Blackjack - Basic Strategy (General)

Yes, you can. They even sell them in the casino gift shops. However, it is bad etiquette to slow down the game by checking the card frequently. The least you should try to do is memorize what to do with a hard total, these situations happen most of the time. For non-obvious soft hands and pairs you can be forgiven for checking the card.

For the benefit of others, let me explain that in European blackjack the dealer does not check if he has a blackjack until all players have finished playing their hands. If the dealer does have a blackjack and a player doubled or split, then the player will lose his entire bet. In the United States, the player can lose no more than the original bet if the dealer has blackjack. As you pointed out, online casinos that use Microgaming software follow the European rule. However, Microgaming casinos also play a single-deck game and let you draw to split aces which is unlike the European rules. To make a long story short, please see my European basic strategy.

My blackjack appendix 6 has a full strategy for early surrender.

It is hard to find a blackjack game where the basic strategy player has an edge over the house. The player edge in single-deck blackjack on my site is based on otherwise multiple deck rules, which rarely exist in single deck. I organized the table this way to illustrate the effect of the number of decks. Unified Gaming offers the best blackjack game for the basic strategy player I have ever seen is offered anywhere. For a list visit my online casino index. If you do play a game with a negative house edge then, yes, that does mean you will have better odds than the house, assuming you play the basic strategy.

There was a similar question asked in the June 15 column, which I worked out in detail. However, briefly, I estimate the answer to be about 78%. Over a year, you could expect to lose 0.52% (the house edge) of the total initial bets.

Here is my Lasseter's basic strategy.

Dealing to the bottom of the deck would not help the basic strategy player but greatly benefits the counter. There would be no changes to the basic strategy. However, this game may be of interest to card counters. Vegas World (now the Stratosphere) in Las Vegas used to have such a game but I don't think card counters ever took it seriously because of other adverse rules like a blackjack only paying even money.

One idea is to right click on one of my strategy charts, save the image, and then print it. Some casino gift shops sell basic strategy charts the size of a business card. However, these charts have at least one mistake about half the time.

Your math is correct. For every 100 bets at $10 you make, you could expect to make $5.70 assuming you follow my basic strategy. Keep in mind this is a long-term return and in the short run you could easily lose. There is also a problem with broken connections with Unified Gaming casinos, which slows down the number of hands playable per hour. Somebody told me that turning off the sound card can take care of this problem. Whatever your gambling bankroll is, I would recommend dividing that by 100 and bet in those units. So to bet $10 a hand you should have $1000 to risk.

Thank for the compliment and I'm happy to help your bankroll last longer. When I gamble for fun I keep playing until it isn't fun any longer. Usually the fun ends when I have lost too much or have played too long. With the ups and downs of blackjack it takes hundreds of hours before regression toward the mean will cause actual results to look like expected results. Furthermore, the player who puts a conservative cap on their winnings is never going to experience the fun of a long hot winning streak. Keep in mind this is just what works for me. You should do what you are comfortable with. Everything I have to say about money management can be summarized by the following two rules (1) don't gamble with money you can't afford to lose, and (2) don't gamble if it isn't fun.

Regarding your second question, there is something to be said about the composition of a hand. The fewer the decks the more this is true. My blackjack appendix 3A and appendix 3B show the exceptions to single- and double-deck blackjack, based on the composition of the hand. These appendices show that the more cards that are in your hand the more inclined you should be to stand. Regarding your 15 against a 10 example, there are two situations in single deck blackjack where you should stand when the 15 is composed of 5 cards, A+A+A+6+6 and A+A+3+5+5. Note that in both of these situations either two fives or two sixes have left the deck which are the two most helpful cards for the player. The two situations where you should be the most inclined to stand if you have a multiple card hand are 16 against a 10 and a 12 against a 3.

Since you asked I added a blackjack strategy for European blackjack to my site. I also discussed this topic in one of my recent newsletters.

