Blackjack Standard Strategy
Posted : admin On 4/8/2022Card Counting as One of the Blackjack Strategies
Card counting is a buzzword in any blackjack strategy, yet you need to know that it is not a panacea – an all-out solution for anything blackjack-related. Counting cards is an intellectual challenge and carries risk, because most casinos forbid it.
- However, the perfect blackjack strategy would tell you to stand. This is because split hands will often lead to hands of less than 20 points, and more chance therefore of losing. Best Blackjack Strategy When Dealer Hits on Soft 17. One of the most common variants on the standard setup is that the dealer must draw another card if they have a.
- Looking at the blackjack chart, the blackjack strategy card tells us to stand whenever you have 17 points or more in your hand, regardless of what the dealer is showing for an up card. Reduce the value of your hand by one point to 16, and the chart says to stand when the dealer’s up card is a 6 or lower.
- A blackjack strategy chart is very important for professional players, it can help them to make the absolute best decisions, with regards to knowing when to: Hit, Stand, Double Down, Split, or Surrender, while playing a game of blackjack.
Then, Deviations account for the remaining 20-40%. I strongly recommend that people focus ALL their attention on basic strategy, counting, and true count conversion until they are always 100% accurate and getting bored. The reason for this is that you cannot beat blackjack without perfect basic strategy.
When done right, this basic, yet highly-efficient, strategy can take you a long way at any land-based casino, but it has zero utility in online casinos, because the decks are reshuffled each time a hand has been played.
This eliminates any opportunities to card count reliably online. However, you can benefit from this blackjack strategy at most retail and commercial casinos. To get yourself involved in card counting, you will need to study, have rudimentary mathematical knowledge, and be very patient.
Only if these three conditions are met can you begin to grasp card counting. Time will be of the essence in order to grasp the necessary skills to count cards, and you will need to practice. With this said, let’s take a look at what the blackjack basic strategy principles of card counting are:
- Assign a value to each card
- Start counting
- Calculate the “true count” per deck
- Adjust your bet based on the true count
- Bring the house down
You see, these four conditions are in fact very simple to follow through with. Assigning a card value is the simplest. Most players go with the following values in their blackjack strategy:
Printable Blackjack Basic Strategy Card
- 2-6 = +1
- 7-9 = 0
- 10-Ace = -1
Once you have the values, all you have to do is pay attention and count the cards. A single deck would allow you to figure out the true count, as there are no additional challenges. But this is where your blackjack basic strategy should begin to adapt.
Casinos are aware of card counters; in fact, they employ many card counters to help them catch other players who are counting cards. Therefore, casinos have introduced additional decks to make your job more difficult.
Now, the true count is split between several decks and you need to keep track, adjusting your bets. But this is not quite all. There are additional challenges threatening to throw a spanner in your blackjack strategy.
For starters, a dealer might chat you up, a waitress may start bringing drinks your way in an effort to see if you are easily distracted or focused on the game – almost always a dead giveaway you are counting cards. With this said, you are probably wondering right now – is card counting worth it? The simple answer is yes; any blackjack strategy will benefit from counting cards. Here are a few things to keep in mind however:
- The casino will actively pursue you if you are a card counter, especially if you’re good at it
- You can be asked to leave if you win too much and systematically
- To master card counting, you will need months, if not years
- Casinos use artificial intelligence, card counters and staff to see if a winning customer is a counter
- A dealer might shuffle the deck if he suspects a customer is winning too much, or request a new deck and cards
This sums up card counting, painting one of the most popular blackjack strategies in broad strokes. Card counting is worthwhile, but you must commit to it over a long period of time to see benefits.
The Blackjack basic strategy chart is one of the most essential things for any blackjack player. As the strategy recommends only the best decisions from a mathematical point of view, the blackjack strategy chart is the table that contains all the solutions recommended by blackjack basic strategy. This, or any chart for other set of rules, is the most convenient way to consult the strategy each time you play.
The chart below is the one used for 4 decks or more with dealers standing on soft 17, you can see the detailed rules to the right of the chart. These are the most common blackjack rules, though you may find other variations of blackjack online and land blackjack casinos nowadays.
NB: If you are playing a game with other rules you can try our strategy generator that will help you find a strategy chart for any game you choose. You will be able to enter the rules of your game and get a unique chart based upon the game you are playing.
In order to use the chart below you can either print it (you will find the links for print versions below) or invent a system for memorizing it(read the article how to learn blackjack basic strategy). The best way of learning though, is of course by understanding the rules of basic strategy. The left vertical column stands for value of your hand while the top horizontal row represents the dealer’s up card. You will find the correct solution by lining up the column (your hand total) with the row (the dealer’s up card).
The Abbreviations stand for:
- H - Hit
- S - Stand
- DD - Double Down
- P - Split
- H/P - Split if you can double, otherwise hit
- H/R - Surrender if allowed, otherwise hit
- A - Ace
Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
8 | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H |
9 | H | DD | DD | DD | DD | H | H | H | H | H |
10 | DD | DD | DD | DD | DD | DD | DD | DD | H | H |
11 | DD | DD | DD | DD | DD | DD | DD | DD | DD | 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/R | H |
16 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H/R | H/R | H/R |
17 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
A,2 | H | H | H | DD | DD | H | H | H | H | H |
A,3 | H | H | H | DD | DD | H | H | H | H | H |
A,4 | H | H | DD | DD | DD | H | H | H | H | H |
A,5 | H | H | DD | DD | DD | H | H | H | H | H |
A,6 | H | DD | DD | DD | DD | H | H | H | H | H |
A,7 | S | DD | DD | DD | DD | 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 |
2,2 | H/P | H/P | P | P | P | P | H | H | H | H |
3,3 | H/P | H/P | P | P | P | P | H | H | H | H |
4,4 | H | H | H | H/P | H/P | H | H | H | H | H |
5,5 | DD | DD | DD | DD | DD | DD | DD | DD | H | H |
6,6 | H/P | P | P | P | P | H | H | H | H | H |
7,7 | P | P | P | P | P | P | H | H | H | H |
8,8 | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
9,9 | P | P | P | P | P | S | P | P | S | S |
10,10 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
A,A | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
Set of rules for the chart:
Optimal Blackjack Strategy
- 4+ decks of cards
- Dealer stands on soft 17
- Doubling is allowed on any first 2 cards
- Surrendering allowed
- Doubling after split allowed
Strategy Chart Generator
The strategy generator is a special generator of strategy charts created by Blackjack Doc to help you get a chart for any game you play. Just input the rules to get the chart.
Choose the print version of blackjack basic strategy chart:
Color blackjack strategy chart:
Black and white strategy chart:
Blackjack Standard Strategy
It is a good idea to print the chart and place it close to your PC so you will be able to consult it each time you play. Another way is to buy a credit-card sized blackjack chart. You can take this with you to the game as some casinos allow using basic strategy chart.
Standard Blackjack Strategy Printout And Pdf
You can also print out the blackjack cheat sheet provided at our site as it offers the most essential info on the game of blackjack.