Basic Blackjack Strategy: It’s All in the Charts
Thursday, November 29th, 2007
Blackjack is all about the maths. You can’t bluff, cheat or hustle in blackjack you just have to know the most favourable play in each situation. Really clever bods have run computer simulations to establish the best possible strategy to use in blackjack, and this is commonly referred to as Basic Strategy. Sticking rigidly to the basic strategy will reduce the houses edge.
It is basic because it is basic. You just follow the chart. No really it is that simple.
The Basic Strategy chart for a single deck game is slightly different than the Basic Strategy chart for a multi-deck game. A good blackjack player knows the Basic Strategy charts inside and out. If you are playing on line have them handy to refer to at all times. Below is a basic guide suitable for a beginner. As you get more accomplished you should read more about card counting and what to do in more complicated situations; like pairs and playing with different numbers of decks.
Please remember that the Basic Strategy is a guide. It is the mathematical solution to what to do in each situation but it is not going to make you win all the time. (If you find something that does let me know!) A basic strategy just reduces the house edge to give you a fighting chance.
Hard Totals
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Dealer’s Up Card |
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|
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
T |
A |
|
Hard Totals |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
|
9 |
H |
D |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
|
10 |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
|
11 |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
D |
H |
|
12 |
H |
H |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
|
13 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
|
14 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
|
15 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
|
16 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
|
17-20 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
Soft Totals (Ace is either 1 or 11)
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|
Dealer’s Up Card |
|||||||||
|
|
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
T |
A |
|
Soft Totals |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A 2 |
H |
H |
H |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
|
A 3 |
H |
H |
H |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
|
A 4 |
H |
H |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
|
A 5 |
H |
H |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
|
A 6 |
H |
D |
D |
D |
D |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
|
A 7 |
S |
D |
D |
D |
D |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
|
A 8 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
|
A 9 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
Action: H = Hit S = Stand D = Double