Best Blackjack Strategy

The Basics of Blackjack Strategy

This strategy aims to cover some of the simple components of playing blackjack and using strategies. We will cover a few different topics, and although the basic nature might turn you off – don’t skip over this chapter!

It might be the basics, but look at it this way – these basic principles are the necessities for success with blackjack games.

So, let’s dive straight into things with the basics of blackjack strategy.

What is Blackjack Strategy

There is no foolproof method to guarantee wins in blackjack. However, implementing one of the popular blackjack strategies with optimal gameplay will undoubtedly increase your winning chances.

What is excellent about blackjack strategy is that it comes in many different forms.

Regardless of whether you add structure to your gambling with betting systems, kicked things off with the simple aspects like knowing the card values like the back of your hand, or mastered the art of counting cards.

Using blackjack strategies will help you transition from the odd win here and there – to becoming successful with lucrative chances of increasing your money.

Strategies Don’t Have to Be Hard and Confusing

The basic premise of blackjack games is that players need to make decisions on every hand. Will they split, double down, stand, or hit? This decision will make or break the round, and while knowing what the best play is to make can be tricky at first – it doesn’t have to be.

When it comes to strategies, players are often guilty of over-complicating the process.

Sometimes the best strategies are the most straightforward. There is no correlation between confusion, difficulty, and win potential.

You can start today with a blackjack strategy by merely focusing on:

Knowing when to split a pair to give yourself the best odds of winning
How to dance around a soft total, i.e., when you are dealt an ace
Understanding precisely what is the best-case scenario depending on certain hard totals
Knowing what to do and when to surrender when a dealer doesn’t have a blackjack

The components above are all part of excellent blackjack strategies, and with practice, you could know the best move to make regardless of the situation.

What You Need to Know First: The Basics

Blackjack is popular because of its straightforward nature and simplicity behind the game rules. That being said, it’s not uncommon for players to come un-done on the basics. These smaller rules or quirks can often be the deciding factor between coming out ahead and losing a fair chunk of your bankroll at the end of a session.

Not all is lost, though. Come to terms with the basics below, and you’ll have taken a massive step forward towards cracking the blackjack code!

Rules May Change

There are many different blackjack game variations, and some of the rules might change depending on the game. The most common rule that you will see changes is the ability to surrender.

Beat the Dealer; Not 21

If you draw a hand that happens to be a natural 21, i.e., a points value of 21, you are likely to win 1.5 times your bet without drawing further cards. This is the average, but casinos will differ.

Now, the game is not about getting as close to 21 – it’s actually to just beat the dealer by getting a hand value as close to 21 without going over.

How the Game Plays Out

Players will draw two cards to start. The dealer will also draw cards, with one of the dealer’s cards being visible to players. Both of the players’ cards are dealt face up.

We recommend checking out how to play blackjack guide for a refresher on the full rules and a breakdown of some advanced aspects of the game. You can also follow this up with our winning blackjack guide.

Understanding Card Values

It might not feel like it from first glance, but learning how to play and getting a grasp of the card values is quite straightforward in blackjack. To make things better, in terms of the cards – only the number is really worth anything.

What we mean is, the suit or color of the cards is insignificant to the card values.

This doesn’t mean you can’t slip up with blackjack cards’ values, though, especially as a beginner.

In games of blackjack, the following cards all have the same value at ten points:

Tens
Jack
Queen
King

So, there is no difference between any of those face cards – the jack, queen, and king – they’re all worth ten points.

It’s not all this straight-shooting, though, because the ace card has a trick up its sleeve. In blackjack, the ace has two values, and the value it becomes will always be to your benefit. The ace can be worth one point, or it can be worth 11 points.

For an example of how this works, consider the following examples:

You draw an ace and a three in your starting hand, which gives a starting value of four or 14. If the next card you draw is an eight, then the ace has a value of one and gives your hand a total value of 12. The ace becomes a one because if it were 11, then the hand would bust as it would exceed a value of 21.
In the same example, if you would instead draw a five as your next card, the ace would have a value of 11 – giving your hand a total value of 19 (three, five, and 11)

When your starting hand consists of an ace and one other card, this is commonly referred to as a soft – with the ace being the focal point as it could go either way.

