Blackjack Strategy Guide
Using proper blackjack strategy is an essential skill that every serious blackjack player must master in order to improve their game and consequently their chances of winning at the tables. In this section, you will learn blackjack strategy including basic strategy as well as proper techniques for blackjack betting strategy. Before we begin, it is important to understand why we need blackjack strategy in the first place. This way we can understand why it’s so important to us.
Why Do Players Need To Use Blackjack Strategy?
Since we already read the overview of blackjack, we know that this game has defined rules for player & dealer
Because of these rules, their is an optimal way to decide what to do in each hand to minimize the house edge
House edge is the percentage that the house expects to win based on the rules in a game of blackjack
Using proper basic strategy in blackjack, a player can shrink the house edge close to 2.5%, without using basic strategy, the house edge for the dealer could go as high as 10-20% depending on how you play
House edge is the expected return to the casino, meaning 2.5% would dictate that the casino expects to win 2.5% of your money over an infinite number of hands based on the odds of blackjack games
For this reason, we can see that making the house edge as small as possible is favourable to the player and helps them in the long run to win more money at the game by reducing the overall house advantage
On the flip side, not using a proper blackjack strategy negatively affects player losses over time
Basic Blackjack Strategy
The best way to reduce house edge during the game of blackjack is to always use basic strategy when playing the game. Basic strategy is a set of logical rules based on the math of blackjack which ultimately gives the player the best advantage against the house during play. Since players are able to see one of the dealer’s card when the game begins, basic strategy essentially dictates how you should proceed based on that information for the best outcome.
We use basic strategy to figure out how to act according to the dealer’s up card during a game
Using this information, we make a player decision (Hit, Stand, Double, Split) according to strategy
By implementing basic strategy every time, we increase our advantage and minimize house edge & win more often while playing at the blackjack tables
Below is a basic blackjack strategy chart which explains in detail exactly how to play every single hand combination in a blackjack game. Using this chart will both improve your game and technique at the tables by ensuring that you play with the best mathematical advantage possible in each blackjack game scenario, which is detailed below including each hand you may encounter in the game.
Using this chart is quite simple and outlines all of the different moves for the player according to blackjack strategy.
Insert Basic Strategy Chart
As you can see, the top set of numbers represent the dealers up card when the hand is dealt, while the numbers in the left column show different combination totals for the players hand.
The way to use this chart is by finding the dealer’s up card on the top of the chart and referencing it with the total of your hand on the left column. Once you have done this, there is a suggested move which is colour coded and explains which decision you should make for that particular combination and play.
The legend at the bottom of the chart corresponds to each blackjack move that can be made by the player. You will see in some instances the chart recommends that you stay against the dealer even with low totals, since there is a good chance the dealer will bust.
Charts like this are allowed to be brought into live casinos and can also be used online to ensure that you are playing according to proper basic strategy.
By using this chart every time you play, you will be able to minimize the house edge and create a big advantage for yourself over non-strategy players.
Advanced Blackjack Strategy - Card Counting
Blackjack Card Counting
When playing blackjack, using basic blackjack strategy is one of the most important methods for increasing your chances of winning, however there is a method that can significantly stagger the odds when used in conjunction with basic strategy. For those who are unfamiliar, blackjack card counting is a memory based system that statistically can give you an advantage over the house when playing blackjack and the best part is using it is completely legal. In this section you will learn how to count cards in blackjack and how this method has been used over the past 30 years to give players an advantage over the house. Below is an overview of card counting basics and different count systems.
Why Is Card Counting A Great Method In Blackjack?
Using card counting can swing the house edge in your favour combined with a betting strategy
Using card counting means the dealer will bust more often when are placing bigger bets
Card counting is completely legal & all that is required is a good memory and practice
How to Count Cards In Blackjack
Counting cards in blackjack requires an excellent memory as the whole premise of this method is remembering what cards have come out of the shoe to determine how likely it is that the deck is hot or running well. The way that this is done is by using a scoring system which identifies each card in the deck with a negative, positive or natural value which when used with a betting system is proven to give the player a positive expectation against the dealer.