Stanford Wong's Blackjack Count Analyzer is perfect for questions like this. Just plug in the rules and it produces an immediately basic strategy and is ready to run a simulation. Following is his basis strategy under these rules. I did a 31-million hand simulation using Blackjack Count Analyzer, which shows a house edge of 4.13%, under these rules. When I was in Finland they had single zero roulette, which has a much lower house edge than this game. Why the blackjack rules are so stingy in Finland I would like to know.

PLR DEALER PLR DEALER
23456789XA 23456789XA
21 ---------- soft 21 ----------
20 ---------- soft 20 ----------
19 ---------- soft 19 ----------
18 ---------- soft 18 +DDDd-++++
17 ---------+ soft 17 +++DD+++++
16 -----++--+ soft 16 +++DD+++++
15 -----+++++ soft 15 +++DD+++++
14 -----+++++ soft 14 ++++D+++++
13 -----+++++ soft 13 ++++++++++
12 +----+++++
11 DDDDDDDD++ pair A /////////+
10 DDDDDDDD++ pair 10 ----------
 9 ++DDD+++++ pair 9 /////-/---
 8 ++++++++++ pair 8 ///////--+
 7 ++++++++++ pair 7 -////+++++
 6 ++++++++++ pair 6 /////+++++
 5 ++++++++++ pair 5 DDDDDDDD++
 4 ++++++++++ pair 4 +++//+++++
              pair 3 +////+++++
              pair 2 +////+++++
Insurance: No

+ = hit
- = stand
D = Double if allowed otherwise hit
d = Double if allowed otherwise stand, / = split.

I first addressed this topic in my December 1, 2000, newsletter. For those who missed it I just added blackjack appendix 10 to my site, which explains the effect on the house edge under both a cut card and continuous shuffler game. To answer your question, no, the basic strategy does not change. Basic strategy is always developed based on a freshly shuffled shoe, which is always the case when playing against a continuous shuffler.

You should follow my multiple-deck strategy but surrender against aces in the same hands as the single-deck strategy. I haven't studied if counting this game is more profitable than the single-deck game, but I would be interested to hear from anyone who is doing as you suggest.

Thanks for the compliment. That is a good question. Not having enough money to double or split, but otherwise playing correctly, adds 1.9% to whatever the house edge is.

You're welcome! Casinos generally try to keep the maximum bet about 200 to 500 times the minimum bet. Why? If a casino is comfortable with a $10,000 bet on a $100 table, why not take it on a $5 table? The answer seems to be that casinos like to corral their big bettors into certain areas. Such high-limit areas tend to have the best staff and surveillance. Limiting the ratio of maximum to minimum bet is also a defense against cheating and advantage play.

The advantage of card counting depends on how good and aggressive the card counter is. Other than my introduction to card counting, I leave that topic to other gambling writers.

That is true. I explain why in my blackjack appendix 10. The number of players doesn't make any difference.

Yes, same as a regular shoe with the same number of decks. Most CSMs use five decks, for which you should use my 4-8 deck strategies.

Your timing with this question is perfect. Marsha Ness, the proprietor of Custom Strategy Charts is now ready to sell laminated blackjack and Spanish 21 strategy cards. The strategies come directly from me and there is a wide variety to choose from depending on the particular rules. As of this writing, electronic payment options are not in place yet so you'll have to send a check by mail.

Update: Since the publication of this question, Custom Strategy Cards has gone the way of the dodo bird.

For those who don’t know what you’re talking about, Triple Action Blackjack is a blackjack variant in which the dealer plays out three different hands, all starting with the same up card. The player makes three bets and his one hand is played against the three dealer hands individually. The strategy for this game is exactly the same as conventional blackjack.

I’m glad you asked. You can get them through Custom Strategy Cards. These are my own blackjack and video poker strategies on nice wallet sized laminated cards.

Nov. 13, 2007 update: The Custom Strategy Cards site is now defunct.

Because we already know an ace has been removed for the shoe. That leaves the rest of the shoe slightly ten heavy. A greater the ratio of tens in the shoe the more likely the insurance bet is to win. The fewer the decks the greater this effect is. Insuring a 20 (except A/9) increases the house edge on the insurance bet because there are two less tens in the shoe.

