Blackjack Basic Strategy

Let’s make blackjack basic strategy simple. There are really just six rules, and between them they cover almost every hand you’ll be dealt.

So, what is basic strategy? It’s simply the best move for every possible hand, worked out by computer over millions of deals. It won’t win you every hand, nothing does, but it brings the casino’s edge right down to around half a percent.

Every decision comes down to just two things. Here, our total is fifteen. And the dealer’s face-up card is a nine. That’s all you need to look at.

Start by sorting the dealer’s card into one of two groups. A two up to a six is a weak card, because the dealer is more likely to go bust. A seven up to an Ace is a strong card, so the dealer is more likely to finish with a good hand.

Rule one is the easy one. If you’ve got a hard seventeen or more, you always stand. Here we’ve got a king and a seven, so we stand. The dealer draws, and goes bust. And by hard, we just mean there’s no Ace being counted as eleven.

Rule two covers the awkward hands, thirteen to sixteen. Here we’ve got fourteen, and the dealer’s showing a five. That’s a weak card, so we stand, and let the dealer take the risk. And they go bust. Now, against a strong card, you hit. Here it’s thirteen against a king. We hit, and get a two. Fifteen’s still too low, so we hit again, and make twenty. We stand, and the dealer finishes on seventeen. Twelve works in almost the same way, except you only stand against a four, five or six.

Rule three. With eleven or less you can’t go bust, so you never stand. Here we’ve got eleven against a two, so we double down. That doubles our bet, and we get one more card, a ten, for twenty-one. The dealer busts, and we win double. With ten, double against a two through to a nine. With nine, double against a three to a six. And with eight or less, you just hit.

Rule four is all about pairs. Always split Aces. Here we’ve got two Aces against a ten, so we split them into two hands. Each Ace gets a six, and this time the dealer makes nineteen, so we lose. That happens, but splitting Aces still wins more in the long run. Always split eights too. But never split tens. With two kings against a three, we just stand on twenty. And we beat the dealer’s eighteen. Never split fives either, because a pair of fives is much better played as a total of ten.

Rule five is for soft hands, that’s any hand where an Ace counts as eleven. Here we’ve got an Ace and a nine, a soft twenty, against a seven. With a soft nineteen or more, just stand. And the dealer busts. With a soft eighteen, double against a three to a six, stand against a two, seven or eight, and hit against a nine, ten or Ace. And with a soft seventeen or less, you’ll usually hit, apart from doubling against some of the dealer’s weakest cards.

And rule six: never take insurance. When the dealer shows an Ace, you’ll be offered it, like here. It’s really a side bet that the dealer has blackjack, and on average it costs you more than seven percent. So we decline, and play on.

You don’t need to memorise all of this. Keep a chart open while you play, or use our free strategy calculator, which shows you the best move for any hand. And it’s worth knowing that blackjack usually counts very little towards bonus wagering.

Set yourself a budget before you play, and enjoy the game. You’ll find more guides at UKCasinoTips.com.