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Hands of 21 are the optimum, and players can usually stand when their hand value is a hard 17 or higher. In the UK the dealer must stand on a soft 17. If you want to learn how to play blackjack, you first need to know the values of each card. Hand value is determined by the numerical value of the cards in your hand.

When you’re gambling with a casino, one of you has an
advantage over the other. Usually it’s the casino which has an
advantage over you, but if you’re familiar with certain
techniques, you can get an advantage over the casino.

• When players get an ace and a jack or any other ten-value card, they will instantly win, and it is called Blackjack. Players will be rewarded more than the usual winning hand ( for Blackjack which is usually 3 to 2) while regular winning hands would pay even money (one to one).
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This page about advantage play in blackjack offers an
overview of which techniques blackjack players commonly use to
get an edge over the house.

Before we get to that, though, we start by talking about how
a mathematical advantage works in the first place.

Mathematical Advantage Explained

This is a fundamental part of understanding advantage play,
in fact. It requires a little bit of understanding of how
probability works.

Examples are probably the easiest way to get this point
across, so we’ll provide a couple to help illustrate this
explanation.

Example 1 – Coin Toss

Let’s suppose you’re playing a casino game based on a coin
toss. You guess whether or not you’re going to get heads or
tails. Half the time you’ll win, and half the time you’ll lose,
right?

1. Some Barcrest games don’t have any bonus rounds
2. The first impression of this slot is that it might have

But what if you have to bet $2 every time, and you only win
$1 if you’re right?

It’s easy to see how in the long run the casino is going to
come out ahead in this example, isn’t it?

That’s a clear example of how a casino gets an advantage over
a player.

But wait, you say. That’s a crazy example because no one
would ever take such a bet.

And yes, it is an extreme example, but it’s meant to be
illustrative. The casino is more likely to create a situation
where you have to bet $1.10 to win $1.00. They might call that
extra 10 cents an “ante” bet or something like that. When you
play blackjack in Oklahoma, you have to place a 50 cent extra
bet on every hand as an ante, so it happens.

Casino Playing Cards

Every casino bet works this way, though. If you place enough
bets, the math will work in the casino’s favor.

Example 2 – Roulette

Here’s a real example from a real game—roulette.

An even-money bet on black or on red seems like a 50/50
proposition until you look a little more closely at the roulette
wheel. Yeah, almost half the slots are black, and almost half of
them are read.

But two of those slots are green.

If you bet on black, the casino wins if the ball lands in a
red slot.

But it also wins if the ball lands in a green slot.

The same holds true if you bet on red. The casino wins if it
lands in black—OR if it lands in green.

There are 38 numbers on the roulette wheel. 18 of them are
red, 18 of them are black, and 2 of them are green.

If you place 38 bets in a row on black, the math says you
should win 18 of those bets and lose 20 of them. The same holds
true of 38 bets in a row on red.

Of course, in the short term, you might end such a session
winning more than you lose, but the odds are you’ll come close
to losing two of those bets.

As you place a larger number of bets, the more likely you are
to see actual results that mirror the probably results.

A casino sees hundreds of thousands of bets per month—maybe
even millions, if it has a lot of traffic. So eventually the
math results in the casino winning.

Blackjack is a more complicated game, mathematically, than
roulette, but it usually offers the house an edge of about 1%
over the player. That means you’ll lose an average of $1 for
every $100 you bet. And that’s assuming you use correct basic
strategy to make your decisions. An unskilled player might make
several bad decisions per hour, which means she’ll likely lose
2% to 4% of every bet.

But you can use certain techniques to flip that edge around
and get an advantage over the casino. Using such techniques is
called “advantage gambling”.

Casinos hate advantage gamblers.

Cheating

The first advantage gambling technique we’ll discuss is just
flat-out cheating. To be fair, most people who use the
expression “advantage gambling” or “advantage gambler” are
referring to techniques that fall outside the definition of
cheating. But it’s easy to see how you might get an edge over a
casino by cheating.

Of course, cheating is illegal in most states. In Nevada,
which is home to Las Vegas, cheating is a felony. You can find
plenty of interesting pages on the Internet about players who
have been caught cheating in Las Vegas and spent time behind
bars.

How would you cheat at blackjack?

Cheating is when you change the parameters of the game in
your favor.

Suppose you were able to change the amount you bet AFTER you
knew whether or not you’d won or lose?

