Tag: Blackjack strategy

Who is Winning When?

For those who play blackjack fairly often, for those who have researched blackjack, studied blackjack, they know the odds. They know that blackjack games start with a house edge of 2% to 5%. These studied blackjack players know that they can reduce the house edge to 0.5% just by playing perfect basic strategy.

Unfortunately 0.5% is the best odds an online blackjack player can be after. For blackjack players who play in brick and mortar casinos, they can employ their skills at card counting, and even out the odds or even tilt the odds in their favor.

But what do odds tell you about winning? They tell you the chances of you winning, but those odds apply to each and every hand. They do not tell you on average how often you could win at blackjack. And the well informed player should know how often they could win.

On average a player will only win 44% of the time while the dealer will win around 48% of the time. Those percentages apply to blackjack game when basic strategy is applied. But either the player winning or the dealer winning only accounts for 92% of games. The other 8% goes into pushes. Meaning that 8% the dealer and the player will have a push.

Of the average 44% of games that the player will win, 5% of those games will be won with a natural blackjack. Interestingly enough, the dealer

Luck and Skill in Blackjack

I have said many times that blackjack is a game of skill. When I say this about blackjack, I mean that players have an impact on how to play out their hands in blackjack, whereas in other casino games, like slots, the player has no choice. Many blackjack players what playing in a game of skill means, and others not so much.

The players that do not quite understand what is meant by game of skill seem to think that this means that they can use a piece of strategy, like basic strategy, practice it, play with it, and then beat the house with it. Simply because blackjack is a game of skill, so if they use a skill then they think they have the game beat and will be rolling in money in no time.

These players would not be accurate. In fact, they would be very wrong.

Blackjack as a game of skill means that a strategy skill, again like basic strategy, can be learned and used to lower the house edge. But it does not mean that you have the game beat. Sorry.

There is still a certain amount of luck needed in blackjack.

While some blackjack strategy can help you in how to deal with the cards you are dealt, you need luck to be dealt good cards. After all there are some hands that you just cannot make a profit off of. And that is where you need skill.

Blackjack players are in need of luck in order be dealt natural blackjacks. There is no way of knowing when you are going to be dealt one or how often

Card Counting Illegal or Not

I was looking around for blackjack news and I found something today that actually kind of shocked me. I read that card counting not being allowed in a casino is a myth

Worst Stiff Hand in Blackjack

It is never fun to be dealt a stiff hand in blackjack. You always feel like you have lost the round before it is even your turn to play. Or in the case of online blackjack, as soon as you see the cards you have been dealt.

You wind up basing your play off of whatever up card the dealer has. For hard hands 13 through 16 you stand if the dealer is showing a 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. And if he is showing a 7, 8, 9, 10 or Ace you hit. A hard 12 is the same except that you do hit when the dealer is showing a 2 or 3, so it is a little more flexible.

So if four of the five stiff hands are all played the same, which one is the worst one?

It would be the hard 16. Players have a 61% chance of busting with this hand. This is because when the dealer has a 7 or higher showing, the player

Is Blackjack Beatable or Not?

You can go online and read about how blackjack is a beatable casino game. But then when you go to the casino and lose money or watch how another player makes more money than you. How does that work? Is blackjack really a beatable casino game? Is it more beatable for one player over another?

First, yes, blackjack is a beatable casino game. But it does require skilled card counting. Very skilled card counting.

The way it works is like this: the odds in blackjack are constantly shifting because cards are dealt and the makeup of the remaining deck changes. When the cards are running with high cards the odds favor the player. This is because there is a greater chance for the player to be dealt a blackjack.

The 3-2 payout is what makes up a good chunk of the player

Types of Pair Splitting Part II

Yesterday I wrote a post about the types of pair splitting there is in blackjack. Pair splitting happens no matter if you are playing blackjack online or in a casino. In order to make the most of pair splitting in terms of strategy and improving your blackjack odds, you need to know when to split pairs.

Basic strategy is the first place to start. A basic strategy chart can be used in blackjack as the most basic way to gain an advantage through splitting pairs. But eventually, once you have mastered basic strategy, you can begin to work in other little bits of strategy. These other little bits offer you the chance to tweak your strategy to increase your blackjack odds a little more.

In yesterday

Types of Pair Splitting

Knowing when to split pairs is according to basic strategy is one thing. Knowing the difference between types of pair splits in blackjack is another. Sometimes you have to deviate from what basic strategy tells you to do. It all has to do with the type of pair splitting that is necessary.

Pair splitting happens no matter if you are playing regular blackjack or online blackjack. So you will have to eventually decide how to split a pair whether you are at a blackjack table or playing blackjack online.

There are four types of pair splitting in blackjack: Offensive, Aggressive, Defensive and Reckless.

I am going to show you how these types play into improving your blackjack odds. All of the money figures are based on a $10 wager

In the case of Offensive pair splitting you are starting with an average or potentially losing hand and improving your odds. An example of this would be if you were dealt a pair of 7s and the dealer is showing a 5. If you were to stand you could expect an average of a $3.30 loss. But if you split you have a net average of about $1.20. This taking a loss and turning it around, making it an offensive pair splitting.

With an aggressive split you are taking a good hand and pushing the limits on it. For this example we are going to say that you have been dealt a pair that you would probably normally stand on: a pair of 9s and the dealer has a 6 showing. You could expect a $2.80 profit on standing, but by splitting you could expect $4.40 in profit. That is taking a strong hand and pushing it for something more.

Defensive pair splitting is when you have a pair that you know you are probably going to lose with no matter what, and your play is to try to minimize the loss. Let

Playing for Charlies

Last week I wrote a post on a rule variation for blackjack that allowed for a Charlie. Charlie hands tip the odds in favor of the player in blackjack. So, right off, if you see a blackjack game that allows for automatic Charlie wins, sit down and play there.

Just a quick recap, in blackjack a Charlie is a hand with a certain number of cards whose total value is less than 21. If the Charlie rule is in place in the blackjack game you are playing, it will automatically win no matter what the dealer is holding and no matter what your Charlie