http://www.blackjackcardgame.net en-us Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:26:08 -0500 http://www.blackjackcardgame.net/strategies/ In this article we would review strategies & methods which can increase the chanse to win in BlackJack card game.

The most essential thing to know about blackjack is the basic strategy. This strategy is simply the best way to play every possible situation, without any knowledge of the distribution of the rest of the cards in the deck. At the top of the page is the basic strategy for four or more decks when the dealer hits on soft 17, which is the most common game. Below are links to more basic strategy charts for other rules. If you only learn by heart one table I would suggest the one above. It can be played effectively under any rules.

To use the basic strategy look up your hand along the left vertical edge and the dealer's up card along the top. In both cases an A stands for ace. From top to bottom are the hard totals, soft totals, and splittable hands. Rule variations can have an effect on some borderline situations. The most flexible rules are the number of decks, whether the dealer hits or stands on a soft 17, and whether doubling is allowed after splitting. The best way to memorize the basic strategy is notice patterns and to try to understand why you should play every situation as the chart says. Then make flash cards and go over and over them until you know it cold. Do not deal out cards to yourself because the soft totals and the pairs will not occur often enough to test your knowledge.

Many people do not believe in the basic strategy because they once took the advice of someone who knew it and then lost the hand. Let me make something perfectly clear, you will not win every hand with the basic strategy! In fact, you won't even win half your hands. However, I can personally testify that while you will have short term ups and downs, over the long run you will roughly break even using it.

Card counting.
Card counting is a card game strategy used to determine when a player has a probability advantage. The term is used almost exclusively to refer to the tracking of the ratio of high cards to low cards in blackjack and its derivatives such as Spanish, although it is sometimes used to refer to obtaining a count of the distribution or remaining high cards in trick-taking games, such as contract bridge or spades.

Card counting creates two opportunities:

The player can make larger bets when he or she has the advantage. For example, the player can increase the starting bet if there are many aces and tens left in the deck, in the hope of hitting a blackjack.

The player can use information about the remaining cards to advance upon the basic strategy rules for specific hands played. For example, with many tens left in the deck, the player may double down in more situations since there is a better chance of making a strong hand.

Virtually all card counting systems do not necessitate the player to remember which cards have been played. Rather, a point system is established for the cards, and the player keeps track of a simple point count as the cards are played out from the dealer. The principle behind counting cards in blackjack is that a deck of cards with a high proportion of high cards (ten-valued cards and aces) to low cards is good for the player, while the reverse is good for the dealer. A deck rich in tens and aces improves the player's odds because blackjacks (which offer a higher payout than other winning hands) become more common, the dealer is more likely to bust a stiff hand, and double-downs are more successful.

Contrary to the popular myth, card counters do not need savant qualities in order to count cards, because they are not tracking and memorizing specific cards. Instead, card counters assign a heuristic point score to each card they see and then track only the total score. This myth was depicted in the movie Rain Man, where the savant character Raymond Babbit counts through six decks with ease and a casino employee comments that it is impossible to count six decks.

Basic card counting assigns a positive, negative, or null value to each card (2 through ace). As each card is dealt, the running count is adjusted by each card's assigned value. There are multiple card-counting systems in use, but a plus-minus count — such as the Hi-Lo system proposed by Harvey Dubner in 1963 and later refined by Julian Braun and Stanford Wong — is one of the more basic and illustrative systems.

In the Hi-Lo system, the cards 2 through 6 are assigned a value of +1. Tens and face cards through aces are assigned a value of -1. Cards 7, 8, and 9 have a value of zero, or are called neutral (so they can be ignored). The Hi-Lo system is an example of a balanced card-counting system, in it there are an equal number of +1 and -1 cards in the deck, so a count of all 52 cards would result in an end count of 0.