This is called “past posting”. It’s all but impossible to
pull off at a blackjack table, but it’s clear to see how you
could get an advantage by doing this. You’d simply increase the
size of your bet by putting extra chips on top of your wager
after seeing that you’ve received a blackjack.

Don’t try this. You’ll get caught. Casinos will prosecute,
too.

Another cheating technique used at the blackjack table is the
marking of cards with a sharp fingernail. If you’re able to tell
what even some of the face-down cards at the table are, you can
get a mathematical edge over the casino.

This one’s less likely to get you caught, but it’s still a
bad idea—especially since there are so many legitimate ways to
get an edge over the casino in blackjack without having to
cheat.

Cheating usually involves using a machine to get an edge or
perpetrating some kind of fraud against the casino. Definitions
vary based on your jurisdiction—in some places, the state and/or
city don’t even define cheating legally. In those cases, the
definition (and enforcement) is left up to the local gambling
authorities.

Comps and Rebates

Comps and rebates are rewards offered by the casinos in order
to encourage more action from players. In order to receive these
comps and rebates, you usually need to join the players’ club or
the slots club at the property. In some cases you might be able
to get some comps from the pit boss just by playing a lot at the
tables, but most casinos prefer to track this sort of thing more
closely than they used to.

How It Works

The casino has a points system which corresponds to how much
you wager. When you’re playing their slot machines or video
poker machines, they can track exactly how much money you’ve
wagered per hour. If you’re betting $3 per spin and making 600
spins per hour, you’re putting $1800 per hour into action.

When you’re playing a table game, the casino will rate your
play. If you’re betting an average of $50 per hand on blackjack,
and you’re playing an average of 50 hands per hour, they’ll base
your comp rate on $2500 worth of action per hour.

They then offer rewards at a tiny percentage of your action.
This might be as little as 0.2% or 0.3% of how much you’ve
wagered.

In the examples above, a player would earn between $3.60 and
$5.40 per hour in comps at the slots. The example blackjack
player would earn between $5 and $7.50 per hour.

You could win a huge jackpot on a slot machine and still
receive a significant amount of comps based on how much you’ve
played’even though you walked away from the casino a winner for
the trip.

The casino banks on the long term expectation of the games.
They’re not interested in individual players who have individual
winning sessions—at least not when it comes to awarding comps.

The casino has done the math on these games, so they expect
you to lose a certain amount per hour. They also expect this
amount to be greater than the amount of comps you earn.

But if you can combine those comps with another strategy for
lowering the house edge, you can gamble at close to even or even
get a slight edge over the casino.

Also, casinos offer special promotional time periods where
they offer double points for your play. It’s a lot easier to
turn that tiny percentage into an advantage if it’s doubled.

You’re playing at a casino with a generous comps program.
They award 0.3% of your play in comps.

On Tuesdays from 2pm to 4pm, they offer double points. So now
you’re getting back 0.6%.

This particular casino also has really favorable blackjack
rules. The house edge on their game is only 0.5% as long as you
use perfect basic strategy.

When you take into account the 0.6% you’re getting back,
you’re actually playing with a 0.1% edge over the casino.

That’s called “comp hustling”. You can find detailed advice
on how that works in Max Rubin’s book, Comp City. It’s a little
dated now, but the advice still applies, and the math still
works the same.

When you combine comp hustling with other advantage
techniques, it increases your edge over the house.

Counting Cards

Counting cards is probably the best known advantage technique
in the casino—it’s certainly the best known advantage gambling
technique in blackjack.

But a surprising number of people don’t understand how it
works. They think you have to be some kind of mathematical
genius or idiot savant (a la Rain Man) in order to pull it off.

That’s because you don’t have to track exactly which cards
have been played and which ones are still in the deck. You only
have to track the approximate ratio of high cards to low cards.

How Card Counting Works

A “natural” in blackjack pays off at 3 to 2. If all the aces
were eliminated from the deck, you’d be unable to ever get a
natural, which would tilt the odds further in the casino’s
favor. The same would hold true if you were out of cards ranked
10.

The reverse holds true, too, though. If you removed all the
cards in the deck except for the aces and the 10s, you’d have a
situation where you’d be MORE likely to be dealt a natural,
tilting the odds in your favor.

In a real game, though, you’ll seldom encounter a situation
where all of these cards are gone. But you an estimate the ratio
of high cards to low cards. If there are a relatively large
number of high cards compare to low cards, your odds of getting
a natural improve. Since the house edge in blackjack is low to
begin with, betting more when you have a better chance of
getting a natural gives you an edge over the casino. You would,
of course, bet less when you don’t have a favorable deck.

