Blackjack Strategies

Blackjack Strategies - Road signThere have been loads of books, websites and even films devoted to the subject of winning at blackjack and blackjack strategies.  I’ve enjoyed watching the films and have read some of the books and online articles.  LiveBlackjacksites.com is about helping you find the best online live casinos to play at, not giving you a thorough in-depth knowledge of blackjack strategies, there are plenty of sites out there that claim to do that. What I’ve concluded is that my brain hurts when reading facts and figures. I’m clearly not a numbers man, and at my level of play I’ve discovered that if I follow the basic blackjack strategies when playing and use an ounce of gut feel I do pretty OK.  So all I am going to do is give you the standard and recognised basic playing blackjack strategies, and leave the detailed and advanced strategies for the professional players that have the bankrolls to be able to sustain them and the experts in the field of blackjack strategies.

As a recreational gambler, I like to enjoy my playing experiences. The one thing I am trying to do when I play is maximise my enjoyment and keep the chips I start with for as long as possible. I have a natural risk based approach to life and like rules, so Blackjack is a game that suits me. Unlike slots, I like to be able to make play decisions and feel part of the winning / losing process.

In this section, i’ll explain a little about house edge for blackjack, what things affect it and what that means for you. Then I’ll give you some basic play strategies that I use and then some general hints and tips so you can enjoy your playing experience more.

House Edge

If played sensibly and with the basic playing strategy, Blackjack is the one game that offers the house the least amount of edge of all casino games.  Typically the house edge is less than 1%, so anything that is done to influence this is minimal on both sides.  I don’t get too hung up on it, I play the game as i find it. The Wizard of Odds website gives a good comparison table of house edge odds and they give a much better explanation than I could possible do if you are interested in the detail.

Things that affect house edge

These are the most common house rule variations you are likely to come across when playing blackjack at a live online casino.

  • Number of decks – The more card decks in play the more edge the house has. If you can, pick a game that has the least number of card decks. Typically online live Blackjack games use 6 – 8 decks.
  • Dealer draws or stands on soft 17– It’s better for you if the dealer has to stand on soft 17, as he is not able to improve his hand.
  • Double Down on any number of cards – Where you double your initial stake by taking one extra card. Some games restrict you to only being able to do this after your first two cards.
  • Split and re-split Aces – Where you are able to split a pair of aces and if you subsequently draw another Ace you can split that too.
  • Late Surrender – Where you can surrender your hand without playing it. You typically get 50% of your stake back.
  • Double Down on 9-11 only. – Where you are restricted on the value of hand that you can double down on.
  • Split to only 2 hands – Where you can only split a pair once.
  • European no hole card – This is where the dealer does not take a second card until all players have completed their hands.
  • May not double down after splitting – As it says, you are not able to double down on a split hand.

Blackjack Strategies – Strategy Tables

The tables below illustrate the basic playing strategies of Blackjack, and covers:

  • 4 or more decks
  • one table for dealer stand on soft 17 and another for dealer hits on soft 17.

Strategy Grid – Dealer stands on soft 17’s

Your Cards Dealers Cards
Hard Cards 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
4-8 H H H H H H H H H H
9 H D/H D/H D/H D/H H H H H H
10 D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H H H
11 D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H 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 Su/H H
16 S S S S S H H Su/H Su/H Su/H
17+ S S S S S S S S S S
Soft Cards 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
13 H H H D/H D/H H H H H H
14 H H H D/H D/H H H H H H
15 H H D/H D/H D/H H H H H H
16 H H D/H D/H D/H H H H H H
17 H D/H D/H D/H D/H H H H H H
18 S D/S D/S D/S D/S S S H H H
19+ S S S S S S S S S S
Splits 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
2-2 SP SP SP SP SP SP H H H H
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/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H 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 S SP SP S S
10-10 S S S S S S S S S S
A-A SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP

Strategy Grid – Dealer hits on soft 17’s

Your Cards Dealers Cards
Hard Cards 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
4-8 H H H H H H H H H H
9 H D/H D/H D/H D/H H H H H H
10 D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H H H
11 D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/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 Su/H Su/H
16 S S S S S H H Su/H Su/H Su/H
17 S S S S S S S S S Su/H
18+ S S S S S S S S S S
Soft Cards 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
13 H H H D/H D/H H H H H H
14 H H H D/H D/H H H H H H
15 H H D/H D/H D/H H H H H H
16 H H D/H D/H D/H H H H H H
17 H D/H D/H D/H D/H H H H H H
18 D/S D/S D/S D/S D/S S S H H H
19 S S S S D/S S S S S S
20+ S S S S S S S S S S
Splits 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
2-2 SP SP SP SP SP SP H H H H
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/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H D/H 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 Su/SP
9-9 SP SP SP SP SP S SP SP S S
10-10 S S S S S S S S S S
A-A SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP

Strategy Grid Key

H Hit
S Stand
D/H Double if you’re allowed, otherwise hit.
Su/H Surrender if you’re allowed, otherwise hit.
SP Split

Hints and Tips

Never take Insurance when it is offered. Why? well at best you protect your initial stake amount if you win, i.e you break even for the hand and get the value of your original stake back.  At worse you lose your initial stake and the 50% stake for insurance.  Middle ground is that you lose the insurance bet and win your initial stake, therefore halving your profits to a 0.5:1 payout.

Blackjack is a long play game, you will get periods when you don’t win hands. Try and stay in the game,  as statistically your luck will change, as long as you have enough chips on the table to allow you to ride out the bad hands.

Only bet what you can afford to lose. I take this mantra to the table every time I play. I can lose a few hundred in a session and then win a few in the next. I never always win, it just doesn’t happen, but overall I’m fairly close to break even and when I do win big (well for me anyway!), I make sure I spend the money on something worthwhile.

Check out the Free Play section to practice the above strategies, or if you’re ready play at one one of the trusted live casinos I’ve reviewed.

Enjoy yourself and have fun!