Depending on the particular blackjack rules in a given casino, basic strategy reduces the house advantage to near 0 with some single-deck games, and less than one percent in a multi-deck game. Card counting, if done correctly, can give the player an advantage in the other direction, typically ranging from 0 to 2% over the house. To counter card counting, many casinos switched from a single deck to multiple decks, with the cards dealt out of a container known as a "shoe".

In most US jurisdictions, card counting is legal and is not considered cheating. However, most casinos have the right to ban players, with or without any reasons, and card counting is frequently used as a justification to ban a player. Usually, the casino host will simply inform the player that he is no longer welcome to play at that casino. Players must be careful not to signal the fact that they are counting. The use of electronic or other counting devices is commonly illegal.

Composition-dependent strategy.
Basic strategy is based on a player's point total and the dealer's visible card. A player's ideal decision may depend on the composition of his hand, not just the information considered in the basic strategy. For example, a player should ordinarily stand when holding 12 against a dealer 4. However, in a single deck game, the player should hit if his 12 consists of a 10 and a 2; this is because the player wants to receive any card other than a 10 if hitting, and the 10 in the player's hand is one less card available to cause a bust for the player or the dealer.

However, in situations where basic and composition-dependent strategy lead to different actions, the difference in expected value between the two decisions will be small. Additionally, as the number of decks used in a blackjack game rises, both the number of situations where composition determines the correct strategy and the house edge improvement from using a composition-dependent strategy will fall. Using a composition-dependent strategy only reduces house edge by 0.0031% in a six-deck game, less than one tenth the improvement in a single-deck game (0.0387%).

Shuffle tracking.
Techniques other than card counting can swing the advantage of casino blackjack towards the player. All such techniques are based on the value of the cards to the player and the casino, as originally conceived by Edward O. Thorp. One technique, mainly applicable in multi-deck games, involves tracking groups of cards (aka slugs, clumps, packs) during the play of the shoe, following them through the shuffle and then playing and betting accordingly when those cards come into play from the new shoe. This technique, which is admittedly much more difficult than straight card counting and requires excellent eyesight and powers of visual estimation, has the additional benefit of fooling the casino people who are monitoring the player's actions and the count, since the shuffle tracker could be, at times, betting and/or playing opposite to how a straightforward card counter would.

Arnold Snyder's articles in Blackjack Forum magazine made the information about shuffle tracking available to the general public. His book, "The Shuffle Tracker's Cookbook", mathematically analyzed the player edge obtainable from shuffle tracking based on the actual size of the tracked slug. Jerry L. Patterson also developed and published a shuffle-tracking method for tracking favorable clumps of cards and cutting them into play and tracking unfavorable clumps of cards and cutting them out of play. Other legal methods of increasing a player advantage at blackjack include a wide variety of techniques for hole carding or gaining information about the next card to be dealt. ]]> Fri, 09 May 2008 12:42:29 -0400 http://www.blackjackcardgame.net/strategies/ http://www.blackjackcardgame.net/variants-of-blackjack/ Being the most popular casino game, it is no surprise that there many variations of the BlackJack, and increasingly more and more casinos are creating custom variants. So in this article we would review some of the different variations of BlackJack card game.

Pontoon is an English variation of blackjack with significant rule and strategy differences. However, in Australia and Malaysia, Pontoon is an unlicensed version of the American game Spanish 21 played without a hole card; despite the name, it bears no relation to English Pontoon.

Spanish 21 provides players with many liberal blackjack rules, such as doubling down any number of cards (with the option to 'rescue', or surrender only one wager to the house), payout bonuses for five or more card 21s, 6-7-8 21s, 7-7-7 21s, late surrender, and player blackjacks always winning and player 21s always winning, at the cost of having no 10 cards in the deck (though there are jacks, queens, and kings). With correct basic strategy, a Spanish 21 almost always has a higher house edge than a comparable BlackJack game.

21st Century Blackjack (also known as "Vegas Style" Blackjack) is commonly found in many California card rooms. In this form of the game, a player bust does not always result in an automatic loss; there are a handful of situations where the player can still push if the dealer busts as well, provided that the dealer busts with a higher total.

