Tips for Playing Blackjack

The first thing to remember about playing Blackjack is that we are trying to beat the dealer and nothing else. We are also in the position of knowing what the dealer will do under different circumstances which is usually Hit on 16 or under and Stand on 17 or more. There is a difference between a soft 17 and a hard 17; this difference is explained on this site under the “how to play” section. A table where the dealer hits on soft 17 gives the dealer a slightly increased advantage so if possible avoid these tables, the dealer has enough advantage already. We shall focus on tables where the dealer stands on 17.

The next thing we need to know is that the dealer will go bust in 30 to 40% of hands by following the given strategy and it is for this reason that as a player you should not follow the dealers strategy because you will also go bust in 30 to 40% of the hands. Remember that if you go bust the dealer wins even if he/she goes bust as well. Taking this a step further, if you go bust in 3 out of every 10 hands (30%), in order to break even you need to win 5 out every other 7 hands which is unlikely. We therefore have to focus our attention on reducing the number of times we go bust whilst at the same time giving ourselves a chance of winning if the dealer does not go bust. I should add at this stage that a strategy of never going bust is also unlikely to achieve a profit because although you may win the 30 to 40% of hands in which the dealer busts you are only going to win a small percentage of the hands when he doesn’t, which is the majority.

The next thing we need to decide is when to Stand and when to take a risk and Hit and for this we have one more piece of information which is the dealer’s face up card.

There are some obvious plays so we shall not consider these. By that we mean if you have 17 or over you will Stand regardless of the dealers card and similarly if you have 11 or under you will Hit. Ignore just for the moment those hands that contain an Ace or hands that are doubles.

We therefore only have to decide what to do if we have 12,13,14,15 or16 and if we are to Stand on any of these numbers we are gambling that the dealer will bust. If he doesn’t, we lose. There are of course no foolproof systems or guaranteed method of winning but we can play the odds as well as possible. Let us remember that 16 out of every 52 cards is a ten which is nearly 31% and if we add aces it becomes 20 out of every 52 which is 38.5%; if we add nines it becomes 24 out of 52 or 46% and if we add eights it becomes 28 out of 52 which is 54%. So what does this mean?

If for example the dealer is showing a nine then any 8,9, 10 or Ace as the second card will give a hand on which he will Stand. This means, as explained above, there is a 54% chance of the dealer having a playable hand without taking any more cards which in turn means that if we have 12,13,14,15 or 16 and decided to Stand we have a 54% chance of losing without the dealer taking any risk. Even in the 46% of cases where the dealer does not have an 8 or above as a second card there is no guarantee that he will go bust. If for example the second card is a 4, the dealer now has 13 and there are still 16 out of the 52 cards that will give him a playable hand (31% chance). Actually in a one deck game there are only 15 cards left that will give the dealer a playable hand because one of the 4s is already in play but that still leaves 29% chance of a playable hand. So where are we going with this?

Basically we are saying that Standing on 12,13,14,15 or 16 when the dealer is showing a 9 gives you low odds of success and it is better to Hit.

Without going into every possible hand but following the logic here; if we have 12,13,14,15 or16 we should Hit if the dealer is showing a 7 or higher and we should Stand if the dealer is showing 4, 5 or 6. If the dealer is showing 2 or 3 there is a high percentage chance that a further two cards will also give a playable hand and we should therefore Hit.

To recap: If we have 12,13,14,15 or 16, Stand if the dealer is showing 4,5 or 6, Hit in all other circumstances. The same applies no matter how many cards you need to reach 12,13,14,15,16.

Next, what if an Ace is one of the first two cards?

Generally follow the rules above but as an exception whereas above we recommend Standing on 17, we would recommend Hitting on Ace/Six as any 2,3,4,10 or Ace gives you a playable hand of 17 or above (60% chance of equalling what you had (17) and 29% chance of improving on it). Similarly if you have Ace/Seven, any 2,3,9,10 or Ace gives you a playable hand of 17 or above ( 52% chance of equalling what you had (18), only 21% chance of improving and a 7.5% chance of ending up worse. With Ace/Seven we would recommend Standing just as we said above for 18. The only exception you might consider is if the dealer is showing a nine or a ten in which case you may want to consider a Hit on the assumption that the dealer is going to end up with more than 18 (31% chance with a nine, 38% chance with a ten, your choice!)

How about splitting?

There are too many different versions of when to split and when not to split to give any categorical advice but when I play, I only split Aces; other players I know will split any double. Basically you are now placing a bet on what your second card will be so how lucky do you feel?

How about Doubling?

Again, there are many different ways to play. Remember though that when doubling you are only dealt one card. Personally I will only double with 11 or if I am feeling lucky I might double with any of Ace/Two through Ace/Seven if the dealer is showing a weak 4,5 or 6.

It must be repeated once more that there is no sure fire way of winning as the dealer always has the edge but by knowing and understanding the odds you can maybe improve your chances.

Enjoy the game.