The easiest way to track this ratio is by assigning a value
to the high cards and a value to the low cards and keeping a
running count. It’s common for high cards (10s and aces) to be
given a value of -1 and for low cards(2s through 6s) a value of
+1. When the count is positive, there are a relatively large
number of high cards in the deck compared to low cards. When
it’s 0 or negative, the reverse is true.

The card counter raises her bet when the count is positive
and lowers her bet when it’s negative.

This gives a counter an advantage of anywhere between 0.5%
and 2% depending on the rules for that particular game and the
size of the player’s betting spread.

Multiple methods of counting cards exist, each of which
varies the values for various cards. Each of these has its
advantages and disadvantages over the other counting systems.
They all follow the same principle, though.

The Problem With Card Counting

Casinos hate card counters.

Since you’re not using a device and you’re not changing the
conditions of the game, you’re not cheating—at least not
legally. But the casinos are so opposed to the practice that
they reserve the right to ban you for life if they think you’re
counting cards.

Of course, different casinos have different policies. Some
might just ask you to stop playing blackjack there. Others might
run you off for the day. And some might ban you for life.

David Sklansky, in his book, Sklansky Talks Blackjack,
suggests only playing at a particular casino for an hour at a
time. He also suggests hitting a particular casino during
different shifts. He also suggests not playing at a particular
casino every day. These are countermeasures to help you avoid
getting caught.

Card counting is a technique that Max Rubin suggests using in
conjunction with comp hustling to maximize the amount of value
you get from your casino vacation.

Edge Sorting

You’re not allowed to do anything to mark cards. That’s
cheating.

But it’s possible for cards to develop irregularities during
regular play.

It’s also common for cards to have irregularities in the
patterns on the back of them.

Players who are able to identify groups of cards which are
important—in blackjack, that would include 10s and aces—are able
to get a big edge over the casinos. The concept works in a
similar way to counting cards. If you’re able to recognize a
group of cards with lots of aces and 10s in it, you can raise
your bets to take advantage of the 3 to 2 payout.

Edge sorting is used to get an advantage in multiple casino
card games, including baccarat and Caribbean stud.

Hole Carding

Hole carding is an advantage play technique in which the
players get a glimpse of a card that’s supposed to be out of
sight. In blackjack, this almost always refers to the dealer’s
hole card. It should be obvious why knowing what the dealer has
in the hole offers an advantage to the player.

From a legal perspective, courts in Nevada have ruled that
hole carding is legal so long as the player is seated in the
appropriate place and isn’t using a device to help him get a
glimpse of the dealer’s hole card. Players who are able to pull
this off just look for opportunities where the dealer has gotten
sloppy.

Not all dealers offer the opportunity to get a glimpse of the
hole card. But the best spot for catching a glimpse is first
base or third base. First base is better. The reasons are simple
enough, too. Those are the spots closest to the dealer.

This sounds too good to be true, but it gets better. When
you’re counting cards, you can get an advantage of 0.5% to 1%
over the casino.

But if you can spot the dealer’s hole card, you can get an
edge of around 13% over the casino.

That’s huge.

You can also read about hole carding in Ken Uston’s Million
Dollar Blackjack.

Shuffle Tracking

For some of us, shuffle tracking is the most difficult
advantage play concept to understand. The idea is that certain
groups of cards stay more or less together when the deck is
shuffled. These groups are called zones, and if you can track
where they are in the shuffle, you can get an edge.

Shuffle tracking is often used by card counting teams in
conjunction with card counting techniques. Since players often
get to use a cut card to cut the deck, they can use this to
their advantage by making sure the deck starts off with a clump
of cards rich in aces and tens.

Summary

Various methods of getting an edge over the casino in
blackjack exist. The blanket term “advantage play in blackjack”
refers to all of them: counting cards, shuffle tracking, hole
carding, and edge sorting. Cheating, as a general rule, can get
you an edge over the casino, but most people who discuss
advantage gambling are talking about activities which aren’t
considered cheating.

Counting cards is probably the best known and perhaps the
easiest technique to use. But casinos watch for card counters
like hawks. Also, techniques like hole carding can get a greater
edge for the player.

History – How To Play – Rules – Odds – Strategy – Pro’s Perspective

Whether online or land-based Blackjack is one of the most popular card games at casinos, whether online or land-based. The game is sometimes referred to as 21, as players will try to get a hand total that is equal to 21. The game is not a competitive game in that players do not compete against each other. It is only played between the player and the dealer at the blackjack table. When the showdown occurs, players will not compare their blackjack hands together, but will instead compare their hands with the hand of the dealer.

