Blackjack Hands What To Do

1. Blackjack Hands To Double Down On
2. Blackjack Hands Per Hour Formula

Blackjack strategy charts are the key to memorizing basic strategy. You probably already know that blackjack offers some of the best odds in the casino, but the catch is that you have to make the correct decisions in order to enjoy those odds. This suits players with the right temperament. Players who have no interest in learning basic strategy should stick with games like slot machines.

How Basic Strategy Works

The best total of all is a two-card 21, or a blackjack. Blackjack pays 3-2-that is, a two-card 21 on a $5 bet will win $7.50 instead of the usual $5 even-money payoff on other winning hands. However, if the dealer also has a two-card 21, the hand pushes, or ties, and you just get your original bet back. For example this table shows that if you play 10,000 hands of blackjack the probability is 90% of finishing within 192 units where you started after subtracting the expected loss due to the house edge. So in 10,000 hands you are likely to win or lose less than 2% of total money bet due to random variation. Answer 11 of 109: I recently came across the following article and found it informative. As a long time blackjack player I found the information useful. This is a long read regarding the 10 most difficult hands in blackjack. Hopefully some of you can take a few. How to Play 9 of The Most Misplayed Blackjack Hands By John Grochowski. Blackjack players who learn basic strategy find that once they’re used to it, once they’ve really internalized whether to hit, stand, double down or split, it all feels natural. Blackjack is a casino table game in which players try to make hands which score as close to 21 points without going over. In order to win, players must make a better hand than the dealer. While it may sound simple, blackjack is an exciting game of strategy, luck, odds and risks, which has made blackjack one of the most popular gambling games in the world.

There is a single mathematically correct decision for every situation you’ll encounter in a casino blackjack game. A blackjack strategy chart puts every decision into a color-coded chart to help people with a visual learning style memorize that information. The chart explains when to hit, when to stand, when to double down, and when to split.

Most casinos have no problem with players using a basic strategy card at the table. Even when you play perfectly, the casino retains a mathematical advantage, so they know they’ll be winners in the long run. Of course, if you combine card counting or shuffle tracking with your use of basic strategy, you can gain an edge over the casino, but it takes more than a color coded chart to do that.

How Basic Strategy Charts Are Organized

A basic strategy chart for blackjack is organized along two axes. The horizontal axis is labeled across the top, and it represents the dealer’s upcard, which is always going to be one of 10 cards: 2 through A. The vertical axis is labeled across the left side, and it consists of the various player totals that are possible.

These player totals are organized by type. A blackjack hand can consist of 3 different kinds of hands:

A hard hand is a hand without an ace, although it’s also a hand where an ace has to be counted as “1” in order to avoid busting. Your strategy chart is going to cross-reference all hard totals of between 8 and 17 along the side with the dealer cards of 2 through A across the top. You’ll always hit a hard 8 or less, and you’ll always stand on a hard 17 or higher. The other totals require decisions based on the dealer’s upcard.

A soft hand is a hand with an ace, in which the ace can count as a “1” or as an “11”. The soft totals are 13 through 20. You’ll always stand on a soft 19 or a soft 20, but the other totals require decisions.

Pairs are hands that consist of 2 cards of the same rank. For example, 22 and 33 are both pairs, and these hands require different decisions because you have the option of splitting pairs. When you split a pair, you place an additional bet, and the two cards in your original hand become the first cards of two new hands. You’ve probably heard that you should always split aces and eights, and you might have heard that you never split 4s, 5s, or 10s, but the basic strategy chart will provide you with specific instructions for every possible pair.

Blackjack Hands To Double Down On

Blackjack strategy charts are a grid with 28 horizontal rows and 10 vertical columns. That means that there are a total of 280 different decisions to learn, but since many of them are the same, it’s not hard to learn them reasonably quickly.

For example, once you realize that you always hit a hard 8 or less, and that you always stand on a hard 17 or higher, you’ve memorized 20 of the 280 decisions. When you realize that you always split aces and eights, and you never split 4s, 5s, and 10s, then you’ve memorized a total of 50 out of 280 decisions, which is almost 20% of the basic strategy chart right there.

