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A Simple Blackjack Strategy That Works

A Simple Blackjack Strategy That Works

Added: April 4, 2018

Blackjack, whether played at land casinos or at online casinos, is a game that requires both skill and luck. It requires skill in the sense that the outcome measured in terms of average return depends on the choices you make. The main choice is whether to take another card (hit) or not take another card (stand). There are other choices like split and double that occasionally come into play.

Given below is a simplified optimum blackjack strategy. It is easy to remember and the loss in average return is negligible. The strategy is specifically for Vegas Strip Blackjack, which is one of the most popular online blackjack variants.

The first thing to check is whether you are dealt a pair as the first two cards. You always split pairs of eights and aces. You never split pairs of fours, fives or tens. You split other pairs if the dealer first up card is from 2 to 6. Otherwise you do not split the other pairs. After taking this call on splitting your hand, you play each hand according to the following optimum blackjack strategy.

You need to know whether your hand has a hard total or a soft total. A hard hand either does not have an ace. If it has an ace then the ace necessarily takes the value of 1 in order to prevent the hand from busting. A soft hand has an ace that can take the value of 11 without busting. The ace can later take the value of 1, if so required.

For hard totals of 4 to 8, you always hit, irrespective of the dealer’s face up card. For a hard total of 9, you double if the dealer face up card is from 2 to 6 and hit otherwise. For hard totals of 10 or 11, double if you have more points than the dealer. Treat the dealer ace as 11 points. For hard totals of 12 to 16 stand if the dealer face up card is from 2 to 6 and hit otherwise. For hard totals of 17 to 21 always stand.

For soft totals of 13 to 15 always hit. For soft total of 16 to 18, you double if the dealer face up card is from 2 to 6 and hit otherwise. For soft totals of 19 to 21 you always stand. If the double option is not available at any time then hit.