What’s the Deal with Card Counting in Blackjack

Counting cards is a technique that requires plenty of practice to master. It isn’t overly difficult to use, but counting cards properly certainly isn’t a calm walk in the park either. This technique is founded on simple mathematics to keep track of the rolling status of a hand. The hand’s status is as to whether the hand is more likely to favor the dealer or the player and whether players should keep the wagering low or bet higher.

This works by keeping an ongoing track of how many small and large value cards have been dealt or used and how many would be remaining in the deck.

If players can use card counting properly, the technique can reduce the house edge to less than 1%. Don’t be too quick to jump in, though, as most card counting techniques require optimal play to reach these levels of reduction.

Counting Cards with the Hi-Low Strategy

While there are a few iterations, the straightforward card counting strategy is the hi-low method. This simple method involves tagging the cards with a value, either minus one, zero, or plus one, onto your running count.

With this running count, players can quickly see an approximation of whether the deck is leaning in favor of the player or back towards the house. If it’s looking like the player is on top, increase your bets.

However, if the favor is sitting with the dealer, this is the time to reduce your bets or stop playing. If you stop playing, just remember to observe the play and keep counting!

Card Values for the Hi-Low Strategy

Low cards are tagged with plus one to the running count. Low cards include two, three, four, five, and six. When low cards are removed from the deck, the player is at an advantage
The middle or other cards have a tag of zero, which means no change to the running count. These cards include the seven, eight, and nine and don’t have much of an impact
High cards are given the tag of minus one, and their removal from the deck puts the advantage back into the houses favor

Card Counting in Multiple Deck Games

Counting cards is viable in blackjack games where the shoe consists of multiple decks of cards. It does make things much harder, though, when compared to single-deck games. Unfortunately, single-deck games are rare, and typically you will be playing games with a shoe that consists of between three and five decks.

These multi-deck games will require players to add an extra step into the process. This further step includes the added decks in your running count by working out the ‘true count’.

To normalize your running count, all you do is divide the running count by the total of unplayed decks in the shoe – so typically, this might be five or three depending on where things are.

Blackjack Strategy Guide

Throughout this chapter, we aim to give you simple ways to play blackjack using strategies that work. The methods in this guide will help you save money by helping you play smarter and understand what to do and when to do it!

The blackjack strategy that we cover in this section includes:

When to surrender
How to properly split pairs
The right way to double down
When to hit and when to stand

Blackjack Surrender Strategy

The surrender rule in blackjack is often played incorrectly and misunderstood among players. This is likely because of the negative aspect that the term ‘surrender’ has attached to it.

It makes sense, though, when you think of surrendering, you think of losing or giving up, which seems to go against the primary mission, which is to win!

So, don’t think of the option to surrender as an option to lay down your hand and admit defeat. The option to surrender in blackjack is actually a smart move to make when played correctly, and for some hands, it is actually the best option as opposed to hitting or standing.

How Does Blackjack Surrender Work

Surrendering in blackjack works like this – once you’ve drawn your initial hand and considered the dealer’s face-up card, you have the option to surrender your hand if you think your chances of winning are low.

What’s in it for you? Ditching your hand lets you give up half of your wager. Instead of losing your full bet, you are taking the chance that things do not look good and bowing out early to get half of your bet back.

It’s up to the player to indicate whether they surrender, doing so in one of the following two ways:

Verbally announce to the dealer that you are surrendering. Note that this is only applicable in certain casinos. Because it is verbal, most casinos dislike this method
The suitable method is to use your hand to make a signal – motioning or drawing a line with your index finger from left to right on the felt or tabletop

Common Blackjack Surrender Strategies

There are two types of this strategy in blackjack, this being a late surrender and an early surrender. The latter is typically not offered throughout American casinos; instead, it is mostly available in European, Australian, and Asian casinos.

Late Surrender Method

This method is only available once the dealer has checked their face down card to check for a blackjack, i.e., they are already showing an ace or ten.

If the dealer does hold a blackjack, then you aren’t able to surrender. If used correctly, though, this strategy can drop the edge by approximately 0.07% in multi-deck shoes.

When to Surrender Late

Check out the chart below for reference on when to surrender in a single deck, double deck, and shoes with four, six, or eight decks.

