Basic blackjack strategy
As in all casino games, the house generally has a statistical advantage over the players that will play itself out in the long run. But because blackjack, unlike other games, has an element of player choice, players can actually reduce the casino advantage to a small percentage by playing what is known as basic strategy.
This strategy determines when to hit and when to stand, and also determines when doubling down or splitting is the correct action. There are slight variations in basic strategy depending on the exact house rules and the number of decks used. Under the most favorable conditions the house advantage over a basic strategy player can be as low as 0.16%. Indeed, casinos offering special rules like surrender and double-after-split may actually be offering a positive expectation to basic strategy players; they are counting on players making mistakes to make money. Doubling and splitting when in a profitable position are absolutely essential to maximising returns. Without doubling or splitting at the correct times, the house edge increases dramatically.
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The following rules are beneficial to the player:
Doubles are permitted on any two-card hand except a blackjack: This allows the player to choose to double when he is most likely to win, and not double when he is not likely to win.
Doubles are permitted after splitting: This allows a player to potentially get many bets out in a situation that he is likely to win, such as against a dealer card of 6, the worst card the dealer can have.
Early surrender: the ability to forfeit half your wager against a face or ace before the dealer checks for blackjack. This is beneficial because some hands a player has are so unlikely to win that its better to just surrender half the bet.
Resplitting Aces: Obviously this avoids a player getting a miserable total of 12.
Drawing more than one card against a split Ace: This allows a player to draw a weak soft total if the dealers is showing a high card.
Five or more cards with the total still no more than 21 as an automatic win.
The following rules are detrimental to the player and *should be avoided* at all costs:
Less than 3:2 payout on blackjacks: This is the worst rule for the player, the house edge is increased over eight fold, a player loses money over eight times more quickly at this game.
Player losing ties: This is just as bad as having a low blackjack pay out, since a tie will occur almost 8% of the time. A player will lose money up to and over twenty times faster at this game. Note that even in cases where the casino shows both dealer cards face up, allowing the players to see the dealer's full hand, the rule is more detrimental to the player.
The following rules increase the house edge, but only slightly:
Dealer hits on soft seventeen (ace, six): Makes the house more likely to land a higher total.
Splitting a maximum of once (to two hands): This can nullify the effect of splitting altogether since a player could end up with the exact hand they started with.
Double down restricted to certain totals such as 9-11 or 10,11: The player cannot hit on soft totals that he may have an advantage at.
Aces may not be resplit.
No-Peek (European) blackjack: player loses splits and doubles to a dealer blackjack, as opposed to only losing original bets. When playing this game a player splits and doubles against a dealer ten and ace less often.
Below you can find a basic strategy table for the most common 6- to 8-deck, Las Vegas Strip rules. Specifically: dealer hits on soft 17, double after split allowed, multiple split aces, one card to split aces, blackjack pays 3:2, and (optionally) late surrender.
Key:
- S = Stand
- H = Hit
- D = Double
- SP = SPlit
- Rh = suRrender if allowed, otherwise Hit
- Rs = suRrender if allowed, otherwise Stand
- Rsp = suRrender if allowed, otherwise SPlit
| Your hand | Dealer's face-up card | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A | |
| Hard totals | ||||||||||
| 18-20 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
| 17 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | Rs |
| 16 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | Rh | Rh | Rh |
| 15 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | Rh | Rh |
| 13-14 | 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 | H |
| 10 | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | H | H |
| 9 | H | D | D | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
| 5-8 | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H |
| Soft totals | ||||||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A | |
| A,9 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
| A,8 | S | S | S | S | D | S | S | S | S | S |
| A,7 | D | D | D | D | D | S | S | H | H | H |
| A,6 | H | D | D | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
| A,4-5 | H | H | D | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
| A,2-3 | H | H | H | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
| Pairs | ||||||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A | |
| A,A | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP |
| 10,10 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
| 9,9 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | S | SP | SP | S | S |
| 8,8 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | Rsp |
| 7,7 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | H | H | H | H |
| 6,6 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | H | H | H | H | H |
| 5,5 | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | H | H |
| 4,4 | H | H | H | SP | SP | H | H | H | H | H |
| 2,2 3,3 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | H | H | H | H |
Advanced strategy Because basic strategy is based on a player's point total, and the dealer's visible card, basic strategy plays can often be incorrect. This is because a player may achieve different point totals with different cards, and a different number of cards.
Advanced strategies take into account a player's hand composition. For example, the basic strategy is to hit a total of 16 against a dealer 10 card. However if a player's total of 16 contains a 4 or a 5 card (such as a three card hand of 9 5 2), the correct stategy is actually to stand. Another example is a player's total of 12 against a dealer 4. Basic strategy says to stand, but if the player's total of 12 contains a 10 card (such as 10 2) then the correct action is actually to hit.
Advanced strategy can also include information from other players' hands. For example, if you have 10 3 and the dealer is showing a 2, the correct strategy is to stand, even with the ten you do have. But if other players are showing many tens, the correct strategy may actually be to hit. These slight variations in play help reduce the house edge.
There are well-established techniques other than card counting that can swing the advantage of casino 21 towards the player. All such techniques are based on the value of the cards to the player and the casino. One such technique, mainly applicable in multi-deck games, involves tracking groups of cards (aka slugs, clumps, packs) during the play, following them through the shuffle and then playing and betting accordingly when those cards come into play from the new shoe. This technique, which is admittedly much more difficult than straight card counting and requires excellent eyesight and powers of visual estimation, has the additional benefit of fooling the casino people who are monitoring the player's actions and the count, since the shuffle tracker could be, at times, betting and/or playing opposite to how a straightforward card counter would. Other legal methods of gaining a player advantage at blackjack include a wide variety of techniques for gaining information about the dealer hole-card or the next card to be dealt.