The easiest form of card counting to learn is what is known as the Hi-Lo Count which combines the elements explained above to guide the player. In the Hi-Lo Count, all cards in the deck have an assigned value which is outlined below:
2, 3, 4, 5, 6 carry a value of +1 Count
7, 8, 9 carry a value of 0 Count or neutral
10, J, Q, K, A carry a value of -1 Count
As you can see from the values above, we count the low cards as a positive since it means there are bigger cards left in the shoe while high cards bring down the overall count as smaller cards will remain. The count is a sliding scale which determines how we will bet at the table. The higher the count, the bigger the amount of our bets and the lower the count the more conservative we want to be. Once a new shoe begins, we want to track every card that comes out to ensure that we have an accurate count and can keep track of what is happening during the game.
Calculating The True Count
Now that we have the basics down of how we score the shoe as everyone plays, we need to understand how to calculate the true count to get a more realistic sense of where we are at in terms of score. The true count is simple the running count (which you calculate on the fly) divided by the number of decks left in the shoe. Most casino blackjack games have between 6 and 8 decks in play, with the cut card eliminating approximately 2 of these decks so you would generally be dividing your running count by between 4 and 6 decks at the beginning of a shoe. The reason we use the true count is we want to get a more realistic sense of the decks left to be played so dividing this running count allows us to get a better picture of the health of the count during the actual game play.
Card Counting & Betting
Once you have mastered tracking the running count and calculating the true count on the fly, it’s time to learn how to use a proper betting system in conjunction with your card counting skills to turn a profit. The amount of betting units that you play with depends on your overall bankroll and the system you use, however below is a general guide.
True Count = 0 or less, Bet 1 Unit
True Count = +1, Bet 2 Units
True Count = +2, Bet 4 Units
True Count = +3, Bet 8 Units
True Count = +4, Bet 10 Units
True Count = +5 or above, Bet 12 Units
As you can see from the recommendations above, we always bet the minimum amount of units when the count is 0 or below to ensure that we are not risking to much of our bankroll when the shoe is bad. Once the count starts to go into the positive numbers, we gradually increase our bet to take advantage of a more positive run in the shoe.
More Information on Card Counting
Casino card counting first appeared in Las Vegas casinos in the late 1960’s however the tactic dates back to as early as the 1950’s according to some experts. Although extremely difficult today, card counting is still a highly profitable method used by players to gain an advantage over casinos. Card counting has also recently grown immensely in popularity due to the Hollywood movie 21 based on the MIT blackjack team which was infamous for counting cards.
In large casinos card counting is almost always done in a team style which includes players, counters and spotters who all work together to identify hot tables, usually by signaling each other when the count moves into high numbers. At this point what usually happens is the counter leaves the table while a seemingly “lucky” player swoops in and goes on an awesome run at the tables, meanwhile being covered by the spotters around the casino.
While this method worked seamlessly for many years, the casino (as you might suspect) hate losing their money and have developed a number of countermeasures to deter card counters from playing on their premises. It is important to note that card counting is not illegal, however casino are allowed to ban you from playing on their property if they suspect you of using it against them. Some of tactics that Vegas casinos have implemented against counters include:
Compiling data of known card counters, done mostly through Vegas based Griffin Investigations
Using continuous random shufflers so the decks are shuffled every single hand
Switching out dealers, closing tables, making the dealer shuffle early & straight out banning you from playing
Hiring special security units who only look for card counters at the casinos tables
While all of these enhanced security methods have staggered the efforts of would be card counters, you can be sure that there are still tons of individuals and teams operating throughout the world looking for a soft target. Overall, Card Counting is a hard to master tool which has successfully been used to take Vegas casinos for millions of dollars.
Canadian Casinos
