What do you want to learn from our guide about blackjack strategies?
Our hope is that using this guide will be a little wiser when it comes to different strategies in the card game blackjack.. We want and hope that our tips will help you actually use the strategies when sitting at the table!
We will simply give you a couple of useful game tips and go through a couple of the most common strategies. But we will also guide you in which blackjack strategy can fit you best.
Afterwards, we hope you will be able to sit down at the gaming table with more confidence than you have today. It sounds like a good deal?
4 important tips before you begin
- Read about blackjack. Learn about the rules of the game, how odds and bets work. We have written our own guide about blackjack that we recommend that you read first.
- Choose Blackjack variants that suit you.. Compare different variants of blackjack to find one that appeals to you. We've written a Guide about different blackjack variants.
- Create a gaming budget.. This way you get an idea of how much you are prepared for / can afford to lose.
- Think about how much time you can spend on games. Playing casino games should be fun, but the time you spend should not affect the rest of your life in a negative way. Therefore, think about how much time you are willing to spend, and read about responsible game.
Basic Blackjack-strategi
The strategy called "Basic" is a flexible blackjack strategy that means you have tables that simply show how to play your hand, what choices you should make. This is thanks to mathematically correct decisions when it comes to surenders, doubling, pairing, drawing cards or standing and insurance.
Blackjack is a game where different decisions have been made under a hand that affects the outcome. Unlike several other casino games, it is not just luck that decides here. Skills play a significant role in blackjack.
If you use this strategy, the theoretical repayment is as much as 99.66%, with modification. In theory, this means that for every hundred invested in the game, you get back NOK 99.66 in the long run.
Still, it doesn't really work that way in practice, unfortunately.
The truth is that few come close to that profit potential because there are many factors that determine the advantage of the house / the theoretical repayment.
It depends, among other things, on choices, side games and the rules that apply to your particular table.
But to get as close to this theoretical repayment as possible, with the basic blackjack strategy, you should make sure you sit down at a table that has the following rules:
- Hard 17 (means the dealer must stand on Soft 17)
- Surender is available as an option (preferably lazy buzzer)
- It is allowed to use doubling on all hands
- Doubling or splitting is allowed
Hit or Stand?
"Hit" or "Stand" becomes in American "Pull card" or "stand".
When you get the first two cards, you can choose between "drawing cards or standing", as well as the ability to double and / or split.
If you are happy with the cards on your hand, you can choose to stand. Then you don't get any cards and the game continues to the next field on the table.
The advantage of hit or stand is that there are two quite simple choices, but the disadvantage is that it is rarely as simple as it sounds. Does it sound complicated? Don't worry, it's not easy if this with blackjack is a whole new world for you.
All in all, so are the choices or are the choices you want to make the most times during the game. The last thing you have to ask yourself is whether to draw an extra card, or stand. And you should do this after you have made a decision about surender, split or doubling.
Fortunately, there are tables that can help you with these decisions! Below is a table according to the basic blackjack strategy that shows when to stand (S) and when to draw card (H).
Double Down (doble)
This strategy means you can double your bet, but at the expense of just being able to pull one card to your starting hand.
The strategy is advantageous to use when you start with really good cards, but also when the dealer has a bad hand and risks exceeding 21.
Split pairs eller Pair Splitting
Something you can do in blackjack is to split couples or so -called "pair splitting" in English. And you have to choose this before asking for a new card or choosing to double.
For example, if you sit on two fours that together make up a hand of eight, you can split your hand into two hands - with a value of four each. When you split this way, you need to add an extra effort to the same value as your original bet, so that both hands get their own.
When are you going to split a couple? You should do this when it is mathematically correct, which depends on the number of decks used, what the rules of your special table say, what pair you have and what short dealer shows!
This feature - that the player splits a couple - is usually a disadvantage for the casino, which is good! But as a brand new to this with blackjack, we recommend you not use the strategy to begin with, as it can instead be an advantage for the house, and you do not want it to be.
So our advice is to wait for this strategy until you fully understand the strategy - and blackjack - fully!
Soft and hard hands
In Blackjack there is also something called soft and hard hands, which feels right to explain in connection with the fact that we go through different strategies.
A deck is made up of 52 cards, of which the ace is worth 1 or 11 and the image cards are 10. Other cards represent the value specified on the card.
A hard hand is the combination of cards that does not contain an ace or when the ace can only be counted as 1 and not 11.
In a soft hand there is an ace, and here it is possible to choose a value: 1 or 11. Let's say you have an 8 and an ace, then the value can be 9 or 19.
When to "Surrender"?
Last but not least, we have what is called "surender" - which means giving up in American.
Giving up sounds sad, but the fact is that this can sometimes be the best decision you can make. Unfortunately, it is common for many to choose not to use buzz, precisely because most people will rarely give up. The goal is to win, so why should you give up?
By using Surender it is possible to get half the bet back, but the question is, why do you want it?
Surenders should be used when you get such bad cards that the chance of winning is low. Let's say you have bad cards and the dealer instead has very good cards. Then it may be worthwhile to choose surgery, which can help you in the long run. By getting half the bet back, you just lose part of your bet, not the whole.
Be aware of this: Surenders are not always available, it simply depends on the rules that apply to your particular table.
But if it exists, then this is the first thing you should ask yourself: Whether you are giving up or continuing.
But as with just about everything else, we can make it more complicated than this! Depending on the rules of your table, it may be lazy buzzer or Early Surender. The former is quite unusual, while Early Surender is much more common.
In conclusion, we can state that the Surender method is not the strategy that reduces the house's advantage most, but it will be beneficial to you. If your winning chances are less than 25%, you should choose Surender. Then you get half the bet back, instead of possibly losing the whole.
