This basic strategy helps the player make decisions about when to hit and
when to stand. By playing this basic strategy, the player can play on nearly
even terms with the house. This basic strategy is the starting point for
more-advanced card-counting strategies professional blackjack players use to
gain an advantage on the house.
Basic strategy
Below is the basic blackjack strategy for the typical rules found at online
casinos. While you can't beat the house in the long term using this strategy
alone, it does reduce the house's advantage considerably.
Your Hand Dealer's Up Card
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
5,6,7,8 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
13,14 S S S S S H H H H H
15,16 S S S S S H H H H H
17,18,19,20 S S S S S S S S S S
Soft 13,14 H H H D D H H H H H
Soft 15,16 H H D D D H H H H H
Soft 17 H D D D D H H H H H
Soft 18 S D D D D S S H H H
Soft 19,20 S S S S S S S S S S
A-A SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP
2-2,3-3 SP SP SP SP SP SP H H H H
4-4 H H H SP SP H H H H H
5-5 D D D D D D D D H H
6-6 SP SP SP SP SP H H H H H
7-7 SP SP SP SP SP SP H H H H
8-8 SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP
9-9 SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP S S
10-10 S S S S S S S S S S
H=Hit, S=Stand, D=Double down, SP=Split
Card counting systems
A number of blackjack players have enjoyed success at beating the house by using
card-counting systems. Card-counting systems are based on the principle that the
make-up of a deck of cards changes as cards are played. Analysis has shown that
a deck is in the player's favor when it has more ten-count cards in it. The
reason the deck favors the player is because the player has a better chance of
getting blackjack which pays 3 to 2, more money than an average win.
By assigning a simple value such as +1 for high cards and -1 for low cards, a
card counter can roughly determine the ratio of high cards to low cards
remaining in the deck at anytime during play. When the deck contains more high
cards and the odds are in his favor, he increases the amount he bets so he can
win more. When the deck isn't favorable, he bets the minimum so he loses less.
The count also affects his decisions on when to hit, stand, double and split.
Beating the house
Successful card counting in blackjack is one of the few ways to gain an edge on
the casino. Because most casinos use multiple decks (up to six),
only those who are extremely skilled at counting cards can achieve this.
That makes Internet blackjack a very attractive alternative because it's a
breeze counting cards when you can write down every card that is
turned (something that's prohibited at terrestrial casinos for obvious
reasons) and clean house, right?
Not quite. The second variable in determining the difficulty of counting cards
is penetration (the number of cards dealt before the deck is reshuffled). This
is because a counter cannot assess the probability of certain cards being dealt
until the majority of cards have already been shown.
Online casinos, unlike real-world casinos, have the option of shuffling the
deck after every hand, and they do. Thus, there's no way to take advantage of
any card counting system because not enough cards are shown.
The only scenario in which card counting can be effective is a multi-player
single-deck game in which everyone can see all the cards that are dealt. To my
knowledge, no online casinos offer such a game.
Counting your way to a fortune playing blackjack is great thought, but back here
in reality, it's an impossibility. Stick with perfect strategy and find the
casino that offers the best odds for blackjack and your chances of coming out on
top aren't too bad. But, aside from cheating, you would hardly turn the odds in
your favor. Another aspect is the human factor - even you gain an edge over the house -
every error/mistake steals several hours of your previous good work.
