Blackjack Strategy

When playing the game of Blackjack, or any casino game for that matter, the odds are always stacked in the favor of the house. However, by using particular Blackjack Strategies, a player can significantly decrease the house odds, if not actually turn the tide into the player’s favor.

There are 3 Basic Blackjack Strategies that can be implemented. The first is Gut Instinct (not recommended!), second is Blackjack Card Counting, and finally a Precision Blackjack Strategy. In this article, you’ll discover the key elements of each Basic Blackjack Strategy, hopefully bringing you to the conclusion of which basic Blackjack Strategy is best suited for you.

Basic Blackjack Strategy - Gut Instinct
I’m not going to spend much time on this one for several reasons. First, it’s pretty self-explanatory - Gut Instinct means go with what you feel to be the right decision. While Gut Instinct is probably used more than any other strategy by Blackjack players, there is no real Blackjack Strategy involved, simply going with the flow, so to speak. Not to say this is a bad idea, but the odds will always remain in favor of the house.

Basic Blackjack Strategy - Card Counting
Blackjack Card Counting is a very popular strategy, though some players have found it to be either too difficult, or to detract too much from the enjoyment of the game itself. Blackjack Card Counting isn’t nearly as difficult as one might think, however, and does not require a savant mind, as is the impression given by Hollywood (i.e. Rain Man, 1988).

The most simplistic Blackjack Card Counting System involves only 3 values, associated with 3 card groups.
2-6 = +1
7-9 = 0
10-A = -1

When you add up all of the cards in a single deck (or even 6 decks), assigning these values to the cards, the total always comes out 0. By this reasoning, if the Blackjack Card Count is high, such as +5, there are more high cards remaining in the deck than low cards. The higher the Blackjack Card Count is, the more predominant the high cards become. The same works in revers, with a Low Card Count, such as -5, meaning more Low cards are present than High cards.

To utilize this strategy, when the Blackjack Card Count is High, place higher bets and Double when the opportunity arises. If the Blackjack Card Count is Low, be more conservative. Place lower bets and do not Double. Note that a High Card Count makes it more likely for the Dealer to Bust a stiff hand (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17).

Side Counts are also kept in many Card Counting Blackjack Strategies, though the more side counts kept, the more difficult it may become to keep track. It is recommended to only keep a side count of all Aces, at least until the player has perfected the basic Blackjack strategy of card counting.

More detailed Card Counting Blackjack Strategies may include more values, such as -2 and +2, or even -3 and +3. Beginners should start with the Basic Card Counting Blackjack Strategy until they get the hand of it.

Basic Blackjack Strategy - Precision Blackjack Strategy
The beauty of a Precision Blackjack Strategy is that the player never has to get nervous or feel indecisive about a move. This basic Blackjack strategy tells the player exactly how to play every possible hand!

View (and eventually memorize) the chart below, revealing how to play every possible Blackjack hand. By following this Basic Blackjack Strategy, a player can actually turn the odds into their own favor.

(Note: DOUBLE/STAND means Double if allowed - if not, Stand. SPLIT/HIT means Split if allowed - if not, Hit.)

Blackjack Strategy

Einen Kommentar schreiben