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Basic Strategy Table:
To use the table, go across the top to find the dealer's upcard and go down the first column and find your hand. Where the row and column intersect you'll find the correct basic strategy play. The strategy assumes that doubling after pair splitting is allowed (see bottom of chart for deviations if doubling after pair splitting is not allowed).
Generic Basic Strategy
H=hit S=stand
D=double down P=pair split
Su=surrender
X/Y=Do X if allowed, otherwise do Y
Dealer Upcard
Player hand
Never take insurance.
If double after pair splitting is not permitted use these rules for pair splitting.
If the dealer hits soft 17, then double down on 11 against dealer's ace, double down on soft 19 against dealer's 6, double down on soft 18 agaist a dealer's 2, and surrender hard 15, hard 17, and a pair of 8's against a dealer's ace.
For European Rules, (dealer does not take a down card until players complete their hands and all player double down and split bets are lost to a dealer blackjack) do not split or double down against a dealer's ace, do not double down against a dealer 10, and do not split a pair of 8's against a dealer's 10.
Using the information in the table, how would you play this hand. You hold 2,2 and the dealer's upcard is a 6. Go across the top and find the dealers 6 upcard. Go down the first column under Players Hand and find 22. At the intersection of the row and column you'll find a P which means you should split.
How about an, Ace,7 (soft 18) against dealers 3. The table shows D/S. This means you should double down if they allow doubling on soft hands. If the rules do not allow you do double on a soft hand, the you would stand.
How about this hand: 2,3,Ace (soft 16) against dealers 5. The table shows D/H. Since most casinos will not allow to double down on 3 or more cards you should hit.
The basic strategy in the table should be memorized. This is not as difficult a task as your first think because you probably know most of it already. You must be able to play each and every hand dealt to you perfectly. Mistakes will cost you money so practice the basic strategy and always use it when you play.
Note: The casino's initial edge in the game of blackjack is about 5.75%,
which includes the 3 to 2 payoff on player blackjacks. By employing the
correct basic strategy plays it is possible to whittle down the casino's
edge to about 0.5%.
Betting Strategy:
Now it's time to make the best use of your money.
If you sit down and play blackjack with the same bet from beginning to
end with no betting strategy, the
casino will most likely beat you given enough time. We are going to
play blackjack in the way that reduces that chance and increases our chance
of winning MORE
when we are on a "good run". You don't have to think, just do this
without thinking about it and you are increasing your chances of winning
more. You will find that I really stress some of the ideas here. The intention
is to hammer the idea home. Money management is the hardest strategy to
master in a casino.
Rule 1 - how much are you comfortable losing? You can't win every
time you play blackjack, so how much can you lose and still be ok with
it? This is your line
drawn in the sand, do not cross it. Make sure to make this decision
before walking into the casino. Your mind-set is very prone to change once
inside the casino so know this before you get there. This will also be
your "buy-in".
Rule 2 - don't expect to win any more than double your money.
Very often players will double their money, get greedy and continue to
play and lose all of their
winning plus their money as well. If you are $10 over the double mark,
play the $10 and try to win more as long as you are winning 2/3 of the
hands. If you are
exactly at double your money, stop. When you are over the mark and
no longer winning 2/3 of the hands, stop.
Rule 3 - buy-in all at one time. Don't attempt to do it in pieces. You will find yourself playing your money and not your cards. If you are comfortable losing $100 then when you sit down, buy $100 worth in chips all at one time.
Rule 4 - your initial bet should be 1/20 of your "buy-in" for this strategy to work at its best. That would be $5 if you bought in $100.
Rule 5 - make your initial bet and stay with it until you have won twice in a row.
Rule 6 - everytime you win twice in a row, double your bet. therefore
if you won a $5 bet twice in a row, it is time to double your bet to $10.
If you win a $10 bet
twice in a row, it is time to double your bet to $20 etc.
Rule 7 - everytime you lose a hand, you go back to your initial
bet. Therefore if you have won 7 hands in a row and bought in $100, you
would have a $40 bet
placed. If you lose this bet then you would go back to a $5 bet and
start the process over again. Relax, it was a big bet but you just won
$75 on that streak .vs
the $35 you would have won had you not been pressing your bet.
