Tag: Blackjack Tips.

Blackjack Strategy for Splitting 9s

This morning I began talking about blackjack strategy for when you are dealt a pair of 9s. As you might recall I left off by saying that when holding a pair of 9s when the dealer is showing a 2 through 6 or an 8, the best play to make is to split.

While an 18 is a strong there are three hands that the dealer can hit to with one of those up cards and still beat the player. Three out of the five possible hands I should say. And the last time I checked, that was more than 50%, which puts the player at the disadvantage. So that leaves splitting those 9s.

If you are playing in a game of blackjack that allows for doubling after splitting then you gain a little on your blackjack odds: a 0.15% to your odds in fact. And here is why:

Once you split you have two hands that are starting at 9, which is a nice strong card to start with. Let

Blackjack Strategy for Splitting 9s

Every now and then we are dealt what can seem like a strong hand, but in reality it is deceptively strong. I say deceptively strong because while in ordinary blackjack strategy, meaning ordinary hard hands, their hand totals would be fine. But what if they are not ordinary hard hands?

Okay, enough with the mystique. I am talking about those rascally hands that either have Aces or are made up of a pair. In particular I am talking about a certain pair: a pair of 9s.

I know when I have discussed pair splitting blackjack strategy that I have said to pay attention to what the hand total is and to not only focus on the joyous fact that you are holding a pair. In the case of a pair of 9s the hand total is 18. If you were playing this hand out like you would an ordinary hard hand you know that you would stand on an 18. But this is not an ordinary hard 18.

This is a pair of 9s, and because it is not ordinary you want to play it out in the most advantageous way. This means that if the dealer has a 2 through 6 or an 8 that you want to split that pair of 9s.

Let

Blackjack Strategy: Playing to 21

When new players think of blackjack, they think the objective of the game is to get their hand total up to 21. To play to 21 in other words. However this is a bit of a misconception. Sure, 21 is the magic number in blackjack but it is not the objective.

The true objective of blackjack

Free Online Blackjack

Sometimes you are in the mood to play blackjack, but you either do not have the extra money in the bank account or you just do not feel like wagering any money. If you played blackjack in a brick and mortar casino you would be out of luck. But if you play blackjack online there is a way to get it for free.

And who would not want some free blackjack?

Thankfully online casinos understand that players sometimes just want to play, and unlike their brick and mortar counterparts, many online casinos will offer a free play or play for fun version of their games.

If the online casino that you play online blackjack at offers a free play mode, it is easy to access. The free play modes can be accessed regards of whether you play with the casino software downloaded on your computer or whether you play in the flash version.

To get your free blackjack on, sign in to your player account. The next screen that pops up should be one that asks if you want to play for free or play for real. Simply click on play for free and you will be all set to go.

Online blackjack players are at an advantage with free blackjack online.

Not every single online casino game is offered in free play modes. But thanks to blackjack being one of the most popular online casino games, just about every free play mode will offer it. Unlike slots

Two Types of Surrender in Blackjack

Since we discussed surrender as a part of your blackjack strategy this morning, I figured it might be beneficial to go over the two types of surrender that you are bound to come across: late surrender and early surrender.

The basic concept of surrender is to exit the round at the cost of half of your wager.

Late surrender is the variety that only allows you to bow out of the round after the dealer has checked to see if he has blackjack. This is the surrender variety that has the smaller impact on the house edge because the dealer is allowed to check first. And if he does have a natural blackjack, guess what

Surrender as a Part of Your Blackjack Strategy

No one likes to admit defeat. Especially when money is involved. This is probably why many blackjack player for-go the option to surrender when the house rules allow for it.

But what a good blackjack player has to keep in mind is the overall picture, not just one round. What surrender does is let you out of a hand that you are more than likely going to lose, for half the cost.

When a player decides to surrender, he makes the decision when his turn to play comes. He can either surrender or play out his hand. If surrender is chosen, he loses half of his wager and surrenders his cards

Blackjack Strategy: Pair Splitting on Aces

Yesterday I talked about blackjack strategy in regards to pair that you do not split when you are dealt them. And it does not matter whether you are playing online blackjack or blackjack in a brick and mortar casino, you still do not split those two pairs.

So today I thought we would talk about pairs that you always, always, always split. First up is a pair of Aces.

Logically you have to split a pair of Aces. Do the math and it just seems smart to do so. An Ace is worth 11 or 1, with 11 being the first value given; if that 11 does not work in the hand it is then reduced to 1. So a pair of Aces first adds up to 22, which is a bust. So naturally one of the Aces is reduced to 1, giving the player a hand total of 12. Nasty hard 12.

You can see why any smart blackjack player would split that pair of Aces.

Once split you have two hands that are starting at 11. Not only that you have half of what you need to make 21. If you are playing blackjack in a brick and mortar casino and also happen to be a card counter, and the deck is running with high cards, that would be a good time to split those Aces since your chances of being dealt the cards for a hard 19, 20 or 21 are increased.

Even if you are not a card counter or are even playing blackjack online, it is good blackjack strategy to split a pair of Aces. Doing so takes your hand from a weak position to a stronger one.

Blackjack Strategy: Pair Splitting on 10s

This morning I talked about a pair that, according to good blackjack strategy is never ever split: a pair of 5s. But there is one more pair that is never eve split either: a pair of 10s.

A pair of 10s could be literally two 10 cards. Or it could be two face cards, not necessarily the same two face cards, meaning a pair could be a Queen and a Jack. Or a pair of 10s could be a 10 card and a face card. The whole point to the pair is that the two cards have the same value.

There are two mistakes that happen when a blackjack player uses some misguided blackjack strategy and splits a pair of 10s. Either he is ill-informed or he is just all caught up in being dealt a pair and cannot resist splitting it.

Mistake number one is that the split is made with the idea that the player can then double down on each of those 10s. First off, not all blackjack games allow for doubling after splitting. This rule is typically found at blackjack tables in casinos and not found at all in online blackjack.

The problem with this strategy, aside from the instances in which doubling after splitting is not allowed, is that the player is giving up a strong hand for something weaker. True, starting a hand with 10 is not too bad of a building block. But it is weaker when compared to an unsplit pair of 10s.

The other mistake that the player forgets about doubling after splitting, and is intent on trying to build two strong hands. But, again, the player is giving up strong blackjack ground for weaker ground.

The reason why you do not split a pair of 10s is right in front of the player

Blackjack Strategy: Pair Splitting

Like any game of skill, blackjack requires strategy. Any good game of skill worth the trip to an online gambling site requires good strategy. The most commonly used strategy tool in both online blackjack and blackjack played in a brick and mortar casino is basic strategy.

Basic strategy comes in the form of a chart with player hands running down the left hand side and all of the dealer up cards running across the top. When using basic strategy you find your hand and run it across the line until it intersects with the line of the card the dealer is showing. The play at the intersection is the best statistical play for you to make.

But if you look at a basic strategy chart you notice that it is somewhat divided into three sections based on the player