Advanced Blackjack Strategy
Once you have learned the basics of blackjack and mastered the simpler strategies, if you want, you can handle the slightly more complicated strategies. But for that you have to understand the basic strategies we have gone through so far.
What then is an advanced blackjack strategy? Counting cards is an example! Now let's tell you more about it.
What does card counting in blackjack mean, and does it really work?
You have probably heard of this with card counting in blackjack as it is often presented on film. 21 is an example of a movie where they win over the house by counting cards.
But the question is, how do you do it - and do it really work?
Yes, it works and it is legal even though most casinos do not appreciate it.
Let's take a closer look at how to actually do it.
How to count cards?
Counting the cards in Blackjack means that you have to keep track of which cards have already been used because you can also calculate which cards are left and how much the chance is to get a good hand.
But it is not very easy to remember all the decks, which is why many people try to keep track of the most important card instead.
To take just one example: Let's say the dealer has 8 decks and you will keep an eye on the ladies. There are then a total of 24 ladies, and if 20 of them are taken away, you now know that there are 4 ladies left in the decks.
If you use the same tactics, you can only keep track of the knots or aces - which are the cards that together can form blackjack, or 21.
If you want to immerse yourself in this with card counting, there are a whole host of guides online.
There is a bit more to say whether card counting is legal. As I said, it is legal, but the strategy is not something the casinos appreciate, and many times the player is banned if he/she is taken in counting cards.
To make it more difficult for players, many casinos have chosen to add more decks, making it more challenging to keep track of the cards, even if it does not prevent people from counting anyway.
Casinos also often train their dealers to recognize card counters, and if they find one, they usually have to leave the casino, sometimes for good.
Which blackjack strategy should you choose?
When it comes to choosing a strategy, it can of course be difficult to know which one to choose or start with.
In addition, there are today, especially online, several different variants of blackjack - which can make it all even more difficult. Feel free to read our guide about different Blackjack variants.
Below you can see what it looks like at LeoVegas. Here you will find 44 different blackjack tables:
The best blackjack strategies for beginners
If you are new to this with blackjack, you should avoid the more advanced strategies, including card counting.
Our recommendation is to start with the basic blackjack strategy, along with drawing cards or standing, doubling, surging and perhaps splitting couples.
Blackjack strategies for the pros
If you master the basics of blackjack, you can embark on the slightly more advanced strategies. Some examples of these are:
- Card count. This strategy, which we have discussed, is to count / keep track of which cards are played and which are left in the deck. But since most casinos do not appreciate card counters, we do not recommend this strategy, at least not with physical casinos.
- The Martingale system. A strategy that involves getting back what you lost with a single gain - this by doubling every effort you lose. However, this strategy requires a very large budget, so it is not for those players who cannot afford to lose much.
- Oscars Grind system. This strategy starts by making as little effort as possible, and then the goal is to make money on this effort. Each time you win on an effort, after you lose one, the next bet should be greater. In other words, you continue to increase your effort until you are left with a gain.
The biggest blackjack winners of all time
- Don Johnson. Won $ 15 million in 2010 and 2011 at Casinos in Atlantic City, USA. Thanks to he played for such large sums, he managed to negotiate favorable terms at the casinos, which guaranteed contributed to his winnings: 20% on losses, up to $ 100,000 in bets per hand, split and doubled up to 4 times and claims that the dealer must stand on soft 17.
- Kerry Packer. In the late 90s, he won up to $ 40 million at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
- Mits Blackjack team. During the 70s and 80s, there was a group of students at MIT, one of the world's most respected universities, who, with the help of his professor, developed blackjack strategies that turned upside down and down the entire gaming industry. With disguise and smart methods, the group managed to record hundreds of millions where the exact amount is still uncertain. The story has been portrayed in both books and movies.
Beginner error that can be avoided
We have now gone through a variety of blackjack strategies that you can use or read more about, if you want to immerse yourself.
Finally, we will now go through a couple of mistakes that many beginners make at the Blackjack table, but which are actually easy to avoid:
1. That one does not read the rules of the game properly
We mentioned earlier in the guide that the rules of the game can vary, from table to table. Therefore, before you begin, make sure you know which blackjack rules apply! Things you should check out are for example:
- Does the dealer stand on soft 17?
- Can you choose Surender?
- Is it possible to double after splitting couples?
- With more!
2. Wait with difficult strategies
Someone who is going to try blackjack for the first time has read on and thinks that this with card counting seems exciting and smart. Of course it is, but trying to use advanced strategies that the first thing you do is unfortunately dumb.
Learn the basics of blackjack, read on, try for free and master the simpler strategies first - then you can try more complicated strategies!
3. Not to dare to use Surender
We have also talked about this, but choosing "Surrender" (if the opportunity exists) is not bad, on the contrary, it can be of use to you. Instead of losing the entire bet, you can lose only half! Don't think win, win, win - read the game instead and make choices that benefit you in the long run.
4. To believe that it is about luck
Compared to many other casino games where luck / chance determines the outcome, blackjack is a game where skills and knowledge weigh extremely heavy. Here all your choices play a mathematical role, and when you understand it, you will also play in a more tactical way because you realize that the possible gain will depend on you and not on the luck.
5. To play when you are tired or drunk
Unfortunately, playing Blackjack when you're tired or maybe drinking a few glasses is a regular beginner error. When playing blackjack, you need to be ready in your head so your brain can make the right decision!
We now hope that after reading this guide, you will feel wiser when it comes to blackjack strategies and how to use them. We wish you the best of luck at the Blackjack table! May the most talented players win!