Basic Blackjack Strategies

As we all know or should know, the house always has a statistical advantage of the player. But because blackjack has an element of choice this house edge can be adapted and worked on to reduce that advantage down as low as 0.50%. There are many people who believe and trust in the fact that blackjack strategies can be the answer to there prayers and bring them wealth fame and fortune. But unfortunately this is not true. Blackjack strategies are more often than not based on probability and mathematical calculations. But due to the nature of gambling are all fundamentally flawed due to the element of those exact things probability and chance.

Throughout the ages scientists have tried to master the art of basic blackjack strategy and using mathematics and calculations tried to break open the very essence of what makes blackjack tick. The first break through and most famous of these was Edward O Thorp who in 1962 came up with what we now know as basic strategy. His theory of basic strategy could not in fact beat the casinos but lower the house edge to as low as 0.50% per gaming session thus giving the player a lot more leverage in his play. This strategy invented by thorp determines when to hit and when to stand on any particular hand, and also determines when doubling down or splitting is the correct action. Basic Blackjack strategy is based on the player's point total and the dealer's visible card.

Check out the Chart below to see how basic strategy works:

The above is a basic strategy table for the most common 6- to 8-deck, Las Vegas Strip rules. Specifically: dealer hits on soft 17, double after split allowed, multiple split aces, one card to split aces, blackjack pays 3:2, and (optionally) late surrender.

Please Note: Basic strategy changes depending on how many decks are used and what rules the casino implements. so by no means should you rely on this chart as gospel. It is meerly here as a representation of what to do at any particular time whilst playing a hand of blackjack based on certain conditions.

Other strategys to beat the house include card counting. These card counting system follows the principle that as cards are played, the make-up of the deck of cards tend to change. It has been proven that the deck lies in the players favor when the deck has more ten-count cards in it. This is because in this situation, the player is more likely to have a better chance of getting blackjack where the pay is 2 to 3, more money than an average win.

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