Posts Tagged ‘blackjack strategy’

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Blackjack odds: Will dealer bust with a 5 or 6 up card?

Monday, August 30th, 2010

Anyone schooled on blackjack basic strategy breathes a sigh of relief when they see the dealer draw a five or six as an up card. They know those are the worst dealer hands and they feel they have a good chance of winning. Players who don’t understand the blackjack odds, though, might assume that the dealer will bust and they will win. The truth is, that will happen less than half of the time.

The correct strategy against a dealer five or six up card is to stand if you have a 12 or higher, but that doesn’t guarantee success. Players look at the dealer up card and assume that they have a 15 or 16, given the fact that there are more ten cards in a deck than any other. However, there are only 4/13 odds of the dealer having a ten in the hole.

If the dealer has a 5 as an up card, there is a 4/13 chance that he has a hand of 15 because four cards (ten, jack, queen, king) give him that total. The dealer has a 7/13 chance of having any kind of stiff hand, which is a hand of 12-16. All stiff hands have good chances of busting, but your odds might not be as good as you think.

If the dealer has a five as an up card, he has a 41.8% chance of busting. He has a 12.2% chance of finishing with a hand total of 17, an identical chance of drawing an 18, an 11.8% chance of drawing a hand of 19, an 11.2% chance of finishing with a hand of 20 and a 10.8% chance of finishing with a hand of 21.

If the dealer has a six as an up card, he has a 42.3% chance of busting. He has a 16.6% chance of drawing a 17, a 10.6% chance of drawing an 18 or 19, a 10.2% chance of drawing a 20 and a 9.7% chance of drawing a 21.

What that means is if you have a hand of 12 and stand against a dealer 5 up card, you only have a 41.8% chance of winning the hand, because if the dealer finishes with any of those other totals, you lose. However, standing in that situation is still the best strategy because the risk of you busting if you take a hit.

Understanding the odds leads to making better decisions and getting more enjoyment out of the game of blackjack. Too many players get upset when they lose against a dealer five or six because they take a win for granted in that situation. Though your odds are good, they aren’t as good as most people think.

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Blackjack: Early surrender v. late surrender

Friday, August 6th, 2010

Though the move should be done sparingly, in certain situations surrendering is a wise decision in the game of blackjack. Forfeiting half of your bet automatically is usually not the best option, but in certain circumstances, basic blackjack strategy says to cut your losses. It is important to keep separate the two types of surrender, though: early surrender and late surrender.

First of all, whether you’re playing at an online casino or at a brick and mortar casino, you need to know that not all blackjack tables offer surrender as an option. It is usually available because the house counts on players using the surrender option when they shouldn’t, which amounts to throwing money away. Sometimes you cannot surrender, though. When you can, the blackjack table is only going to offer one of the two types of surrender. Therefore, it’s important to know which type is allowed.

Some people think that with a late surrender, you can surrender late in the hand, like right before you get to that card that would bust you or right before the dealer draws his last card. That’s not the case. It’s really quite simple. If the blackjack table has an early surrender, you choose whether or not to surrender before the dealer checks his hole card. With a late surrender, you decide after he checks. Let’s put it into a scenario.

The dealer gives you your cards and then deals himself a hole card and a ten card. If early surrender is allowed, you would then be asked if you want to surrender. If you do, it doesn’t matter what he has as a hole card. Even if it turns out he has a natural blackjack, you still only lose half of your bet. If the blackjack table has a late surrender, though, the dealer will check his hole card to see if he has a blackjack first. If he does, you lose. If he does not have a natural blackjack, he will then ask if you want to surrender.

For that reason, an early surrender is more beneficial to players. An early surrender allows players to save themselves from a natural blackjack whereas with a late surrender, the dealer checks for one first. For that reason, proper usage (according to basic strategy) of a late surrender only trims 0.08% off of the house edge. However, proper usage of early surrender reduces the house edge by 0.6%.

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Blackjack Strategy: Never Split a Pair of Tens

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Blackjack basic strategy is important if you want to lower the house edge for the game to an acceptable level. If you’re reading this blackjack blog, you probably already know that. Sometimes people deviate from basic strategy, though. This is done because they forget the real strategy and because they use flawed logic to come up with what they think is the answer. On occasion, they also do so because they think that basic strategy is wrong.

One common mistake that makes me cringe is when people split a pair of tens. You should never split a pair of tens, but people do. When they do, it is based on what would otherwise be good strategy. Tens are good cards to start a hand with. In fact, next to an ace, it’s the best card to draw with your first card. The thinking then is if you have a pair of tens, you can split it and you will have two hands starting with a ten, which is twice as good.

People who succumb to that type of thinking forget to do one simple thing: add their cards. A pair of tens equals a hand of 20, which can only be beaten by a hand of 21. Needless to say, a hand of 20 is a great hand to have and you don’t want to give it up. But what are the odds if you do?

Starting a hand with a 10, you have a 1/13 chance of improving your hand, since only an ace would give you a 21. You have a 4/13 chance of ending up with another hand of 20 (by drawing a 10, J, Q or K), which is what you had before splitting the pair. That leaves a 9/13 chance that you will end up with a hand worse than 20.