What Basic Strategy Will Do for You

Basic strategy will make sure that you’re playing against the house with the lowest possible house edge. That means that you’ll lose (on average) less money than would if you weren’t using basic strategy. What does that mean over the long run?

If you’re not using basic strategy, the house has an edge of between 2% and 5%. Taking the median, that means over time you’ll lose $3.50 for every $100 you wager on the game—assuming you play long enough to reach the expectation.

Assuming that you play an average of 60 hands per hour at $100 per hand, you’re looking at losing an average of $210 per hour over time at that rate.

On the other hand, if you’re using basic strategy, you can reasonably expect to reduce the house edge to 1%. That means you’ll lose $60 per hour on average over time. That’s a big difference in the cost of your entertainment.

What Basic Strategy Won’t Do for You

Basic strategy won’t give you an advantage over the casino. Advantage play methods that give you an edge over the casino exist, but they require more work than just using perfect strategy. In fact, before you can get an edge over the casino by using card counting or shuffle tracking, you have to master basic strategy first.

Once you’ve mastered basic strategy, you can learn how to count cards, and you can get an advantage of between 0.5% and 1% over the casino. If you’re playing $100 per hand on average, at 60 hands per hour, then you could theoretically earn between $30 and $60 per hour counting cards.

But keep in mind that this is a combination of basic strategy and another technique. Basic strategy is just the beginning of blackjack wisdom. Entire vistas of knowledge become available eventually, but they all start with the memorization of a basic strategy chart.

Splittingaces and eights is part of blackjackbasic strategy. Rules vary across gambling establishments regarding resplitting, doubling, multiple card draws, and the payout for blackjack, and there are conditional strategic responses that depend upon the number of decks used, the frequency of shuffling and dealer's cards. However, regardless of the various situations, the common strategic wisdom in the blackjack community is to 'Always split aces and eights' when dealt either pair as initial cards.^[1] This is generally the first rule of any splitting strategy.^[2]

• 1Splitting

Splitting[edit]

The object of blackjack is for a player to defeat the dealer by obtaining a total as close to 21 as possible without accumulating a total that exceeds this number.^[3] In blackjack, the standard rule is that if the player is dealt a pair of identically ranked initial cards, known as a pair, the player is allowed to split them into separate hands and ask for a new second card for each while placing a full initial bet identical to the original wager with each. After placing the wager for the split hands the dealer gives the player an additional card for each split card. The two hands created by splitting are considered independently in competition against the dealer.^[4][5] Splitting allows the gambler to turn a bad hand into one or two hands with a good possibility of winning. It also allows the player to double the bet when the dealer busts.^[2] Some rules even allow for resplitting until the player has as many as four hands^[4] or allow doubling the bet after a split so that each hand has a bet double the original.^[6][7] The standard rules are that when a bet is doubled on a hand, the player is only allowed to draw one more card for that hand.^[8][9]

Aces[edit]

A pair of aces gives the blackjack player a starting hand value of either a 2 or a soft 12 which is a problematic starting hand in either case.^[2][10] Splitting aces gives a player two chances to hit 21.^[11] Splitting aces is so favorable to the player that most gambling establishments have rules limiting the player's rights to do so.^[2][10] In most casinos the player is only allowed to draw one card on each split ace.^[8][10] As a general rule, a ten on a split ace (or vice versa) is not considered a natural blackjack and does not get any bonus.^[6] Prohibiting resplitting and redoubling is also common.^[2] Regardless of the payout for blackjack, the rules for resplitting, the rules for doubling, the rules for multiple card draws and the dealer's cards, one should always split aces.^[10][12][13]

Eights[edit]

