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Blackjack Strategy - A Simple Way to Increase your Winnings

Blackjack Blackjack

The card game blackjack online is a pretty simple game to learn, but you can improve your chances of walking away from the table with some extra cash in your pocket if you make use of a casino blackjack strategy. Below you will find a great blackjack basic strategy guide that will help to make your time playing blackjack even more enjoyable.


Heed Our Valuable Blackjack Tips

Blackjack has the lowest house edge of any game at a casino, but you can decrease this even more (to as little as 0.2-0.5%) if you take the time to learn a simple blackjack strategy, known as the basic strategy. If you are serious about becoming a skilful blackjack player, then you really must learn what we are about to tell you. Our great blackjack tips will take your game to the very next level!

So How Does the Blackjack Basic Strategy Work

The basic strategy tells you the best way to play the hand that you have been dealt at the start of each round. If you master this strategy (you will be happy to hear that it is not too difficult to learn), then you will be able to drastically improve how much money you win and drastically decrease the amount of money that you lose.

The example below will help show why it is advantageous for you to learn this basic blackjack strategy.

  • Let's pretend that two friends, John and Peter, are huge blackjack fans and will both play 5,000 hands of blackjack ever year, for the next 50 years.
  • The average bet that they place is $10, playing a variety of blackjack where the dealer must stand on 17 and you can double down once you have split up a pair.
  • Over the specified period of time, they will wager $2.5 million. John does not bother to apply the basic playing strategy, so he is expected to lose around $50,000 while sitting at a blackjack table.

John's friend, Peter, took the time to learn the basic blackjack strategy. Whenever he is not sure about how to play a hand, he turns to this basic strategy for guidance. By making use of this strategy, Peter will lose only about $10,000 at blackjack over the course of 50 years, meaning he saves $40,000 when compared to John.

If we were to give you $40,000 to sit down and learn this basic strategy, you definitely would.

See, this is our point; learning this strategy will provide you with a lot of value when you play blackjack regularly for many years. So, let us now take a closer look at this strategy.

How to read the rubric?

  • The left column represents your hand
  • First line at the top of the table represents the Bank’s hand
  • You must base your decision on the multiple choices that you can find at the intersection of the corresponding line and column. If you have 15 and the Bank 4, you should stop, for example.

Some situations involving Aces are rather complex as their value can either be 1 or 11. Here are some additional explanations.

A7

DDDDDSSHHH

Here, you get A7 (total will be either 8 or 18), your opportunities are rather simple (you can double your bet when the Bank has between 2 and 6, stop for a 7 and an 8 or even ask for another card for a 9-10-A combination).

Now another example, you get A2 (which means 3 or 13), so you will have to ask for another card. If you get a 5 you end up with 8 or 18. You must anticipate each situation by using the formula "I have X or X+10". You can do this by taking a look at the Aces presented in the appropriate table’s line.

Below you can see the table used for this strategy:


Bank’s Hand

23456789TA

Y

O

U

R

H

A

N

D

8 or less

HHHHHHHHHH

9

HDDDDHHHHH

10

DDDDDDDDHH

11

DDDDDDDDDH

12

HHSSSHHHHH

13

SSSSSHHHHH

14

SSSSSHHHHH

15

SSSSSHHHHH

16

SSSSSHHHHH

17 or more

SSSSSSSSSS

A2

HHHDDHHHHH

A3

HHHDDHHHHH

A4

HHDDDHHHHH

A5

HHDDDHHHHH

A6

HDDDDHHHHH

A7

SDDDDSSHHH

A8 or A9

SSSSSSSSSS

2-2

SPSPSPSPSPSPHHHH

3-3

SPSPSPSPSPSPHHHH

4-4

HHHSPSPHHHHH

5-5

DDDDDDDDHH

6-6

SPSPSPSPSPHHHHH

7-7

SPSPSPSPSPSPHHHH

8-8

SPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSP

9-9

SPSPSPSPSPSSPSPSS

T-T

SSSSSSSSSS

A-A

SPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSP
23456789TA

Bank’s Hand

H = Hit S = Stand D = doubler SP = Split

The Surrender Blackjack Strategy

Surrendering is one of the most misunderstood options in blackjack, simply because the word has many negative connotations attached to it. However, surrendering is sometimes a much better option than standing or hitting. It can be one of the best blackjack strategy if used correctly. For those who are new to blackjack, surrendering works like this: if you think you have a poor hand and the dealer has a good one, you can surrender half of your stake.

There are two types of surrenders available to players when playing blackjack - early surrender and late surrender.

Early Surrender

With an early surrender, you can forfeit half of your stake before the dealer checks to see if they have a natural blackjack. Due to the fact that this can cut the casino's house edge by around 0.63%, there are some online casinos, especially those in America, that do not give their players the option of making an early surrender.

Late Surrender

With a late surrender, you can only give up half of your stake after the dealer has checked to see whether they have a natural blackjack. If the dealer reveals that they have blackjack, you will lose all of your stake like you would have if you did not choose the surrender option.

A late surrender decreases the house odds by just 0.1%, so you are more likely to find this option available at online casinos. Although the house edge reduction is quite small, it is still an advantage that you should look for.

Below You Will Find the Blackjack Strategy Guide for Surrendering

When it comes to a blackjack strategy guide for when to surrender and when not to surrender, you really should do your best to memorise the table below.

Here is the table referring to the basic Blackjack Surrender strategy:


Bank’s Hand

23456789TA

Y

O

U

R

H

A

N

D

8 or less

HHHHHHHHHH

9

HDDDDHHHHH

10

DDDDDDDDHH

11

DDDDDDDDDH

12

HHSSSHHHHH

13

SSSSSHHHHH

14

SSSSSHHHHH

15

SSSSSHHHS/HH

16

SSSSSHHS/HS/HS/H

17

SSSSSSSSSS

18 or more

SSSSSSSSSS

A2

HHHDDHHHHH

A3

HHHDDHHHHH

A4

HHDDDHHHHH

A5

HHDDDHHHHH

A6

HDDDDHHHHH

A7

SDDDDSSHHH

A8 or A9

SSSSSSSSSS

2-2

SPSPSPSPSPSPHHHH

3-3

SPSPSPSPSPSPHHHH

4-4

HHHSPSPHHHHH

5-5

DDDDDDDDHH

6-6

SPSPSPSPSPHHHHH

7-7

SPSPSPSPSPSPHHHH

8-8

SPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSP

9-9

SPSPSPSPSPSSPSPSS

T-T

SSSSSSSSSS

A-A

SPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSP
23456789TA

Bank’s Hand

H = Hit S = Stand D = doubler SP = Split
S/H =Surrender if possible, otherwise Hit