Yes, I calculate blackjack odds using a combinatorial approach, analyzing every possible ways the player and dealer cards can come out, taking the greatest expected value at every decision point. This is harder to program than a simulation but I feel is more elegant and a nice challenge in recursive programming. However I still respect my peers to do simulations. With today’s computers it doesn’t take long to run off a billion bets, which gets very close to the optimal strategy return.

Thanks for the compliment. You are right that you shouldn’t surrender if they take the match play away. There are some other strategy changes but I never worked out a list. Generally the casinos don’t allow doubling the match play chip, in which case you should be less inclined to double. ’Basic Blackjack’ by Stanford Wong indicates when to double if doubling the match play is allowed. My advice is to use the match play on the Player bet in baccarat.

I have played blackjack at casinos all over the United States and have never seen a basic strategy card in blackjack given out for free. However most casino gift shops sell them and they are indeed allowed at the tables. I think the casinos aren’t crazy about the cards the alternative of prohibiting them would be even worse. It would cause a lot of bad player relations to try to enforce a no strategy card rule. Furthermore, where would they draw the line? What if the player wrote the basic strategy on his hand, could the casino prevent a player from looking at his own hand?

Thank you for the compliment. Assuming the dealer hits a soft 17 you are adding 0.012% to the house edge by playing 4-8 deck strategy in a two deck game. Playing double deck strategy in a 6 deck game costs 0.008%. To take this question further I wondered about a more extreme case of playing 4-8 deck strategy for the dealer standing on soft 17 in a single deck game where the dealer hits a soft 17. In this situation the incorrect basic strategy adds 0.038% to the house edge.

Here it is. I assumed the dealer stands on soft 17 and double after a split is allowed. I assumed an infinite number of decks for the sake of simplicity. Any differences between this strategy and 8 or fewer decks would be very borderline. The house edge assuming infinite decks is 9.36%.

Yes! Here it is:

1. Stand on hard 12-16 against dealer 2-6
2. Double on 10,11 against dealer 2-9
3. Always split eights, nines, and aces
4. Stand on soft 18 or more
5. Stand on hard 17 or more
6. If rules 1-5 do not apply then hit
7. Never take insurance

If played on a game with six decks and the dealer stands on a soft 17 the house edge using this strategy is 0.93%. The correct basic strategy will get you down to 0.41%.

It depends if the player is allowed to double and split the match play portion of the bet. Usually the player is not allowed to, which works against the player. The following chart shows how to adjust your double and splitting strategy, assuming the player may not double the match play and if the player splits the match play rides on the first hand played, based on infinite decks and the dealer standing on soft 17. The hit/stand strategy is the same.

Assuming you are right that they don’t take your double/split bet on a dealer blackjack then make no changes to the U.S. basic strategy.

The expected loss would be 300*$10*0.005 = $15. As I state in my blackjack appendix 4 the standard deviation is 1.17 (based on Atlantic City rules). The standard deviation on 300 hands at $10 each would be 300^1/2 * $10 * 1.17 = $202.65. So here are the confidence intervals on the expected win for 1, 2, and 3 standard deviations:

1 standard deviation (68.27% probability): -$15.00 +/- $202.65 = -$217.65 to $187.65
2 standard deviations (95.45% probability): -$15.00 +/- 2*$202.65 = -$420.30 to $390.30
3 standard deviations (99.73% probability): -$15.00 +/- 3*$202.65 = -$622.95 to $592.95

The traditional way to create a basic strategy chart is based on the odds the first hand after a shuffle. So the existing basic charts, including mine, are already perfectly suited for most online games where the cards are shuffled after every hand.

The following table shows the probability in a single-player game. Remember, the dealer will not play out his hand if the player busts first. If you add players the dealer’s probability of busting will go up because there will be a greater probability of at least one player not busting.

Under typical Vegas rules (6-deck, dealer hits soft 17) the house edge by always standing is 15.7%. In the short-run one could still overcome that, but in the long run you’ll lose badly.