There are many versions of the game, but they all have the same concept and target, which is reaching a hand total of twenty-one. The game begins with each player being dealt 2 cards. Players will then go through a series of decisions that depend on the hand total and the cards forming the hand. These decisions include “Hitting”, “Standing”, “Splitting” and “Doubling Down.”

When players get an ace and a jack or any other ten-value card, they will instantly win, and it is called Blackjack. Players will be rewarded more than the usual winning hand ( for Blackjack which is usually 3 to 2) while regular winning hands would pay even money (one to one). There is also a selection of side bets that players can place, depending on the blackjack version. The typical side bet in most blackjack games is an Insurance bet.

Blackjack History

The origin of Blackjack, like many other casino games, is still debatable. Nonetheless, most people agree the game of Blackjack originated in France in its land-based casinos in the 1700s. The game was called Vingt-et-Un. Vingt-et-Un is a French word that translates to twenty-one (21) in English, which is how players still use to refer to blackjack to this day. Some researchers believe that the game was derived from other card games that were popular in France at the time. These French games were French Ferme & Chemin de Fer, which had many similar rules and procedures.

Though Blackjack is thought to originate in France, the game was first referenced in a novel written in the 1600s by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes. In the book, he describes two characters playing a card game that was named Veintiuno (Vingt-et-Un), and the rules of the game were pretty similar if not the exact rules of Blackjack.

Players dealt with cards, and the purpose was to get a hand total that is as close to twenty-one as possible without busting. In this game, the Aces counted as either 1 point or 11, just the like modern-day version of Blackjack. The book was written in the early 17th century, which adds credibility to the theory that the game actually originated in Spain.

Later on, the game of Blackjack traveled throughout Europe, however, leaving the most prominent tracks in Spain and France. Eventually, the game was introduced to the US.

Among the different versions of Blackjack, Vingt-et-Un (21) was the one that spread the most. It started to appear gradually in North America among the French colonists. However, the rules of Vingt-et-Un at that time differed slightly from modern-day Blackjack. For example, the dealer was the only person permitted to double down, and there were wagering rounds between each dealt card.

The game became very popular in Nevada as it was the first state to legalize gambling in 1931.

At that time, the game was still named 21. For the casinos to attract players and encourage them to play the game, they offered the chance to place a special bet. This bet would pay players 10: 1 if they got a blackjack with a Jack of Clubs or Spades, along with an Ace of Spades. This is where the name Blackjack originated.

How to Play Blackjack

Like any casino card game, players will start by placing a bet. This is the final bet and players will not be able to reduce it or add to it (unless the game allows for doubling down) during gameplay. Once players place their respective bets, they will get two cards facing up while the dealer will give himself two cards though one is facing down, and the other is facing up. In some versions, the two cards of the dealer will also be facing up, for example in Blackjack Double Xposure.

Some games allow players to place bets on more than one blackjack hand; they are called multi-hand blackjack games. In these games, players will place a separate bet for each hand, and each hand is played separately. Although it is very rewarding, and it enables players to recover from the loss of one of the hands by winning the rest, it can also be devastating if the dealer gets a good hand or a blackjack.

Players will calculate their hand total, and make a decision to: either “Hit” or “Stand.” If they “Hit”, it means that they are not satisfied with their hand total and that they want more cards. They can keep hitting until they “Stand” which means that they are happy with the hand total or until they “Bust.” Busting means going over 21; if players bust, the hand is an immediate loss.

Once players stand, the dealer will show his hole card, which is the card that was facing down. He will then start “Hitting” which means to draw more cards until he reaches or passes 17. Some games obligate the dealer to stand on all 17s, and some require the dealer to stop at only Hard 17s. After the dealer stands, a comparison between the hand of the dealer and the hand of the player will take place. The hand that is closest to 21 is the winning hand. If the two hands have the same value, it’s a tie, which really depends on the rules of each version. When there is a tie, it is called a “Push”; some versions would consider it a tie and give players back their bets while other games consider a Push to be in the favor of the dealer.

There are other decisions that players will need to make during the gameplay. For example, players can “Split” If they get identical cards to form two hands. The two hands will have the same value of the original bet. Some versions would enable players to split more than once to form 4 different Blackjack hands. Also, some versions would allow players to split, unlike ten-value cards like a Ten and a Jack, or a Jack and a Queen. Players can split aces in some versions, but they will only be able to hit once and if they get a ten-value card, they will be paid even money as it is considered an average win and not a Blackjack.