Certain rules changes are employed to create new variant games. These changes, while attracting the novice player, actually increase the house edge in these games. Double Exposure Blackjack is a variant in which the dealer's cards are both face-up. This game increases house edge by paying even money on blackjacks and players losing ties. Double Attack Blackjack has very liberal blackjack rules and the option of increasing one's wager after seeing the dealer's up card. This game is dealt from a Spanish shoe, and blackjacks only pay even money.

The French and German variant "Vingt-et-un" (Twenty-one) and "Siebzehn und Vier" (Seventeen and Four) don't include splitting. An ace can only count as eleven, but two aces count as a Blackjack. This variant is seldom found in casinos, but is more common in private circles and barracks.

Chinese Blackjack is played by many in Asia, having no splitting of cards, but with other card combination regulations.

One more variant is Blackjack Switch, a version of blackjack in which a player is dealt two hands and is allowed to switch cards. The initial wager for each hand must be the same. For example, if the player is dealt 10-6 and 10-5, then the player can switch two cards to make hands of 10-10 and 6-5. Natural blackjacks are paid 1:1 instead of the standard 3:2, and a dealer 22 is a push. As with normal Blackjack the second card dealt to the Blackjack switch dealer is dealt face up. This allows the player to use the basic Blackjack strategy, the advanced Blackjack strategy as well as shuffle counting and card counting to help make important decisions on the approach to Blackjack switch. In many casinos as well, a tie with the Blackjack switch dealer results in a push instead of a loss. This changes the probability once again to the players favor allowing less chances of a loss and more chances of either a win or tie.

Another popular form of Blackjack is Blackjack Surrender. Blackjack Surrender offers one main twist, if the player is not confident with their hand, they have the option to surrender half of their wager and forfeit their hand. This option is usually offered after the initial 2 cards are dealt, but some casinos offer late surrender, allowing the player to surrender at any point in the game. Late surrender option will allow the player to have more insight before choosing to surrender their hand or take a chance and play it out. For instance, if the player is dealt a low hand which may be surrendered in early surrender versions of Blackjack Surrender due to low probabilities, with late surrender versions of Blackjack Surrender, you have the opportunity to play the hand longer, obtain more cards and better decide if that initial low hand has potential after all or if it is wiser to surrender half your wager against what the dealer may hold.

Recently, thanks to the popularity of poker, Elimination Blackjack has begun to gain a following. Elimination Blackjack is a tournament format of blackjack.

Many casinos offer optional side bets at standard blackjack tables. For example, one common side-bet is "Royal Match", in which the player is paid if his first two cards are in the same suit, and receives a higher payout if they are a suited queen and king (and a jackpot payout if both the player and the dealer have a suited queen-king hand). Another increasingly common variant is "21+3," in which the player's two cards and the dealer's up card form a three-card poker hand; players are paid 9 to 1 on a straight, flush or three of a kind. These side bets invariably offer worse odds than well-played blackjack. ]]> Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:24:58 -0400 http://www.blackjackcardgame.net/variants-of-blackjack/ http://www.blackjackcardgame.net/blackjack/ Blackjack (also known as Twenty-one, Vingt-et-un (French for Twenty-one), or Pontoon) is one of the most popular casino card games in the world. Much of blackjack's popularity is due to the mix of chance with elements of skill, and the publicity that surrounds card counting (keeping track of which cards have been played since the last shuffle). The casino version of the game should not be confused with the British card game Black Jack (a variant of Crazy Eights).

History of blackjack.
Blackjack's precursor was vingt-et-un ("twenty-one"), which originated in French casinos around 1700, and did not offer the 3:2 bonus for a two-card 21. When 21 was first introduced in the United States it was not very popular, so gambling houses tried offering various bonus payouts to get the players to the tables. One such bonus was a 10-to-1 payout if the player's hand consisted of the ace of spades and a black Jack (either the Jack of clubs or the Jack of spades). This hand was called a "blackjack" and the name stuck to the game even though the bonus payout was soon abolished. As the game is currently played, a "blackjack" may not necessarily contain a jack or any black cards at all.