Rule 8 Very Important - play your cards, not your money. This
betting strategy can make you nervous on good winning streaks. You may
find yourself having a
larger bet than you are accustomed to and want to make playing decisions
based on how much money you have bet rather than the cards that have been
dealt.
Don't make this mistake !! Your playing strategy is working, thats
why you are winning and have such a big bet in front of you. Yes, you will
eventually lose a
hand, but will it be this hand or will it be 5 hands from now? Who
knows? Hopefully 5 hands from now, but most assuredly when you start playing
your money and not your cards, it will be this one and your heavy winning
streak will come to an end. If you have a larger than normal bet placed,
it's only because you are winning and playing with the casino's money.
Stick with the basic blackjack strategy that got you this far. Try to relax
and play your cards, not your money.
The idea - this betting strategy keeps you playing on your winnings.
It also keeps increasing your bet when you are on a winning streak while
reducing your bet to
a minimum if the dealer is winning. It's a horrible feeling to get
to the end of a run in blackjack and realize "Damn, I could have made a
lot of money had I been
betting a little bigger." Well, it's too late, the streak is
over. You can't possibly win everytime you visit a casino but, stick with
this betting strategy and you will find
that you WILL win more often and you WILL make more money when you
do win !!
Choosing the Best Table:
Now that you know the best way to your blackjack hand, you need to know the best blackjack table to play on. First, lets stay away from single-deck games. The reason being, usually you are not allowed to double down except on 10 or 11 only but more importantly, you are not allowed to double down after splitting. Being able to double down after splitting is a key player advantage that we are not willing to give up !! This leaves us with double deck, 6 deck and 8 deck shoe games. All things being equal, I play the double deck game but here we are going learn to look for some key signs on a blackjack table that will make them unequal. Tables and dealers both, win and lose in streaks. I have seen blackjack tables "dump" (give money to players more than it should) for 4 and 5 hours at a time.
First sign
-
how full is the dealer's chip rack? If it's low, this is good. The
lower the better.
The only way for it to be low is for people to win the chips
off of the table.
If it's slam full, this isn't a good sign. This is a sign that not
very many people
have won on this table. Unless the table just got a "fill".
The floor supervisor
can't let the table run out of chips, so when the table
drops below
a certain level the supervisor will call for more chips from the
chip vault to
"fill" the table with more chips. It is no problem to ask the
dealer if they
just recieved a fill. The only reason you need ask is if the
second sign
is a good sign. Otherwise, look for a better table.
Second sign
- do the players currently playing at the table seem to be
winning? Two
or three players sitting at the table with only 4 or 5 chips in
front of them
is definately not a sign of them winning. On the other hand, a
player or two
with a few "stacks" of chips in front of them is a very good
sign that they
have been winning.
Third and
most important sign - how often is the dealer busting verses
making a hand
that doesn't bust? Does the dealer continue to make good
hands when he
has a bust card showing? We don't expect him to bust
everytime he
has 2 or 3 showing but we do expect him to bust most of the
time he has
a 5 or 6 showing. You can't beat a dealer that refuses to bust no
matter what
up card they get. Remember that, if nothing else! Atleast half of
your winnings
will come from the dealer busting. If he's not doing it, you
will not win.
Forth sign
- it's ok to ask the dealer if they are hot or cold. They won't mind
telling you.
They may not always tell you the truth but you can rest assured,
if a dealer
tells you that they are hot, THEY ARE HOT !! Don't play at their
table. They've
been beating people all night. You don't want to be on their
list of casualties.
Fifth sign
- if you sit down and play 5 hands and have lost 4 out of the 5
hands, get up
!! There are plenty of other tables. We don't look to win every
hand but we
want a fighting chance. Don't think because others at the table
are winning,
you will eventually win. It is possible to find a dealer that is
"dumping" and
then sit down to play and find that your hands are just as
bad as the dealers.
Remember if the dealer busts, but you bust first, you
still lose.
Thanks for visiting us, we'll add more gaming stratigies regularly.
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