Blackjack Rules

The rules of blackjack depend on which version is being played. Players are advised to check the rules of the specific blackjack version they are playing before engaging in the game. Although there are common rules like 21, busting, the dealing procedure and the card value, there are other rules that differ.

Card Values:

The card values are equal to the face value of each card, while Jacks, Queen, and Kings have a value of ten. Aces can be counted as either 11 or 1, depending on the blackjack hand. If it forms a total while being counted as 11, it is called soft, and if it creates a total while being counted as 1, it is called hard. For example, a hand that consists of an Ace and a five is a soft sixteen and a hard six.

Splitting Rules:

Splitting is allowed in every blackjack game, but some games will not allow splitting Aces and some games will only allow players to split 1 time. Players who split aces will only be allowed to hit once and get one more card. Players can split unlike ten-value cards depending on the rules of each game; some allow it while some require players to get identical ten-value cards so they can split. Splitting means that players will place a new wager which on the new hand, which is equal to the original wager was placed on the Blackjack hand; with four hands players can quadruple their original wager.

Double Down Rules:

Players will be permitted to double down after they get their first two cards. Some games enable players to double down at any value and others only allow them to double down if they get a hand total that is equal to 9, 10 or 11. Players will only be able to get one more card after they double, they will have to take that card, because it is not optional.

Surrender Rules:

Some games will give players the chance to surrender their blackjack hands; it is the equivalent of folding in poker. Players can make that decision after they are dealt the initial two cards. If they surrender, they will forfeit the hand, and they will lose half of their bet. Sometimes it is better to lose half than to lose the entire bet.

Insurance Rules:

Insurance is a side bet that players can place if the dealer’s card that is facing up is an Ace or a ten-value card. Players will win that bet if the hand has a blackjack. The dealer will peek and see his card once players place that wager and pay it out if it is a blackjack.

If players do not place insurance, and the dealer gets a blackjack, all the wagers, except insurance will bust. If the player has a blackjack as well, it is considered a push. Some variations will give players their bets back, while others consider a push to be in the favor of the house.

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Blackjack Odds

For you to fully understand the game, it is essential to comprehend and master the odds of the game and learn about the advantage of the house. It is critical to know how the house gets its edge.

The house has a distinct advantage over the players because players have to draw in blackjack first. If the player busts, the dealer will automatically win regardless of their hand. This is the main advantage the house has, and if everything else is equal, the house edge in a standard game of blackjack would be equal to 8 percent. The player and the dealer have a 28 percent probability of going over 21. Twenty-eight multiplied by twenty-eight means that 8 percent of the time the two hands will go over 21, and since the player will draw first, the dealer will win if and when they both bust.

Odds of Busting Based on Dealer’s First Card Drawn

Of course, the odds are not equal among all variations. Some offer players great advantages and, to balance these benefits; the casino increases its advantage or edge. Because of this, it is essential for players to know everything about the game before playing.

For example, the number of decks in play has a tremendous effect. Some games draw cards from a single deck, which can affect the odds significantly while other games draw the cards from six different decks of cards. If a game uses one deck of cards, the house will change other rules to increase its odds and reduce the odds for players. This is because when a player gets an Ace, it means there are 3 Aces left which decreases the chances for the dealer in getting one of these aces. On the other hand, if the game uses 6 decks, it means that there are 23 Aces remaining in the deck.

The odds on a player’s hand will change every step of the way. For example, if players get two cards, and they hit, the hand total will increase, and the chance of busting will increase, and so forth.

Odds of Busting based on Player’s First Card Drawn

Since Blackjack is one of the games with a reputation of counting cards, a lot of researchers and gamblers have studied the game and the odds so they can increase their chances of winning. You might have seen that in the movie “21” where MIT students developed a way to beat the house. For them to do that, they had to make up a counting system that would increase their advantage. This is why there are published studies that show the percentage of busting and getting a blackjack depending on the first 2 cards, the hand total of the player, and the facing up card of the dealer. You can find more about these strategies and percentages in the Strategy section.

Blackjack Strategy

Before discussing strategy, let us firstly go through some numbers that can be quite helpful. For starters, we will discuss the bust probabilities for each hand total. This will enable players to optimize their game to the fullest by knowing the percentage of busting if they ask for one more card.

