Blackjack
or 21
By
Will Veda
Beat The Dealer
The
game that started all this craziness for me, Blackjack, also
known as Twenty-one is the casino industry’s most popular
game and for good reason: the names’ misleading meanings. It amazes me that there are so many people unaware of the
object of this game. Receiving
a Blackjack? No.
Hitting until your card values reach twenty-one?
No. The
object is to BEAT THE DEALER’S HAND.
With all the naivety, is it any wonder why casinos have
an abundance of Blackjack tables?
Blackjack
is also the most written about casino card game (now behind
Texas Hold’em Poker). The
game is beatable by using stringent lines of attack
consisting of basic strategy and card counting systems, where
practical.
The Basics
Standard
Blackjack tables hold seven players with the dealer standing
in the center above the cheque (chip) rack.
When you find a table, first look at the placard where
the minimum and maximum wagers are posted.
There is nothing more embarrassing than sitting down at
a $25 minimum game and placing a single twenty-dollar bill on
the table. Always
place your money on the table layout next to your appropriate
betting area because the dealer cannot take the money directly
from your hand.
The dealer distributes each player and
himself two cards—one of his cards is placed face down.
His up card is absolutely the most important initial
card on the table. His
card determines what the player should do next: hit, stand,
split, double down, take insurance, or—if
offered—surrender.
Basic Strategy
Everyone
who plays the game should learn what is called Blackjack Basic
Strategy. Developed
in the early 60s by Professor Edward O. Thorp with an IBM
supercomputer, basic strategy was created to interpret the
best player move in any given situation.
Learning basic strategy will also keep experienced
players off your back and believe me, there are players that
will ridicule a clueless Blackjack player.
They feel that bad play will corrupt the flow of the
cards; I affectionately call them/me Blackjack Snobs.
Most BJ gaming experts claim that it doesn’t matter
in the long run if an inexperienced player makes a move
against the norm that results in an unexpected outcome.
I say phooey because the key words are LONG RUN.
The
experts claim that in the long run ill-advised plays will even
out, but the
long run is based on computer simulations of somewhere around
five-kazillion-seventy-six-point-three-one-four hands.
In my
experience, bonehead moves have lost a lot more hands for me
than have won hands. It
seems like every Chicken Little who does not hit a 16 versus
the dealer 10 up card results in a table loss when the dealer
receives a 5 to go with his 6 in the hole that turns into a
house 21. The 5 should’ve been Mr. CL’s.
Okay, off the soapbox now.
The
following Basic Strategy Chart is applicable for most multiple
deck and single deck games casino destinations.
MULTIPLE
DECK/SINGLE DECK BASIC STRATEGY
Dealer
stands on soft 17 (A,6)
Doubling
down on any two cards
Doubling
down permitted after splitting pairs
Left
of the / is multiple deck – Right of the / is single deck
(where dealer hits on soft 17)
|
|
DEALER
UP CARD
|
|
PLAYER
HAND ¯
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
A
|
|
8*
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
DB
|
DB
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
|
9
|
H/DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
|
10
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
H
|
H
|
|
11
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
H/DB
|
|
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
|
|
A,A
|
SP
|
SP
|
SP
|
SP
|
SP
|
SP
|
SP
|
SP
|
SP
|
SP
|
|
A,2
|
H
|
H
|
H/DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
|
A,3
|
H
|
H
|
H/DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
|
A,4
|
H
|
H
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
H
|
|
A,5
|
H
|
H
|
DB
|
DB
|
DB
|
H
|
H
|
| | 
