Ways to beat blackjack

 

Unlike most casino games, blackjack is a game with an element of choice. Therefore, there’s a certain strategy element involved in it too. In a word, there is a right way to play blackjack and there’s a wrong way.

Optimal play is described by the basic strategy tables. These tables may be different from one casino to another due to the house rules, but they all describe what action the player should take (Stand, hit, double, split or surrender) depending on the cards the player has and on the face-up card of the dealer.

Here’s an example: If you have between 17-20, you should stand regardless of what the dealer holds. If you have 16, you should stand if the dealer shows 2-6, hit if he has 7-8 and surrender (if allowed, if not then hit) when he shows 9-A.

Properly employed basic strategy can reduce the house edge to 0 on single-deck games, and to about 1% on multi-deck games.

 

In order to turn the advantage around, one needs to count cards though.

Card counting is based on the fact that whenever there are more high-cards (10-A) left in the deck, the player will enjoy an advantage over the house, because he’ll find it easier to make a blackjack.

Contrary to the numerous myths surrounding the game, card counting is never about the player remembering certain cards, but rather about allotting certain values to card-ranges and keeping sums in mind.

There are several card counting systems, some of which are more complicated than others. The simplest one can even be mastered by kids.

 

Composition dependent strategy is one way to further refine the odds. In some cases, basic strategy doesn’t give the player the best course of action, because it only considers the total value of his/her hand and not the cards his/her hand is made up of.

 

Shuffle tracking is the most advanced way to defeat the house edge, but it is extremely difficult to do. Players follow groups of cards through the shuffle (good eyesight required) and thus gain an advantage over the casino, one that is much harder to discover than card counting.

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