Rules, how to play blackjack.
The hand with the highest total wins as long as it doesn't exceed 21; a hand with a higher total than 21 is said to bust or have too many. Cards 2 through 10 are worth their face value, and face cards (jack, queen, king) are also worth 10. An ace's value is 11 unless this would cause the player to bust, in which case it is worth 1. A hand in which an ace's value is counted as 11 is called a soft hand, because it cannot be busted if the player draws another card.

Each player's goal is to beat the dealer by having the higher, unbusted hand. Note that if the player busts he loses, even if the dealer also busts. If both the player and the dealer have the same point value, it is called a "push", and neither player nor dealer wins the hand. Each player has an independent game with the dealer, so it is possible for the dealer to lose to some players but still beat the other players in the same round.

Example of a Blackjack game.
The top half of the picture shows the beginning of the round, with bets placed and an initial two cards for each player. The bottom half shows the end of the round, with the associated losses or payoffs.The minimum bet is printed on a sign on the table and varies from casino to casino and table to table. After initial bets are placed, the dealer deals the cards, either from one or two hand-held decks of cards, known as a "pitch" game, or more commonly from a shoe containing four or more decks. The dealer gives two cards to each player including himself. One of the dealer's two cards is face-up so all the players can see it, and the other is face down. (The face-down card is known as the "hole card". In European blackjack, the hole card is not actually dealt until the players all play their hands.) The cards are dealt face up from a shoe, or face down if it is a pitch game.

In American blackjack, if the dealer's face-up card is an ace or a ten-value, the dealer checks his hole card to see if he has blackjack. This check occurs before any of the players play, but after they have been offered insurance (if the face-up card is an ace). If the dealer has blackjack, all players lose their initial bets, except players who also have blackjack, who push. (In some American casinos, the dealer does not actually check the hole card until after the players have all played. At that time, if the dealer turns out to have blackjack, all players who did not have blackjack lose their bets, and players who increased their bets by doubling or splitting lose only the original bet, and have the additional bets returned to them; thus, the end result is precisely as if the dealer had checked the hole card before playing.)

A two-card hand of 21 (an ace plus a ten-value card) is called a "blackjack" or a "natural", and is an automatic winner (unless the dealer has blackjack as well, in which case the hand is a push). A player with a natural is usually paid 3:2 on his bet. Some casinos pay only 6:5 on blackjacks; although this reduced payout has generally been restricted to single-deck games. This reduced payout for a natural increases the house advantage over a player by as much as 1000 percent. The move was decried by longtime blackjack players.

Player decisions.
The player's options for playing his or her hand are:

Hit: Take another card.
Stand: Take no more cards.
Double down: Double the wager and take exactly one more card.
Split: Double the wager and have each card be the first card in a new hand. This option is available only when both cards have the same rank.
Surrender: Forfeit half the bet and give up the hand.

The player's turn is over after deciding to stand, doubling down to take a single card, or busting. If the player busts, he or she loses the bet even if the dealer goes on to bust.
After all the players have finished making their decisions, the dealer then reveals his or her hidden hole card and plays the hand. House rules say that the dealer must hit until he or she has at least 17, regardless of what the players have. In some casinos a dealer must also hit a soft 17 (a combination of cards adding up to either 7 or 17, such as an ace and a 6). If the dealer busts then all remaining players win. Bets are normally paid out at the odds of 1:1. Players who push (tie) with the dealer receive their original bet back.

Rules variations.
Some common rules variations include:

Only one card for split Aces: a single new card is added to each Ace and the turn ends. They are thus regarded as 11-point cards. No other denomination is subject to this process.

Multiple splits: If a player splits 2 cards and receives a third card of identical value, the hand can be split again, resulting in 3 hands. However, some casinos only allow a single split of the first 2 cards.

