How to Be on Top of Your Game

If you have familiarized yourself with Blackjack and playing it isn't a mystery to you anymore, it is time to learn a few tricks about Blackjack strategy. The things so far have been pretty straight forward, this is where they really get technical. What you will find in the following lines is vital if you want to be on top of your game. You won't find a more detailed presentation of Blackjack strategy anywhere else, so reading this section is worth it.

When it comes to Blackjack strategy things haven't changed much since the 1980's. All strategies used nowadays are based on one very important strategy developed in those days: basic strategy.

In the 1980's computers began to be affordable and easy to use. Some mathematicians thought of programming one to run Blackjack simulations. They came up with the biggest thing known to this day in Blackjack. That thing was basic strategy. The computer ran thousands of simulations and calculated every possible card combination that the player might have and came up with a set of rules. These rules basically tell you what decision to make, and that decision is the most profitable one that you can make. This sounds rather technical and seems hard to apply. In fact you can look up these decisions on basic strategy charts which are really easy to use.

This is how you use a basic strategy chart. On the left column numbers and letters are displayed, such as A, 3 (must be read as Ace, 3). These are graphic representations of the first two cards dealt to you. On the top of the chart numbers and letters that represent the dealer's face up card are displayed. All these numbers and letters from the top and from the left intersect in the chart. There you will see a letter: S - Stand, H - Hit, D - Double, Y- Yes, split, N- No, don't split.

Pair Splitting
PAIRS	Dealer's Up card
Your Cards	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	A
(A,A)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
(T,T)	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
(9,9)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N
(8,8)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
(7,7)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	S	N
(6,6)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N
(5,5)	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
(4,4)	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N
(3,3)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N
(2,2)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N

Soft Totals
SOFT TOTALS	Dealer's Up card
Your Cards	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	A
(A,9)	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
(A,8)	S	S	S	S	Ds	S	S	S	S	S
(A,7)	S	Ds	Ds	Ds	Ds	S	S	H	H	S
(A,6)	D	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,5)	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,4)	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,3)	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,2)	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H

Hard Totals
HARD TOTALS	Dealer's Up card
Your Cards	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	A
17	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
9	D	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
8	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H

For example you are dealt a hard total of 15, the dealer's face up card is a 6, and you do not know what to do. Just look up the hard total table. Look at the top row and find the column that says 6. Follow that column down until in intersects with the 15 row. There you will see the letter "S" as in stand. If you think about it makes perfect sense. The dealer's hand total is probably 16. Casino rules say that he must hit on 16, and because of that he will most likely bust. All you have to do is stand and let him play his hand, and you will win.

The tables that I present work for games where 6 decks of cards are used, the dealer must stand on soft 17, you are allowed to double no matter what initial two cards you have, you may double a split hand and you may not surrender. The charts tell you what to do when faced with soft totals, hard totals and pairs. Different rules mean different charts, and you can always get a basic strategy chart for any rule variation.

In Blackjack the house advantage is influenced by a lot of factors known as variables. Playing according to basic strategy is one of these variables, but the ones that influence the game the most are the rules themselves. To see how different rules increase or decrease a player's advantage over the house, just check the chart below.

Some gamblers say that you should stick to basic strategy and not deviate from it. Other gamblers say that playing by gut feeling alone is the best way to play. In my opinion, things aren't black or white, they are a shade of grey. What I mean by that is that you should use basic strategy as much as possible. It is the best strategy around since you can't use card counting in 99.9% of the casinos today. But when you feel like your gut is trying to tell you something, listen to it.

Sometimes when I have a lucky streak I keep on playing instead if walking away with a profit. I find that the more I play the more I win. I sometimes win more when on a lucky streak than when I play small sessions. The only explanation I could come up with is that winning streaks come only after playing longer than usual. The scientific explanation though is that if you play according to a strategy, eventually the statistics will catch up with themselves. You are left with the impression that it was a lucky streak, but in fact it was all because of the strategy.

So my final advice is to stick to basic strategy. It is the most profitable decision to make even if sometimes those decisions do not seem to make sense to you.

The biggest mistake that rookie players make is misplayed hands. They forget the true goal of the game which is to beat the dealer. The goal isn't to have a card total as close to 21 as possible. It is simply for your hand to beat the dealer's hand. It isn't that hard if you think about the fact that all dealers must obey casino rules. We already know them and can use them to our advantage.

For example if the dealer's face up card is a 6, we must assume that his face down card is a ten valued one. That makes for a card total of 16, and according to casino rules the dealer must hit on 16. All he has to do is draw a card bigger than 5 and he will bust. In this case we do not have to try to get as close to 21 as possible. We can stand on a card total of 12 and still win because the dealer has a high statistical chance of busting.

Another decision that rookie players forget to make is splitting their hand. You should always split pairs of Aces and 8's. A pair of Aces has a total of 2 or 22. None of these are any good. But when you split Aces, suddenly you have a high statistical chance of getting a 21. Not splitting a pair of 8's is also a bad idea. A pair of 8's amount to a card total of 16. The dealer will have to hit if he also has 16. But if you split them, you will probably have two hands with a card total of 18. The cards that you should never split are pairs of 4's, 5's and 10's.

Busting cards represent the face up cards that the dealer has in his initial two card hand, that will most likely cause him to bust. These cards are 3's, 4's, 5's and 6's. Just think about it for a second. If the dealer is showing a 6, and his face down card is probably a ten, he will have to hit. And hitting on 16 is a sure way to bust. Whenever you notice that the dealer has busting cards you can split a hand even if it is not advisable or even double down.