Blackjack is one of the world’s most played card games. Also known as 21, Blackjack is a comparing card game, where the player and dealer compete for the best score, using one or more 52 card decks. It is played in all casino’s, live and online, and strategies for minimizing the house edge, or even winning, exist.
The rules of blackjack are simple: the goal of the game is to get as close to 21 by drawing cards, without busting. Blackjack cards are ranked at face value, with the face cards having the value of 10. Aces are worth 1 or 11 points. The best hand to be dealt is Black Jack, a 10 and an Ace, which in most casino’s pays 3:2. Apart from drawing, the other possible decisions are to Stand (Stop) , Double Down (double your wager), Split (when a pair is dealt) or Surrender (if allowed).
The dealer in Blackjack follows set rules, usually being that the dealer stays on counts of 17 and higher. Make sure you know the house rules when playing in a (online) casino.
Blackjack Strategy & Card Counting
With the help of computers gamblers have come up with an optimal strategy for blackjack. By playing with this strategy you can minimize the house edge to almost zero. To the left you’ll find a chart outlining the optimal blackjack strategy, giving you a move (Hit, Stand,Double or Split) for every situation you’ll encounter playing blackjack. If you really want to win at blackjack there are other strategies available, like card counting.
Card Counting in Blackjack
Card counting is one of the known strategies to beat the game of black jack. A simple version of this involves assigning a value, -1, 0 or 1, to the cards that are being shown, remembering the count and adding up as you go. This is called the Hi-Lo system:
For each dealt ten, Jack, Queen, King or Ace, subtract one
For each dealt 2 to 6, add one
For values 7-9, assign zero.
Having a high count (e.g. +10) means that the cards until this moment have been low (2 to 6) and that proportionately more high cards are left. The reason why high cards are favorable is the 3:2 blackjack payout, which for the dealer is 1:1.
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