Early surrender: Player has the option to surrender before dealer checks for Blackjack.

Late surrender: Player has the option to surrender after dealer checks for Blackjack.

Double-down restrictions: Double-down may only be allowed on certain combinations of cards (usually totaling 9, 10 or 11).

Double-down after split: Double-down may not be allowed after splitting cards. The split hands are played normally otherwise.

Split any tens: Players may split any 2 cards which are both worth 10 points, such as a Jack and Queen. This rule is rarely used, since 20 is a very strong hand which is unlikely to be split.

Five card charlie: a player who accumulates five cards without going over 21 wins automatically, regardless of what hand the dealer ultimately makes.

European No-Hole-Card Rule: the dealer receives only one card, dealt face-up, and does not receive a second card (and thus does not check for blackjack) until players have acted. This means players lose not only their original bet, but also any additional money invested from splitting and doubling down. A game that has no-hole-card doesn't necessarily mean the player will lose additional bets as well as original bets. In some Australian casinos for example, a player beaten by a dealer blackjack may keep all split and double bets and lose only the original bet, thus the game plays the same as it would if there were a hole card.
Each blackjack variation has its own set of rules, strategies and odds. It is advised to take a look at the rules of the specific variation before playing. Many countries have legal acts and laws, which determine how a casino game of Blackjack must be played. Over 100 variations exist.

Insurance.
If the dealer's upcard is an Ace, the player is offered the option of taking Insurance before the dealer checks his 'hole card'.

The player who wishes to take Insurance can bet an amount up to half his original bet. The Insurance bet is placed separately on a special portion of the table, which usually carries the words "Insurance Pays 2:1". The player who is taking Insurance is betting that the dealer was dealt a natural, i.e. a two-card 21 (a blackjack), and this bet by the player pays off 2:1 if it wins. It is called insurance because it, in effect, can protect the original bet if the dealer has a blackjack. If you bet the full half of the original bet, you win the same amount of the player's Blackjack wager. In this case, if insurance is taken and the player doesn't have blackjack but dealer does, no money is lost. Of course the dealer can end up not having blackjack and the player can still win or lose the blackjack bet, the insurance bet is forefit.

Insurance is a bad bet for the non-counting player who has no knowledge of the hole card because it has a house edge of 2 to 15%, depending on number of decks used and visible 10-cards. Essentially, taking insurance amounts to betting that the dealer's hole card is a ten or face card. Since in an infinite deck, 4/13 of the cards are tens or face cards, an unbiased insurance wager would actually pay 9:4, or 2.25:1; since the bet only pays 2:1, the house has a strong advantage. However, if the player has been counting cards, he may know that more than a third of the deck is ten-value cards, in which case insurance becomes a good bet.

If a player has a natural (an ace and a ten or face-card) and the dealer is showing an ace, the dealer usually asks the player "Even money?" instead of offering insurance. If the player accepts the offer, he is immediately paid 1:1 for his natural, regardless of whether the dealer has blackjack. Thus, accepting "even money" has exactly the same payout as buying insurance: if the dealer does not have blackjack, the player would forfeit the insurance bet and win 3:2 on the natural, thus receiving a net payout equal to the original bet; if the dealer does have blackjack, the player would push on the natural and win 2:1 on the insurance wager, again receiving a net payout equal to the original bet. Since taking "even money" is equivalent to buying insurance, it is likewise a bad choice for the player, unless he has been counting cards and knows the deck has an unusually high proportion of ten-value cards.

In casinos where a hole card is dealt, a dealer who is showing a card with a value of Ace or 10 may slide the corner of his or her facedown card over a small mirror or electronic sensor on the tabletop in order to check whether he has a natural. This practice minimizes the risk of inadvertently revealing the hole card, which would give the sharp-eyed player a considerable advantage. ]]> Mon, 10 Mar 2008 06:08:40 -0400 http://www.blackjackcardgame.net/blackjack/