[ View menu ]

Blackjack - I Hate it

I hate blackjack. First, because I lack the patience to count cards to get a real edge and if I did they’d try to ban me anyway. Second, because there are so many superstitious players who get all worked up if you do anything non-standard, it’s just not a relaxing game unless you play exactly by the book. If you want a more fun, slow-paced social game that won’t bleed you too fast, play pai-gow. But if you must play boring blackjack, here is the basic strategy to minimize your -EV. This is the strategy for the typical multi-deck “shoe” where the dealer hits on soft 17 (its better if they don’t) and blackjack pays 3/2 (Do NOT play the 6/5 blackjack tables…too big a house edge). H = hit, S = stand, SP = split, D = double down.

Your hand Dealer’s face-up card
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
Hard totals
17-20 S S S S S S S S S S
13-16 S S S S S H H H H H
12 H H S S S H H H H H
11 D D D D D D D D D D
10 D D D D D D D D H H
9 H D D D D H H H H H
5-8 H H H H H H H H H H
Soft totals
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
A,9 S S S S S S S S S S
A,8 S S S S D S S S S S
A,7 D D D D D S S H H H
A,6 H D D D D H H H H H
A,4 A,5 H H D D D H H H H H
A,2 A,3 H H H D D H H H H H
Pairs
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 A
A,A SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP
10,10 S S S S S S S S S S
9,9 SP SP SP SP SP S SP SP S S
8,8 SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP SP
7,7 SP SP SP SP SP SP H H H H
6,6 SP SP SP SP SP H H H H H
5,5 D D D D D D D D H H
4,4 H H H SP SP H H H H H
2,2 3,3 SP SP SP SP SP SP H H H H

0 Comments

No comments

RSS feed Comments | TrackBack URI

Write Comment

XHTML: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>