Game Situation	Your Hand	Surrender When Dealer Holding
Single-deck with soft 17	16	Ten or Ace
Single-deck with soft 17	7 – 7	Ten
Single-deck with hard 17	15	Ace
Single-deck with hard 17	16 or 7 – 7	Ten or Ace
Double-deck with soft 17	15	Ten
Double-deck with soft 17	16	Ten or Ace
Double-deck with hard 17	15 or 16	Ten or Ace
Double-deck with hard 17	17	Ace
Four, six, or eight-deck with soft 17	15	Ten
Four, six, or eight-deck with soft 17	16	Nine, Ten, or Ace
Four, six, or eight-deck with hard 17	15	Ten or Ace
Four, six, or eight-deck with hard 17	16	Nine, Ten, or Ace
Four, six, or eight-deck with hard 17	17	Ace
Four, six, or eight-deck with hard 17	8 – 8	Ace

Early Surrender Method

The option to surrender early is less common in American casinos. This method allows players to surrender to the dealer’s ace or ten before the dealer checks for a blackjack.

The odds of this method are much better than surrendering late; doing so against an ace (in a six-deck game while holding a soft 17) gives players a 0.39% increase while surrendering against a ten gives players a 0.24% increase.

When to Surrender Early

The strategy is a little different from the late surrendering. For an option to surrender early, you should do so with the following scenarios:

When the dealer has an ace, and you have a hard five to seven when they include threes, as well as when you have a hard 12 to 17 including sixes, sevens, and eights
When the dealer has a ten, surrender on a hard 14 to 16, including sevens and eights
When the dealer has a nine, and you have a hard 10-6 and 9-7 but not eights

Pair Splitting Strategy

Splitting pairs in blackjack is a technique that most players get wrong. They will either never split, or they always do so without a proper plan. It’s disappointing that so many get it wrong because the ability to split pairs was introduced to reduce the house edge.

It’s not something that you automatically do as a reward for getting a pair of the same cards, though. There are strategies and proper techniques for getting it done correctly.

So, why is it a good idea to split pairs anyway?

Using a bold strategy, you will win more money on average when splitting pairs
Using a defensive strategy, you will lose less money on average
Using an offensive strategy to turn a losing hand into a winning hand

Bold Splitting Strategy

A bold strategy is the kind of strategy you go with when you already have a hand that is likely to win. You throw caution to the win and split in the hopes of winning more.

Defensive Strategy

This can be a challenging method for players to grasp – the idea of betting more to drop your losses is strange. This is because what players see is that they draw a crappy low pair, they get split and bet more money, and then lose both hands.

Offensive Strategy

An offensive strategy is a holy grail when it comes off with a win. This is when you look to split a losing hand, and it turns into a win.

Doubling Down Strategy

If you implement the doubling down strategy, you’ll have the potential to win even when the game is out of your favor. This strategy allows players to double their initial bet to receive just one further card.

There are some restrictions as to when you can and can’t double down – this will differ from casino to casino.

Deciding whether to double down will always come down to your hand’s value and the card that the dealer is showing.

In a basic premise, the hands that you will typically be doubling down would be those that are worth eight, nine, ten, 11, and hands like a soft 13 (ace and two) through to a soft 18 (ace and seven).

While it is customary to play a defensive-focused strategy in blackjack, it is also smart to play offensively – doubling down when it counts most – like when the dealer has a likely chance of going bust.

Basic Doubling Down Strategy for Single-Deck Games

Use the below charts to help you understand when to double down.

Single-Deck Hard Hand	Double Down When Dealer Showing
8	5 or 6
9	2, 3, 4, 5, or 6
10	2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9
11	Always double down

Single-Deck Soft Hand	Double Down When Dealer Showing
Ace – 2	4, 5, or 6
Ace – 3	4, 5, or 6
Ace – 4	4, 5, or 6
Ace – 5	4, 5, or 6
Ace – 6	2, 3, 4, 5, or 6
Ace – 7	3, 4, 5, or 6
Ace – 8	6

Hit and Stand Strategy

Deciding whether to hit or stand is essentially the main component of playing blackjack. It’s the decision that you’ll be making most too.

The worst hands that you can draw in blackjack are a hard 12 through to a hard 17. This is because it won’t matter what the dealer is holding; you mathematically will lose more hands than you win from these values.

So, when should you hit, and when do you stand?

Well, there are so many variables at play, but we have included some of them below in our easy to follow charts. These hit and stand strategies consider a few different aspects like whether you can double after standing (DAS); games, where this is not allowed, are referenced as NDAS.