If a player is dealt a pair of eights, the total of 16 is considered a troublesome hand. In fact, the value 16 is said to be the worst hand one can have in blackjack.^[10] Since sixteen of the other fifty cards have a value of 10 and four have a value of 11, there is a strong chance of getting at least an 18 with either or both split cards. A hand totaling 18 or 19 is much stronger than having a 16.^[6] Splitting eights limits one's losses and improves one's hand.^[10][11][12] Probabilistic research of expected value scenarios shows that by splitting eights one can convert a hand that presents an expected loss to two hands that may present an expected profit or a reduced loss, depending on what the dealer is showing.^[14] A split pair of eights is expected to win against dealer upcards of 2 through 7 and to lose less against dealer upcards of 8 through ace.^[15] If a player hits on a pair of eights, he is expected to lose $52 for a $100 bet. If the player splits the eights, he is expected to lose only $43 for a $100 bet.^[16]

Blackjack Hands Per Hour Formula

History[edit]

Blackjack's 'Four Horsemen' (Roger Baldwin, Wilbert Cantey, Herbert Maisel and James McDermott), using adding machines, determined that splitting eights was less costly than playing the pair of eights as a 16.^[17] They were part of a 1950s group that discovered that strategy could reduce the house edge to almost zero in blackjack.^[18] Now a typical strategy involves the following sequence of playing decisions: one decides whether to surrender, whether to split, whether to double down, and whether to hit or stand.^[19]

One of the earliest proponents of the strategy of splitting eights is Ed Thorp, who developed the strategy on an IBM 704 as part of an overall blackjack strategic theory published in Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One in 1962.^[18][20][21] Thorp was the originator of the card counting system for blackjack.^[18]

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Notes[edit]

1. ^Gros, p. 60
2. ^ ^abcdeOrtiz, p. 56
3. ^Gros, p. 48
4. ^ ^abGros, p. 51
5. ^Jensen, pp. 22–23
6. ^ ^abcSchneider, p. 47
7. ^Gros, p. 52
8. ^ ^abSchneider, p. 49
9. ^Gros, p. 50
10. ^ ^abcdefJensen, p. 53
11. ^ ^abJensen, p. 56
12. ^ ^abHagen and Wiess, pp. 68
13. ^Schneider, p. 48
14. ^Hagen and Wiess, pp. 66–67
15. ^Scoblete, Frank. 'Why Splitting Eights At Blackjack Is An Iron Clad Rule'. Golden Touch Craps. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
16. ^Tamburin, Henry (25 October 1999). 'Splitting Aces and Eights'. Casino city Times. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
17. ^Snyder, Arnold (2005). 'Blackjack Basic Strategy: Aces and Eights'. Player Magazine (republished).
18. ^ ^abcGros, p. 44
19. ^Jensen, p. 51
20. ^Thorpe, Beat the Dealer as cited in Snyder, Arnold citation below
21. ^Levinger, Jeff (10 February 1961). 'Thorpe, 704 Beat Blackjack'(PDF). The Tech. Retrieved 30 May 2009.

References[edit]

• Dunki-Jacobs, Frits. Betting on Blackjack: A non-counter’s Breakthrough Guide to Making Profits at the Tables. Adams Media. pp. 28–34. ISBN1-58062-951-2.
• Gros, Roger. The Winner's Guide To Casino Gambling. Carlton Books Limited. pp. 44–69. ISBN1-85868-899-X.
• Hagen, Tom & Sonia Weiss (2005). The Everything Blackjack Strategy Book: Surefire ways to beat the house every time. Adams Media. pp. 66–68. ISBN1-59337-306-6.
• Jensen, Marten (2003). Beat Multiple Deck Blackjack. Cardoza Publishing. pp. 22–23, 51–56. ISBN1-58042-069-9.
• Ortiz, Darwin. Casino Gambling For The Clueless. Carol Publishing Group. pp. 55–59. ISBN0-8184-0609-7.
• Schneider, Meg Elaine. The Everything Casino Gambling Book (2nd ed.). Adams Media. pp. 47–49. ISBN1-59337-125-X.
• Thorp, Ed (1966). Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One. Vintage. ISBN0-394-70310-3.