There is no particular time to expect the small cards. The last hand in a cut card has just about the same odds as the overall shoe. However if the dealer deals out much more than the average number of hands in a cut card game the last hands tend to be very bad for the player. This is because in the early hands the players and dealer didn’t hit much, which in turn is because lots of large cards came out, leaving more small cards for later in the shoe. So if you notice that you have already passed the average number of hands and the cut card is still a ways off then the deck is probably small card rich and it would be a good time to drop your bet or take a walk. However with other players jumping in and out of the game, and inconsistent cut card placement the practicality of this strategy is very small.

In a six-deck game you should have to see 24 non-tens, and no tens, for insurance to be a breakeven bet. The probability of that happening is extremely low. So unless you are counting, I would never take insurance in a shoe game. However, in a double deck game if you can see eight non-tens, and the ratio of non-tens to tens in the rest of the visible cards is at least 2 to 1 then insurance would be at least an even bet. For example: 8 non-tens and 0 tens, 10 non-tens and 1 ten, 12 non-tens and 2 tens. In true single deck (blackjack pays 3 to 2) you only need to see four non-tens and then have the same 2 to 1 ratio in the rest of the visible cards.

If you aren’t counting cards, then it doesn’t matter. If you are, then any burned cards should be added to the number of cards left unplayed in the deck/shoe, when making the true count conversion.

Yes, as long as it doesn’t slow down the game too much for other players.

From the Nevada Gaming Control Board 2009 revenue report, we see the win for "21" was indeed $1,008,525,000. That probably includes blackjack variants. According to my February 20, 2010 Ask the Wizard column, the cost of mistakes in blackjack is about 0.83%, according to gaming consultant Bill Zender.

The missing piece is what would be the house edge without the errors? I admit this is kind of crude, but the average of the house edge column in the April 2010 Current Blackjack Newsletter is 0.78%. So, the total house edge in blackjack, including errors is 0.78% + 0.83% = 1.61%. The portion of that due to errors is 0.83%/1.61% = 51.55%. So the 2009 profit from blackjack errors in Nevada could be roughly estimated as 1,008,525,000 × 0.5155 = $519 million.

This question was raised and discussed in the forum of my companion site Wizard of Vegas.

Never let it be said I’m not a friend of the blind visually impaired. Here is my Wizard’s Simple Strategy in easy text form. This is not the standard basic strategy, which is more powerful, but would be lengthy to put into words.

Always:

1. Hit hard 8 or less.
2. Stand on hard 17 or more.
3. Hit on soft 15 or less.
4. Stand on soft 19 or more.
5. With 10 or 11, double if you have more than the dealer’s up card (treating a dealer ace as 11 points), otherwise hit.
6. Surrender 16 against 10.
7. Split eights and aces.

If the player hand does not fit one of the above "always" rules, and the dealer has a 2 to 6 up, then play as follows:

1. Double on 9.
2. Stand on hard 12 to 16.
3. Double soft 16 to 18.
4. Split 2’s, 3’s, 6’s, 7’s, and 9’s.

If the player hand does not fit one of the above "always" rules, and the dealer has a 7 to A up, then hit.

For the full basic strategy in text form, please see my 4-deck to 8-deck basic strategy.

A seven. The following table shows the expected value in an infinite-deck game according to the up card and whether the dealer hits or stands on a soft 17. The values for a ten and ace are after the dealer peeks for blackjack, and confirms he doesn't have one.

You can see the player can expect to win 14.40% of his wager against a seven but 9.07% or 9.10% against a two.

This question was raised and discussed in the forum of my companion site Wizard of Vegas.

The math never lies. According to my blackjack appendix 1, here are the expected values for all four ways of playing A,A vs. 10, assuming infinite decks, dealer stands on soft 17, and re-splitting aces is not allowed.

• Stand = -0.540430
• Hit = -0.070002
• Double = -0.514028
• Split = 0.179689

  So, this situation isn't even close, splitting is better by about 11% of the initial bet. It would be even more if re-splitting aces were allowed.