Basic Hit and Stand Strategies for Blackjack

Single Deck Soft 17 (DAS) – Hitting and Standing Pairs

Player Hand	Dealer’s Card Showing
2-2	8 through to ace – hit
3-3	9, 10, or ace – hit
4-4	2, 3, and 7 through to ace – hit
5-5	Hit on a ten or ace
6-6	Hit on 8 through to ace
7-7	Hit on 9 and ace, but stand on 10
8-8	Never hit or stand on this hand
9-9	Stand on a 7, 10, or ace
10-10	Always stand on this hand
Ace-Ace	Never hit or stand on this hand

Single Deck Soft 17 (NDAS) – Hitting and Standing Pairs

Player Hand	Dealer’s Card Showing
2-2	Hit on 2, and 8 through to ace
3-3	Hit on 2, 3, 8, or ace
4-4	Hit on 2, 3, 4, and 7 through to ace
5-5	Hit on 10 or ace
6-6	Hit on 7 through to ace
7-7	Hit on 8, 9, or ace, but stand on 10
8-8	Never hit or stand
9-9	Stand on 7, 10, or ace
10-10	Always stand with this hand
Ace-Ace	Never hit or stand

Single Deck Soft 17 – Hard and Soft Hands

Player Hand	Dealer’s Card Showing
5-7	Always hit
8	Hit on 2 through to 4, and 7 through to ace
9	Hit on 7 through to ace
10	Hit on 10 or ace
11	Never hit or stand
12	Stand on 4, 5, or 6, but hit on 2, 3, and 7 through to ace
13-16	Stand on 2 through to 6, but hit on 7 through to ace
17-21	Always stand
Ace-2 through to ace-5	Hit on 2, 3, and 7 through to ace
Ace-6	Hit on 7 through to ace
Ace-7	Stand on 2, 7, 8, or ace, but hit on 9 and 10
Ace-8	Stand on 2 through to 5, and 7 through to ace
Ace-9	Always stand
Ace-10	Always stand

Blackjack Myths and Bogus Strategies to Avoid

Blackjack is a popular casino game, but with all that attention comes a lot of dodgy information, bogus strategies, and plenty of myths that are being pushed as gospel.

In this chapter, we aim to dispel as many of these fallacies as possible, giving you the truth straight and narrow!

What is the Real Aim of the Game

It sounds ridiculous to think that so many players are unaware of the game’s real aim. Often players aim to simplify the game by over-simplifying the objective of blackjack. This turns out to be that the aim is to get as close to 21 as possible.

This is incorrect, though.

The real aim of the game is simply to beat the dealer. This is done by having a higher hand value after the round or surviving longer than the dealer – thus avoiding going bust before the dealer does.

Sure, getting as close to 21 as possible is a great way to win, but it’s not the real goal.

Faces Always Come After Faces

In the sense of card drawing voodoo, players think that if your previous drawn card was a face or picture card – jack, queen, king, then the next card will also be a face. This is superstition, and in all honesty, the opposite of this would be more likely.

If you draw a card like the jack, queen, or king – you actually have a lesser chance of drawing another face card because you’ve just removed one of the limited face cards in the deck.

It’s Impossible to Win at Blackjack with Skill

Although gambling and card games like blackjack are immensely popular, there is still the thought that it is impossible to win at blackjack using skill. Because like all gambling games, it is a game of luck first and foremost.

Unfortunately, this just isn’t entirely true. Yes, luck does play a part, but the player’s skill or knowledge will outweigh the luck in blackjack.

In blackjack, you are consistently making decisions on the hands that you are dealt. These decisions will affect what happens to your hand, and when you know what you are doing, you can increase your chances of winning.

With card counting, you can almost tip the favor into your own hand against the casino too. At the end of the day, skill is what sets apart the truly great players from the casual and mediocre.

Always Stand on Soft 18

A soft 18 sounds like a great hand. You’ve got seven, and the ace can go both ways, setting you up real good for a big finish. Most players would think that a soft 18 is a good staying point, and standing would be the option every time.

It is not the case, though.

This is a great hand if the dealer is showing a two or a seven themselves. However, if the dealer shows a three, four, five, or six, there is a better play to make. This play is aggressive, doubling down to go big or go home.

But, this isn’t a play that is made to increase your chances of winning. Instead, this is the play that you make when the dealer is vulnerable to a bust – thus, giving you the potential for a bigger win.

