The Intelligent Blackjack Player's Strategy

Those who call blackjack "a game of luck" have to be lousy blackjack players. They wouldn't consider making such a statement otherwise.

True, the game has its mechanical elements, especially in the house rules that seemingly reduce the dealer to something less than a robot. Yet dealers in Las Vegas and elsewhere make good money, so there must be more to their actions than meets the eye. The secret lies in the fact that they know there is no such thing as a chance move in blackjack, that no play can ever be made at random. They know that blackjack savvy consists of both understanding the constantly varying odds and of psyching out the dynamics of play: when not to stand, hit, double down, and split pairs.

There are of course many systems for playing good blackjack, some of them puzzlingly dissimilar. The rules presented here are somewhere between radical and conservative play. They are sound, proven tactics, slightly on the safe side, perhaps, but intelligent. Though no guarantees come with these or any other rules, it is a fact that by following them any player can become a pretty good blackjack player in a pretty short amount of time.

Chances of Reaching and Exceeding 21 With Hard13 Hard14 Hard15 Hard 16 Total chances of busting 27in52 29in52 30in52 32in52

Chances of busting with 20in52 24in52 28in52 32in52 one card

Chances of getting 25in52 23in52 22in52 20in52 from 17 to 21

Chances of Reaching and Exceeding 21 With 2cards 3cards 4cards

Odds on making 21 24-1 13-1 19-1

Odds on getting 16 or 1.5-1 1.9-1 4.3-1 better

Odds on busting 2-1 1-2

The Hard Hands

Player Holds Dealer Shows How to Play 2-11 2-Ace(11) Hit 12 2,3 Hit 12 4-6 Stand 12 7-Ace(11) Hit 13 2-6 Stand 13 7-Ace(11) Hit 14 2-6 Stand 14 7-Ace Hit 15 2-6 Stand 15 7-Ace Hit 16 2-6 Stand 16 7-Ace Hit 17 2-Ace Stand 18-20 2-Ace Stand

The Soft Hands

Player Holds Dealer Shows How to Play 19 2-Ace(11) Stand 18 2-8 Stand 18 9,10 Hit 18 Ace(11) Stand 17 2-Ace Hit

When to Hit, When to Stand

Any blackjack player knows what to do with a pair of kings, or a jack and 10. That's not playing blackjack, that's just being lucky. What about "stiff" hands, those, which number between 12 and 16. These are the hands that percentage wise kill the player. Now is when play separates the wise from the foolish. Does one hit or stand? What are you chances of reaching 21? Study or memorize the charts on top and you will discover some of the answers.

Splitting Pairs

Pair splitting helps whittle down the house's edge. The danger is that the inexperienced player wants to split every pair that comes into his hands, sometimes worsening rather than improving his odds. The decision whether it is bet to split or not depends on what your cards are and on the dealer's.

Splitting Pairs

Card Strategy Ace Always split aces. Note: When splitting aces the casino allows a player to draw only one card. Nonetheless the odds are still good enough to make ace splitting pay off.

2,3 Split 2s and 3s when the dealer shows 2 through 7.

4 Split 4s only when the dealer shows a 5.

4-6, 10 Never split these cards.

6 Split 6s when dealer shows 2 through 7.

7 Split 7s when dealer shows 2 through 7.

8 Split all 8s.

9 Split 9s unless dealer shows 7, 10, or Ace.

Doubling Down

Here is another nice aid, but, again, the gambler must know when to use it. In general the best time to double down is when the dealer shows a weak card say a deuce through 6, and the player has something strong, especially an 11. Remember that the player can draw only one card when doubling down.

Doubling Down

Rule One Always double on an 11. This puts one in strong position to get a "pat" hand (one that counts 17 through 20) without any chance of busting.

Rule Two Double on 10 if dealer shows a 2 through 9.

Rule Three When allowed, many casinos bar it, double down on 9 when dealer shows a 2 through 6.

Insurance

Insurance bets look nice at a 2 to 1 payoff. But unless you have already been clocking the number of 10s in play it is risky business. The reason for this is that there are sixteen 10- count cards in a deck, and thus when the dealer is showing a 10-counter the odds are he will get a blackjack only 16 times in 51, a pretty poor bet. So unless you know approximately how many 10-counters have fallen, leave insurance alone.