Jody's Garage - BlackJack

Winning Blackjack

Blackjack. Most people know just enough to be dangerous. Ask them what the object of the game is, and they'll say "To get as close as you can to 21". Needless to say, a lot of people lose. The object of the game is to beat the dealer.

Before I went to Las Vegas, I studied up on Casino games - so I wouldn't get taken. By learning Basic Strategy, I gave myself an edge that allowed me to play a lot and never get into trouble. I don't claim to be a high-roller, but after playing in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, I have played enough to know how to win. Read this page and think about it. Practice Basic Strategy and you will be well armed to play Casino Blackjack. It takes a little work to really understand this, but after a while you will get a feel for it. The cards fly fast in Vegas and your decisions need to be automatic.

Beyond Basic Strategy, winning Blackjack is all about recognizing when you are on a streak and managing money. Streaks come and go and you can win big when you increase your bets. It's tough to spot a streak starting, and they can end as fast as they started. Nothing beats playing smart and keeping bets in the comfort zone, increasing them when you are on a streak.

Blackjack Facts

Blackjack originated in French casinos around 1700 where it was called "vingt-et-un" ("twenty-and-one") and has been played in the U.S. since the 1800's. To make the game more enticing some clubs offered a whopping 10 to 1 payout to any player who got a very special hand on his first two cards: Ace of Spades plus a Jack of Clubs or or Jack of Spades -- thus "21" became "Blackjack" because of those two cards. Now days a payout of 3 to 2 (150%) is standard in most casinos, regardless of which face card accompanies the Ace.

A major contributor in the history of winning Blackjack is Julian Braun, who worked at IBM. His thousands of lines of computer code and hours of Blackjack simulation on IBM mainframes resulted in Basic Strategy, and a number of card counting techniques.

A casino game of Blackjack can be played with one, two, four, or even eight decks. As a player, the fewer decks the better. The fewer the decks, the fewer hands per hour you play because the dealers need to shuffle the cards more often.

The house advantage in Blackjack is only 0.5 %. That means if you play basic blackjack strategy, the casino will win only 0.5 percent of your money over time. So, on average, it's going to cost you about fifty cents per hundred dollars to play Blackjack in a Casino, if you play smart.

A word about card counting. Anything that gives you an edge is worth considering. There are several techniques of counting cards that will give you an idea of whether the deck is rich with face cards or not. However, that amount of concentration takes the fun out of it for me. I think it's more fun to play a solid Basic Strategy game and enjoy the talk at the table.

Blackjack Basic Strategy

There is no way to learn Basic Strategy without practicing - a lot! Remember - the most important card is the dealer's up card - this card determines how you will play.

Study the tables below and practice until you don't need them.

Click here when you are ready to test your skills

"Hard" means you have no ace

HARD TOTALS	Dealer's Upcard
Hard Totals
Your Cards	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	A
17	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	R	R	R
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	R	H
14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
9	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H

Key:	H	Hit
	S	Stand
	D	Double if allowed; If not, hit.
	Ds	Double if allowed; If not, stand.
	R	Surrender if allowed; If not, hit.

"Soft" means you have an Ace, which can be played as 1 or 11

SOFT TOTALS	Dealer's Upcard
Soft Totals
Your Cards	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	A
(A,9)	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
(A,8)	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
(A,7)	S	Ds	Ds	Ds	Ds	S	S	H	H	H
(A,6)	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,5)	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,4)	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,3)	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
(A,2)	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H

Key:	H	Hit
	S	Stand
	D	Double if allowed; If not, hit.
	Ds	Double if allowed; If not, stand.

This is how you deal with Pairs

Pair Splitting

PAIRS

Dealer's Upcard

Your Cards

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

T

A

(A,A)

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

(T,T)

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

(9,9)

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

N

Y

Y

N

N

(8,8)

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

(7,7)

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

N

N

N

N

(6,6)

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

N

N

N

N

N

(5,5)

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

(4,4)

N

N

N

Y

Y

N

N

N

N

N

(3,3)

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

N

N

N

N

(2,2)

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

Y

N

N

N

N

Key:

Y

Yes, Split the pair.

N

No, Don't split the pair.

Tables Based on 6 Deck Vegas Strip Rules

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