Blackjack is one of the most popular games amongst gamblers worldwide.
Skill and strategy is very important in Blackjack, as the house edge, which is 1-2% can be significantly reduced, and even turned around in extreme circumstances. The reason why skilled players will secure such an edge in casino Blackjack is because they can take advantage of those players who have no idea that a basic Blackjack strategy even exists. Most gamblers who play at the Blackjack tables are indeed of the latter variety.
Learning the basic strategy is not difficult, but you do have to study a few charts by heart. These charts will inform you of what moves need to be made, based on the up-card of the dealer, and the card you have. It is all quite straight forward, but if you apply what you learn, you will cut the house edge to about 0.5%In order to reduce the house edge even further, and eventually turn it in your favour, you need to mix card counting elements into you basic strategy.
This is called Advanced Basic Strategy or Basic Strategy Plus. These advanced systems are about keeping track of the number of high cards left in the deck one way or another. The basic principle behind these systems, is that the more high cards there are in the deck, the bigger the advantage you will have over the dealer.
This combined with basic strategy can actually turn the house edge into the players’ favour.Here is a simple way to keep track of what cards are in the deck and what cards are not. Begin by assigning different values to the cards. Let’s say cards from 2-7 are +1, 8’s and 9’s are 0 and 10’s and Aces are -1. Keeping these numbers in mind, you can keep a sum in mind. Every time a small card leaves the deck, you add one to the sum, every time you have an 8 or 9 leaving the deck, you don’t do anything, and every time you see a 10-A leaving, you subtract one.
This way, the bigger your sum is in the positive range, the bigger your theoretical advantage will be over the dealer.What this means is that staying within the bounds of basic strategy, you should be much more aggressive with your betting especially when you know you have the upper hand.
More Blackjack Stuff
How to Play European Blackjack
Did You Know?
Blackjack is a French creation. It originates from the card game named Vingt-et-un, which means 21. Napoleon Bonaparte himself was an avid player and the game turned to be his favorite past time activity during his exile.
