Archive for February, 2011

Simple Blackjack Strategy Rules to Follow

If you don’t wish to look like a total fool who’s carrying around a blackjack strategy card around the casino, there are a few east to remember blackjack strategy rules for your to remember.

In addition, make sure to take a look at our articles about basic blackjack rules for splitting and doubling.

  • If the dealer is showing an upcard of 2 or 3, you should hit until you have at least a 13. Once you reach 13 or higher, stand since the dealer is in a bad position.
  • When the dealer is showing an upcard of 4-6, you are in an even better position and can cease hitting once you reach 12.
  • If the dealer is showing an upcard of between a 7 and an ace, you need to hit until you have reached 17 or higher.
  • Simply following these three easy to remember rules can increase your chances of winning at a blackjack game imensly. In fact, you can decrease the house edge down to around 2% by just following these basic rules.

    A few other points you can do to play a better blackjack game are:

  • Don’t buy Insurance: If the dealer is showing an ace as the upcard, you have the option of buying insurance for half of the original wager (this is a side bet). The advantage to buying insurance is that you are paid 2:1 if the dealer gets a blackjack. But here’s the thing: The dealer is only going to have a blackjack 30% of the time so 70% of the time, you’re wasting half a bet on this wager. Simply put, don’t look at insurance as something that protects you against a blackjack; instead, look at it as an independent side bet that loses 70% of the time.
  • Never play 6:5 Blackjack Payout Games: In most occurances, casinos offer games that make 3:2 payouts on blackjacks. However, some casinos try to sneak 6:5 blackjack payouts into the mix, which gives the house an even bigger edge. In fact, just this one rule change alone gives the house an extra 1.4% edge on top of the advantage that they already have. There are plenty of 3:2 blackjack payout games out there, so you don’t have to take worse odds.
  • Is it better to bet on blackjack where the dealer hits a soft 17, or stands?

    It is better to bet on a blackjack game where the dealer stands on a soft 17 and doesn’t hit. betting on a game in which the dealer hits a soft 17 gives the house an additional two-tenths of 1% advantage. Reason being:

    When a soft 17 is showing, an ace, 2, 3 or 4 improves the dealer’s hand. A 10, jack, queen or king leaves it unchanged value. thus, eight of every 13 cards either improves the dealer’s hand or keeps it the same. If any of the other five cards is drawn, the dealer still has a chance to increase the value of his hand with another draw.

    The reason behind the fact that the player’s expectation declines when the dealer must hit soft 17 is this: Even though the dealer will bust slightly more often when he hits rather than stands on 17, on those times when he does not bust, he will more often end up with a hand that totals higher than 17. The net result is that the casino’s edge rises by 0.2%.