– If players get a hand total of 11 or below, the percentage is equal to zero.
– If players get a hand total of 12 or below, the percentage is equal to 31.
– If players get a hand total of 13 or below, the percentage is equal to 39.
– If players get a hand total of 14 or below, the percentage is equal to 56.
– If players get a hand total of 15 or below, the percentage is equal to 58.
– If players get a hand total of 16 or below, the percentage is equal to 62.
– If players get a hand total of 17 or below, the percentage is equal to 69.
– If players get a hand total of 18 or below, the percentage is equal to 77.
– If players get a hand total of 19 or below, the percentage is equal to 85.
– If players get a hand total of 20 or below, the percentage is equal to 92.

From these numbers, players can figure out when they should stand and when they should hit. Players who get a hand total of between 2 and sixteen should generally hit and get another card. If they get a hand total that is more than 17, they should typically stand.

Of course, players will have to take the showing card of the dealer into consideration. The next set of numbers shows the dealer’s chance of busting according to the facing up card.

– Ace (11.65%)
– 10/Face Card (21.43%)
– 9 (23.34%)
– 8 (23.6%)
– 7 (25.9%)
– 6 (42.08%)
– 5 (42.89%)
– 4 (40.28%)
– 3 (37.56%)
– 2 (35.30%)

Taking these numbers into consideration, as well as the previous ones, will help players decide whether they should hit or stand.

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Besides hitting and standing, players should also know when to split and when not to split:

– When players get Aces or 8 cards, they should always split. There is a big chance to get a hand total that is closer to twenty-one when you hit on these two cards.
– Players should never split 10, 4, or 5 cards, regardless of the upcard of the dealer. Splitting in these scenarios will put you in danger of busting.
– Players should split 7, 3, and 2 cards if the dealer is showing a card between a 2 and a 7. If the value of his card is 8 or over, you should hit instead of splitting.
– Players should split 6 cards if the dealer is showing a card that has a value between 2 and 6. If the value of his card is equal to 7 or over, you should hit instead of splitting.

Pro’s Perspective: Blackjack Strategies and Tips

With John Grochowski

Not all blackjack games are created equal. Beyond the basics, there is a mix-and-match set of rules, and each casino chooses the conditions for its own game variations. Some rules are favorable to players while others give the casino an extra edge.
Let’s look at some of the more common options.

Number of Card Decks

Fewer decks are better for players. That’s because more blackjacks are dealt with fewer decks. That’s true for both players and dealers, but players are paid a premium on blackjacks and dealers aren’t.

In a single-deck game, if your first card is an Ace, 16 of the other 51 cards, or 31.4 percent, are 10-value cards that complete a blackjack. In a six-deck game, a first-card Ace leaves 64 of the other 311 cards, or 30.9 percent, as 10 values. There is a similar effect when the first card is a 10-value. Regardless of whether an Ace or a 10 comes first, there is a greater chance of blackjack with fewer decks.

However, not all single-deck games are better than all multi-deck games. You need to consider other rules in effect, including those listed below.

Jack Casino Player Card

Blackjack Rules

The basic blackjack rule is that the dealer hits on 16 or less and stands on 17 or more. However, many casinos have the dealer hit soft 17, where an Ace is being counted as 11. Soft 17s such as Ace-6, Ace-2-4, Ace-3-3, and others can’t be busted with a one-card hit because the Ace can be counted as 1 instead.

It’s better for players if the dealer stands on all 17s. Hitting soft 17 gives the dealer a chance to improve to hands that could beat player 17s, 18s, 19s or 20s, and even push player 21s.

For most of blackjack’s history, two-card 21s have paid 3-2 so that a $10 bet brings $15 in winnings. Some casinos nowadays only pay on 6-5 on blackjacks, so a $10 bet only wins $12. This is one of the most important rules in blackjack. If blackjacks only pays 6-5, it adds 1.4 percent to the house edge – an amount greater than the entire house edge in many games that pay 6-5.

Variations of Double Down

As a player, you want to see games where the player may double down on any first two cards, including after the player has split pairs. If you split a pair of 8s and receive a 3 on one for a two-card total of 11, you want the option of doubling down. It increases the house edge if the casino does not allow doubling down after splits. Similarly, some casinos do not allow doubling down on soft hands and some restrict doubling to two-card totals of hard 10 or 11.

Fewer restrictions are better for smart players who know how to use them. Have your web browser search for basic strategy charts. They’ll tell you the proper times to double down along with the best plays for each possible hand.