Knowing a good Blackjack Strategy is a key to success.

Many people believe that the object of the game is to obtain a hand value as close to twenty-one as possible without going over. However, this is NOT true for the expert player. His objective is simply to Beat The Dealer!

Our strategy: There are differences in strategy based on the number of decks being dealt when you play blackjack. Obviously, with a limited number of cards in play, it is mathematically possible to determine the percentage play you should make. Our strategy is based on multiple decks because one deck play is a rarity to find.

Why split? Always split aces and eights, never split tens and fives. Ever wonder why? A soft twelve (a pair of aces) in itself isn’t anything to write home about. The ace is, however, the best card you can have as the first card of your hand. Chances are that you will end up with a strong 21. A pair of eights leaves you with a sixteen. If you split these, you have a decent chance of bettering your hand. Two tens make twenty, already a good hand. Splitting in this situation, doesn’t make much sense. Two fives add up to ten. There are more tens in the deck than any other card. If you don’t split, your odds are reasonably good that you will acquire a hand of twenty on the very next card drawn. On the other hand, if you split the fives your odds of ending up with two hands each totaling fifteen is very unattractive. You just learned most of the split strategy.

Why Dounble down? Sometimes, you will double down and draw a low card. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could draw another card? You would even win more hands if you never doubled down. But if hitting, as opposed to doubling down, can’t double your advantage against the house on a given situation it will pay you to win less often at twice the amount. This is the mathematical rationale behind doubling down. It’s all about mathematics!

DRAWING AND STANDING

When to Hit a Hard Hand

Your Hand	Dealer’s Up Card
x	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
17 – 20	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
13 – 16	x	x	x	x	x	H	H	H	H	H
12	H	H	x	x	x	H	H	H	H	H
4 – 11	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H

 

When to Hit a Soft Hand

Your Hand	Dealer’s Up Card
x	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
19 – 20	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
18	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	H	H	H
13 – 17	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H

H = always draw (hit). Stand if no entry is given.

DOUBLING DOWN

When to Double Down on a Hard Hand

Your Hand	Dealer’s Up Card
x	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
12	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	x
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	x	x
9	x	D	D	D	D	x	x	x	x	x
8	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x

 

When to Double Down on a Soft Hand

Your Hand	Dealer’s Up Card
x	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
19 – 20	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
17 – 18	x	D	D	D	D	x	x	x	x	x
15 – 16	x	x	D	D	D	x	x	x	x	x
13 -14	x	x	x	D	D	x	x	x	x	x

D = always double down. *D* = double down except on 6,2. Consult draw/stand strategy tables if no entry is given.

SPLITTING

When to split pairs

Your Hand	Dealer’s Up Card
x	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,A	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
10,10	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
9,9	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	x	SP	SP	x	x
8,8	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
7,7	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	x	x	x	x
6,6	*SP*	SP	SP	SP	SP	x	x	x	x	x
5,5	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
4,4	x	x	x	*SP*	*SP*	x	x	x	x	x
3,3	*SP*	*SP*	SP	SP	SP	SP	x	x	x	x
2,2	*SP*	*SP*	SP	SP	SP	SP	x	x	x	x

SP = always split. *SP* = split only when doubling down is allowed after splitting. Consult the double down strategy tables if no entry is given.

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