Although the house generally wins over the long-term, players can reduce the casino’s odds dramatically by using simple strategy rules. Blackjack tables typically turn between 50 and 100 games every sixty minutes, which means that even a conservative player betting $10 per hand is cycling through up to $1,000 in wagers per hour. Decreasing the house edge from 3% to 1% for example can result in $20 in savings during that limited amount of time. Since bet sizes and lengths of stay at the casino can vary substantially, savings can add up quickly. Playing according to strategy and reducing the house edge can mean the difference between having a great trip or a lousy vacation and the difference between dining in the cheap buffet and savoring a meal in the five star steakhouse at the end of the night.
Basic strategy is the only reason that blackjack has the lowest house edge of any casino game. Decades ago, some savvy mathematicians used computers to figure out which moves were statistically most effective for every card combination in blackjack. After simulating hundreds of thousands of hands, they finally came up with a list of the best possible in-game actions. There were slight variations in which moves were ideal for certain types of games and rules, but most of them were the same. Those charts of ideal moves became known as the basic strategy, BS or just basic.
Using perfect play, you can lower the house edge to anywhere from just less than 1 percent in eight-deck games to 0.13 percent in single-deck games. A house edge that low means that a good player has almost the same chance of winning during a sitting of blackjack as he or she does of winning a coin toss.
Unfortunately, many players fail to learn that the house only has such a small edge when the player is flat betting (betting the same amount each time) and playing basic strategy over many hands. Depending on which mistakes you make, you can lose more money more quickly in blackjack than in a game like a slot machine. In order to be a smart player, stick to the basic strategy moves and use flat or conservative bets that are appropriately sized for your bankroll.
As noted above, basic strategy is simply the set of statistically correct blackjack moves for each possible combination of dealer and player hands that will minimize the casino’s edge over the long-term. Each basic strategy action can be broken down into one of three categories: offensive, defensive, and neutral.
Offensive strategies are designed to ensure that players make the most of situations where the odds of winning are in the player’s favor. For example, consider a player that has a soft 19 versus a dealer’s 6. In this situation, the player already has a winning hand – the dealer has a high likelihood of busting and the player has a strong point total. If the player were simply to stand (a neutral move), he would likely win the round. However, in this situation, basic strategy usually dictates that a player should double down. While doubling opens the player up to the possibility of drawing a card that could make the current 19 weaker, it also enables him or her to put more money in play and take maximum advantage when the dealer is weak.
Defensive strategies, alternatively, are meant to blunt the effect of disadvantageous situations. For example, a player with a pair of 8s has a total of 16, which is expected to lose against nearly every dealer up card. In order to give the player an opportunity to improve his hand, basic strategy instructions say to split, thus turning the one poor hand into two new ones. By splitting, the player is defensively retreating out of a position of weakness with the hopes that the combination of the resulting two hands will be better than the original.
Basic strategy is typically learned using charts or flashcards. Strategy charts are grid-like systems that show each individual move based on the intersection of rows and columns that represent player and dealer hands. Whereas strategy charts can be complicated to comprehend, flashcards have the same information as the charts, but are designed to teach players in a simpler, and more familiar process that also more closely resembles game play in the actual casino environment.
Just like you shouldn’t try to cram everything the night before a big test, you shouldn’t try to learn all of basic strategy in one day. While it is possible to learn quickly, you will retain the information and understand how everything fits together better if you pace yourself. For example, you might spend one day doing flash cards for situations in which you must decide whether to hit or stand. The next day, you might work on splitting pairs. If you make your own flashcards, make personal notes about certain hands so that you can remember them later.
Most habitual players learn the rudiments of basic strategy, but few actually take the time to learn all of the moves. For instance, most people know not to hit a 16 vs. a 6, but some may not know that you hit A,7 vs. a dealer’s 9. Hitting your 12 against a 3 in a multi-deck game is another action that most people do not know to make. These small mistakes add up over the long term, and they undermine your ability to play an even game against the house.
Blackjack is a fast-paced casino game. You may not be the only one at the table, and the dealer may get in trouble if he or she is not dealing enough hands per hour. Players and dealers alike may get annoyed with you if you take too long while deciding on your moves, placing your bets and so forth. As such, it is important that you memorize all of the right moves before sitting down to play at a real table with real money. As stated previously, the house edge is only low when you play perfectly, so it is definitely worth your while to learn basic strategy thoroughly, or, at a minimum, to memorize at least a handful of playing decisions.
Although we recommend using flashcards to learn basic strategy, we have included several basic strategy charts in the appendix to help you get started learning right away. The charts cover eight variations including basic strategies for typical games styles found in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Single and Double Deck games. Each is shown with and without surrender.
