Nowadays you can enjoy blackjack not only in the largest land-based gambling establishments, but in the online casino USA as well. It’s probably even better to master your skills playing this card game online before visiting any traditional casinos as here you have unlimited time for thinking and checking out the existing winning strategies. In this article we are going to explain you the basic blackjack strategy that helps you decide when to stand, hit, double down or split your cards. This article is intended at more or lessadvanced blackjack players who know the basic rules and terms already.
So, the first strategy we’d like to describe is called a Soft total strategy. It tells you what to do when you have a soft hand ( when an ace can be used both as 1 and 11). Following our tips, blackjack odds will always be in your favour:
1. If you have two Aces in hand, then you should always split them no matter what
2. If your hand is either Ace and 2 or Ace and 3, and a faced-up dealer’s card is 5 or 6, then you should double down
3. If you hold any other cards, you are advised to hit
4. If you hold either Ace and 4 or Ace and 5, and a dealer has 4,5 or 6, then you should double down
5. If you hold Ace and 6 in hand, and a dealer has any card from 3 to 6, then you should double down
6. If you hold Ace and 7, and a dealer holds any cards from 3 to 6, then you should double down as well
7. If you hold 2,7 or 8, then you’d better stand
8. If you hold 9,10 or Ace, then you should hit
9. Always stand when you have either Ace and 8 or Ace and 9
10. If you have Ace and any face card, then you have a Blackjack and win automatically!
Sometimes you hold 2 similar cards in hand and have to decide whether you should split them into two hands or not. Here are the guidelines what to do based on specific cards you hold:
1. If you hold two Aces, you should always split them into two hands
2. If you have two 2’s or 3’s and a dealer’s card is 4,5,6 or 7, then you should split
3. If you hold two 4’s, you should never split your hand, because a hand with one 8 is much stronger than a hand with one 4.
4. If you hold two 5’s, and a dealer has any cards from 2 to 9,then you should double down
5. If you hold 10 or Ace, then you’d better hit
6. If you hold two 6’s, and a dealer has 3,4,5 or 6, then you should split
7. If you have two 7’s and a dealer has any cards from 2 to 7, then you should split
8. If you have 8,9,10 or Ace, you should hit
9. If you hold two 8’s, you should always split
10. If you have two 9’s, and a dealer has any cards from 2 to 6, you should split
11. If you have a 7, and a dealer has a 7, then you should stand
12. If both you and a dealer have 8 or 9, then split
13. If both you have 10 or Ace, then stand
14. If you have two 10’s, you should never split such a promising hand.
As far as you know, once you split your hand, you can double down. It can be profitable in some cases, and absolutely useless in other. Here are our guidelines on what you should do:
1. If you hold two 2’s or 3’s, you should split against banker’s 2-7.
2. If you hold two 4’s, you should split against dealer’s 5-6
3. If you hold two 6’s, you should split against dealers 2-6
And finally, the most popular strategy commonly used by advanced blackjack players is card counting. However, don’t you think that card counting requires memorizing every card. It’s practically impossible, especially when you are playing a multiple deck blackjack. The most effective card counting system is called a plus-minus system. It’s explained below:
1. Keep track on every card dealt during a round. If any cards valued from 3 to 6 is dealt, you should add one point., If a card that values 10 points appears, you should subtract one point.
2. After a round you need to count all the points. Let’s imagine that ten 5’s and three 10’s were dealt, then in the end of the round you will have a total of 10-3=7
3. And the next step is to divide this total by the number of decks left to be dealt. The result is called a true count. The higher it is, the better your winning chances are, and you can place larger bets. For instance, if a true count is only 2, you can increase a $5 two times, however if a true count is 6, then you can raise your wager to $20 without any doubts.
Using our tips you will certainly make a success playing blackjack in any online casino USA.
