| Blackjack strategy can become very complex if
one tries to remember every little thing and increase their own chances of
winning by every 10th of a percent. If you just want to learn basic blackjack
strategy, which will be enough to play blackjack for a while, without losing
too much money due to stupid errors, read our short strategy guide, which
should be pretty easy to remember.
First of all, it should be mentioned that the fewer decks are used
when playing Blackjack, the lower the house edge is. That means, when
you go to a casino and can choose between a single-deck blackjack game and an
8-deck game, pick the single-deck one to give the house a lower edge.
Hitting / Standing:
Dealer shows: 2 or 3. You should
stand when
having 13 or more.
Dealer shows: 4, 5 or 6. You should
stand when having 12 or more.
Dealer shows: 7, 8, 9, 10 or Ace.
You should hit until 17 or more.
You have: Ace - 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 on second card. Dealer has:
7, 8, 9, 10 or Ace. You should
hit.
You have: Ace - 7. Dealer shows: 9, 10 or
Ace. You should hit. Splitting Pairs:
Split 2 or 3,
when Dealer shows 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7
Split 4, when Dealer shows 5 or 6
Never Split 5
Split
6, unless Dealer has 7, 8 ,9 ,10 or Ace
Split 7, unless Dealer
shows 8, 9, 10 or Ace
Split 9, unless Dealer shows 7, 10 or Ace
Never Split 10
Always split
8 and Aces
Doubling Down:
Double 9, unless Dealer has 7, 8, 9,
10 or Ace
Double 10, unless Dealer shows 10 or Ace
Always double
when you have 11
Double when you have Ace - 6 or 7 and Dealer
shows 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6
Double when you have Ace - 4 or 5 and Dealer has 4, 5 or 6
Double when you show Ace
-
2 or 3 and Dealer shows 5 or 6 Surrendering (not available
at all casinos):
Surrender when 16, except when 8 -
8 or Ace - 5, should Dealer show 9, 10 or Ace
Surrender
when 15 and Dealer shows 10 or Ace These tips should help you
help you minimize the edge of the house when playing blackjack. Now, you are ready to go to a casino to play blackjack and
try out basic strategy. Remember that the casino still has an edge over you, but
when using basic strategy, the edge of the casino decreases substantially,
compared to when not using
basic strategy. To play Blackjack online, visit one of our
featured internet casinos listed in our
Blackjack Casinos
section. |
