealer’s 5 and 6
3’s pair vs the dealer’s 2-7
And 2’s pair vs dealer’s 2-7.

What to Do With Soft and Hard Hands?

You might have soft and hard totals in Blackjack games. Knowing what each of them means will help you understand blackjack strategy charts better and avoid doing some mistakes.

If one of your first two cards is an Ace (11), then, you have a soft total. And whenever you have soft 20, soft 19 against dealer’s 6, soft 18 against the dealer’s 2-6, soft 17 against the dealer’s 3-6, soft 16 against dealer’s 4-6, soft 15 vs dealer’s 4-6, soft 14 vs dealer’s 5-6, and soft 13 against the dealer’s 5-6, you should stand. Otherwise, should hit.

On the other hand, the hard total is the hand that does not start with an ace. Alternatively, if you got dealt with an ace that is only valued as 1, that’s a hard total too. So, you should stand whenever you have a hard total of 17, 16 against the dealer’s 2-6, 15 against the dealer’s 2-6, 14 against the dealer’s 2-6, 13 against the dealer’s 2-6, 12 against the dealer’s 4-6. If you have a hard total of 11, always double it. Further, double 10’s against the dealer’s 2 through 9. And double against dealer’s 3 through 6. Always hit when it’s a hard 8 though.

Basic Blackjack Strategy Charts Are Not Enough to Win

Nevertheless, learning the basic blackjack strategy charts does not guarantee that you will keep winning. You need basic strategies for just the beginning. And to keep growing you need to practice your skills. Try the best online blackjack bonuses to try more blackjack games and train your skills.

Besides, you need to always pick the best blackjack casinos to play. Good casinos will always offer your the greatest bonuses, variation of games, and overall experiences. Hence, do not ignore this step either. Do your research before you stick to one of the online casinos. One of the best recommendations from us – BetVictor Casino! Try it out.