1) GIVE THE DEALER A CHANCE TO HIT

Provided that you notice that the dealer has a card which is either a 4,5,6, you should play extremely cautiously. In essence, these cards signify that the dealer is particularly at risk. This is due to the fact that if the dealer has a soft hand, he will probably opt to hit, rather than stand in order to bring his score closer to 21. Thus, this will prove to be quite advantageous for you as a gambler and you should definitely seize the opportunity to double down or split if possible in order to get more money into the pot when the dealer busts.

2) HOLD ONTO YOUR HARD HAND

If you happen to be holding a hard 17, you should stand. This is due to the fact that despite your chance of winning being low, it is also not worth risking going bust in this case.

3) ALWAYS SPLIT ACES AND EIGHTS – NEVER SPLIT TENS

As a rule of thumb, you should always split aces and eights if you happen to have this combination of cards. This is primarily because if you choose to split, you’ll be able to have two chances to win the pot! In substance, if you choose to stand with two ace cards you’ll be able end up with a score of 16 which won’t leave you in the running to win the sum. Note our experts recommend that you never split 10s.

4) DON’T INSURE AGAINST A BLACKJACK.

Some variants of Blackjack Online will offer you the option of taking out insurance, however, not all games offer this option.  If the dealer’s face up card is an Ace, you can insure against a Blackjack. This basically means that if the dealer were to get such a hand, you’d get your bet back. However, statistics reveal that it’s not worthwhile taking out insurance whilst playing this table game.

If you’ve never played this game before and consider yourself to be a beginner, you’ll be glad to know that these marvelous strategy tips are both easy to remember as well as effective. Nonetheless, if you’ve been playing this casino classic for a while and would like to find out more about different strategies you can choose to implement we recommend that you read through our Blackjack strategy page.

Let’s take a Quiz!

The first step to becoming a skillful player is to learn the basic blackjack playing strategy. Many players believe they know the basic strategy and how to play blackjack. It’s been my experience that beginning players, who are serious about learning how to win, are usually enthusiastic about wanting to learn basic strategy. Experienced players, on the other hand, scoff at reading or learning about basic strategy because “They know that stuff.” Well, if you are an “experienced player,’’ let’s see how much you really know about blackjack basic strategy.

Jot down how you would play these hands; unless otherwise stated, assume a standard 6-deck game, dealer stands on soft 17 and doubling down after pair splitting is permitted.

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Example 1

You have 10-2 and the dealer shows a 3.

Example 2

You have 6-5 and the dealer shows a 10.

Example 3

You have ace-7 and the dealer shows a 9.

Example 4

You have 2-3-ace and the dealer shows 4.

Example 5

You have 9-9 and the dealer shows a 9.

Example 6

You have 8-8 and the dealer shows a 10.

Example 7

You have 10-6 and the dealer shows a 7.

Example 8You have an ace-10 and the dealer has an ace.
The dealer asks if you want even money. Should you take it?

Example 9

You have 10-4 and the dealer shows an ace but doesn’t have blackjack.
The casino allows surrender.

Example 10

You have ace-8, and the dealer shows a 6.
The rules specify that the dealer must hit soft 17.
The correct basic Blackjack strategy plays for the above hands are:

Correct Plays

If you got some wrong, don’t fret, because the majority of blackjack players, even experienced players, flunk this quiz, which is why casinos continue to profit from a game that theoretically can be beaten.

Bottom line…

The basic playing strategy is a set of rules that tells you the optimal way to play every hand dealt to you when the only information you have is your hand and the dealer’s upcard. The basic strategy is the mathematically correct way to play every hand because over time it will maximize the amount of money you will win and minimize the amount you will lose. The reason that the game of blackjack is subject to mathematical analysis is because it is, inherently, a mathematical game; that is, blackjack has a fixed set of rules.

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