Card Counting is Illegal

Counting cards in blackjack always attracts a stigma. Like, how dare players try their hardest to win money against the casino! The reactions and viewpoints often make people believe that card counting is illegal.

Unfortunately for some, there is nothing illegal about using your brain and playing blackjack with an optimal strategy. The thought that this is illegal is purely fearmongering and misinformation.

Casinos are a business, and they don’t like to pay out to players. While you won’t go to jail for card counting, casinos are private establishments, and thus you can be removed from a casino. This is often the case; again, this is because casinos aren’t in the game of paying players heaps of money!

It should make sense why one of the tips to counting cards properly is to lay low and avoid the heat!

Counting Cards Requires a Photographic Memory

On the topic of counting cards, it is often misunderstood that you need to be a mathematical genius or possess a photographic memory to count cards effectively.

The Hollywood blockbusters don’t help this myth as the card counters in all the top flicks are always lowkey geniuses.

You do not need to be a genius or have a picture-perfect memory to count cards. It certainly will help, though!

Blackjack Betting Systems Are Always a Smart Idea

Betting systems can be great, on paper, they can guarantee that you will always come out on top. They show you how to take advantage of mathematics to keep yourself ahead of the game. It sounds great, but the only problem is that these types of results work best when they are in a vacuum.

So, while it may seem like implementing a betting system is always a smart idea. Unfortunately, the decision to go ahead with it just isn’t that clear cut.

Sure, they help add structure to your game, and figuratively speaking, you will always be ahead one bet if you manage to finish up on a win. The problem is getting to that win. If you are so unlucky that you ride a losing streak, you’ll be facing huge bets and will likely be unable to keep up.

We suggest thinking hard before implementing a betting system. They can be great for the structure, but don’t just make decisions like this on a whim.

How to Practice Your Strategy

Our fifth and final chapter of this blackjack strategy guide is an important one. We saved the best for last! Here we give you great tips and strategies that you can use right away to help you learn and practice your strategy!

These aren’t difficult to implement either; we look at simple methods that you would have used when learning back in school, great ways for non-tech-savvy players, and the lucrative way players use online casinos practice with real games for free.

Re-Create the Strategy Chart

Strategy charts are one of the easiest ways to learn how to make all the right decisions in blackjack. These charts help you to see all the options, when to hit, when to stand, when you should double down, and which pairs to split.

It is a lot of information, but a strategy chart does an excellent job of keeping this information concise and easy to follow.

Unfortunately, there is just a lot of information to take into account. Don’t worry, though; just like card counting, and you won’t need a photographic memory to understand it all.

Our best recommendation for learning your strategy chart is to make your own from scratch. No, we aren’t suggesting that you go and develop your own from the outset. Just re-create the strategy chart you already have.

This is a technique that you would have used many times back at school – remember all those days writing notes, copying lines off the board, repeating word-for-word what’s in your textbook?

Yes, it can be monotonous, but it works. Grab your chart and make it all over again. The unconscious writing and copying will have you ingraining the information into your brain.

Me, Myself, and a Deck of Cards

If you prefer to do things the old-school way, we get it, and we don’t blame you. Sometimes, taking the slow route is enjoyable, and sometimes having a break from technology is welcomed. This method will likely be a hit with players who are often practical learners, those players that might not pick things up from reading it but rather are more hands-on.

If this sounds like you, then we suggest just going straight to it and playing a game by yourself – being both sides of the table.

Pick up a deck of cards, give it a good shuffle, and start dealing.

Play through the game against yourself and practice the decisions you would make when playing at the casino. It’s best to sit with your strategy chart handy to consult it when you need a refresher and make sure that you are making optimal plays.

Online Blackjack Practice with Mobile or Computer

Arguably the best method to practice your blackjack strategies is to play the game itself. The only problem with this is that it’s not smart to practice and learn to play when you have money on the line.

There is a way around this, and it gives you the closest thing to the real game. Actually, it is the real game but without having to spend money. It is playing online blackjack games, and you can do this on your mobile device or computer.

Now, you can play for real money at online casinos, but the beauty is that you can play for free too.

This gives you the exact same gameplay, the flexibility of being able to play at home or on the go, and learning in a quiet and comfortable environment (pajamas optional). Playing blackjack is our go-to favorite for learning strategies and perfecting; we recommend that you try it too.