Basic Strategy for Blackjack

Blackjack or Twenty-one game is one of the most popular card games of all time. One of the reasons for its popularity may lay in the fact that you don’t need to learn complex rules as they are pretty much simple and easy to understand. To oversimplify a bit, you just need to be closer to 21 than the dealer is. And you play just against the dealer(house). You don’t compete against other players on the table, in fact, their cards can only help you as you can see which cards are no longer in the deck.

Blackjack as a game has very low house edge percentage. Depending on a number of decks used and other rules (such as - does dealer stand on soft 17 or hits?, - can player double on any two cards?,  - can player split Aces?, - can player double on splits?, etc.), the house edge is in the range between 97-99.85%. In single deck variation, where the dealer stands on soft 17, and there are no cut cards(all cards are used) it even drops to only 0,15%  in favor of the house with proper Blackjack Basic Strategy used. Absolute lowest house edge with RTP (Return to Player %) of 99.85%.

Blackjack basic strategy is as the word says BASIC - it is the starting point for playing blackjack and must have for successful Blackjack players whether in online casinos or “offline” brick & mortar casinos. You will need to know that basic Blackjack strategy so you could maximize your chances and make house edge as low as possible.

There is also a number of different Blackjack Strategies, including Dependent Blackjack strategy where you have your every move planned for every possible situation and card combination, and it varies vastly depending on a number of decks used and other rules mentioned above. In this article, we will focus on Basic Blackjack Strategy.

Blackjack Basic strategy described in this article does not refer to amount of bet that you will place and their fluctuation, but it is a strategy to help you decide in which case do you hit, stand, double or split. Follow next lines to learn more and master basics in Blackjack Game.
 

Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart

The first thing to learn are some basic terms and rules of Blackjack. The point of the game is to be closer to 21 than the dealer is, and if you go over 21, you bust and automatically lose. All players on the table play against the dealer, not against each other. In each round, you will get two cards and the dealer will also get two cards. One of the dealer cards is “face up” so you can see what card it is. Then you will have to decide whether you will hit for one more card, stand on given card, or hit just one more and double initial bet. Each “picture card” (king, queen, jack) are counted as ten, Aces can be counted as eleven or one, and all other numbered cards are counted as their respective number. The goal is to be closer to 21 than the dealer is, and if you get Ace and face card (your first two cards) – you automatically win. (Only if dealer also get a BJ, it is a push). In fair casinos when you hit Blackjack it pays 3:2 meaning if you place a 10$ bet, you will not only get 20$ as in “normal” round where no Blackjack has been won, but you will win 25$ (double of your original bet plus half of original bet).

As Ace can be counted as one or eleven there are also terms “hard total” and “soft total”. The hard total means that there is no Ace involved and that is definite total. The soft total means that you have Ace and you can decide do you want to count them as 11 or 1 (e.g. if you have Ace and 4 that is soft 15, you can choose to stand or hit one more card. In this case, if you hit and get 7 then the Ace will be counted as one so you don’t bust and you will now have hard 12 in your hand, if you get 6, Ace will be counted as 11 and you will have soft 21).

Also, there are many variations of Blackjack rules that casinos imply. Some of that are:

•  Is late surrender allowed? (you can surrender if you think you got lousy cards and lose just half of original bet)
• Does dealer stand on all 17 or just hard ones?

Important rules that almost all casinos offer is insurance and even money. You don’t need to know that as in all strategies the rule is that you never take insurance or even money because when you calculate the odds it’s simply not worth even trying. Also never split two tens as that hand is just too strong to risk with splitting.

Most simple strategy for playing Blackjack is that you always assume that dealers down card is 10 and act accordingly. For an example, if your up card is 6 and dealer’s 7 then you hit. But that is the simplest advice you can get, and it is not advisable to use just that strategy if you really want to play like, at least, intermediate player. For you to become successful Blackjack player and minimize house edge you will have to learn Basic Blackjack strategy.

Below is shown Basic Blackjack Strategy Chart for a single deck, American style where the dealer stands on all 17 and double after split is allowed.

Next below is shown Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart for 4-8 decks, American style, dealer stands on all 17.

The use of this Blackjack Basic Strategy Charts is simple. In the most left column you will find all the possible combinations of your hand, and in the row above you will find dealers card totals. Then simply find your current hand situation and act according to the Strategy Chart.

Play BJ Online using Optimal Strategy

At LuckyStar online casino you can practice Basic Strategy in demo mode (for fun money). Once you master it, you can try your luck for real money.

LuckyStar online casino offers different versions of Blackjack. In fact, it offers almost all variations of Blackjack games, over 25 of them from 5 different providers. Be assured that you will not find that vast selection of Blackjack variations in any other online or ground casino for that matter.

Also, at Luckystar LIVE section, you can choose from over 40 different Blackjack tables with live dealers. There is a table for every budget available. Minimum bets at Live Casino regarding Blackjacks starts as low as 0.50€/$ and goes up to 1000€/$ for High Rollers & VIP Players. With different versions of blackjack games and a wide range of betting limits, you will surely find a game that suits your desires and of course budget. Remember that you will still need luck by your side, Basic Strategy Charts does not guarantee that you will win but it is a strategy that will dramatically increase your chances to win and lower house edge. Good luck and lets hit the tables.