That is for one hand. By splitting a pair of tens, you’re starting two hands with a ten, which means both hands have a 69% chance of ending up worse than where you started. With that in mind, it is clearly a better idea to stand, take your hand of 20 and hope to beat the dealer. After all, only a dealer 21 can beat you and a dealer 20 will only tie you. You win against any other dealer hand.

As always, basic blackjack strategy works in online casinos as well as the brick and mortar variety.

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Blackjack Strategy: Dealer Ace

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

This is the last part in my 10-part series on covering blackjack basic strategy by what up card the dealer shows. Are you sad? Excited? Is it like how depressed I was when it hit me that LOST was coming to an end? Actually, forget I mentioned that. It’s a sore subject.

As always, this strategy works just as well in an online casino as in the brick and mortar variety. Here I am discussing the strategy for when the dealer shows an ace as the up card.
The first thing you need to know is that when the dealer shows an ace, that’s bad news. You’re probably going to lose. The dealer might have a natural blackjack, in which case you’ll lose before even drawing more cards. Even if he doesn’t he will have a soft hand that is likely high in value. When the dealer has an ace as an up card, your odds of winning are slim. With that out of the way, here’s the strategy.

You should always hit with an 8 or less, because you have a low card and no risk of busting. Against a dealer ace up card, you should also hit anything from a 9 to a hard 15. You don’t want to stand with any of these hands because you are likely to be outdrawn by the dealer. You don’t want to double, even with a 10 or 11, because even with those cards your hand likely isn’t better than the dealer’s.

With a hard 16, you should surrender if allowed. If not, take a hit. You should surrender because a hard 16 is the worst hand in blackjack. It’s only high enough to win if the dealer busts yet it has high odds (7/13) of busting when you take a hit. For that reason, your best bet is to surrender half of your bet 100% of the time, rather than losing all of your bet considerably more often than that.

With a hard 17 or better you should stand against any dealer up card, including an ace. Those hands are high enough that you can win even without the dealer busting and you are more likely to bust than to improve your hand by taking a hit.

With a soft 13-18, you should take a hit against a dealer ace. There is no risk of busting with a soft hand. In addition, you are likely to be outdrawn by standing, so your best chance is to try to improve your hand. With a soft 19 or better, though, you should stand. That is because you are more likely to reduce the quality of your hand than to improve it. Also, your hand may be high enough to win.

When it comes to splitting pairs, you should be conservative against a dealer ace. Since you are not likely to win, you don’t often want to double the bet. With a pair of twos through sevens, you should take a hit. You should split a pair of eights, though, because you’re splitting up a stiff hand (16) and giving yourself a chance for two good hands (18).

You should stand with a pair of nines or tens against a dealer ace. You have good hands (18, 20) and are likely to bust by drawing another card. Though you still don’t have great odds – due to the dealer’s hand – your best odds are to stand and hope you outdraw the dealer.

If you have a pair of aces, then congratulations! You actually have a hand better than the dealer. In that case, split the pair. If you do, you have two hands starting with an ace versus one dealer hand starting with an ace. The odds are now in your favor, so good luck! So the next time you’re playing blackjack at the casino, be sure to stick to this strategy for the best chance of success.

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Blackjack Strategy: Dealer 10 Card

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Blackjack basic strategy is a must if you want to minimize your losses and reduce the house edge to an acceptable level. In teaching basic strategy, I am covering it from a variety of angles. In this series, of which this is the penultimate post, I am covering it based on what up card the dealer shows. In this post, we are dealing with a 10 as the dealer’s up card. As always, when I say 10, I mean any card with a value of 10, which includes a 10, Jack, Queen or King. This strategy works at an online casino as well as at the brick and mortar variety.

The first thing you need to know when you see a 10 as the dealer’s up card is that the dealer likely has a good hand. If the dealer has a 2-6 as a hole card, he has a stiff hand. However, any other card (7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K, A) gives the dealer a 17 or better. Therefore, the odds are against you when the dealer shows a 10. For that reason, strategy for splitting pairs and doubling is very conservative and you play your hand with the idea that the dealer is not likely to bust.

As always, if you have a hand of 8 or lower, you should take a hit. There is no risk of busting and your hand isn’t good enough to stand. Against a dealer 10, you should also hit if you have a hand of 9 or 10. Against most cards, you would double with a 10 because of your likelihood of drawing a 20. However, the dealer is just as likely of having a 20 with a 10 in the hole as you are of drawing a 20. If you both have 20, it’s a draw. Those aren’t good enough odds to double the bet.

You should, however, double down with a hand of 11 versus a dealer 10. In this case, your likelihood of drawing a 21 versus a dealer 20 gives you an edge, so doubling the bet is good strategy.

If you have a hard 12-14, you should hit versus a dealer 10 up card. Those hands are only good enough to win if the dealer busts, and a dealer with a 10 up card is not likely to bust, so you don’t want to stand in this situation. If you have a 15 or 16, you should surrender if allowed, because you are much more likely to bust than to outdraw the dealer. The dealer likely has a good hand and a hard 15 and 16 are the two hands most likely to bust.

As always, if you have a hard 17 or better, you should stand, because there is a much better chance of busting than improving your hand. Also, even against a dealer 10 up card, a hand of 17 or better is pretty good.

If you have a soft 13-18, you should take a hit against a dealer 10 up card. In this situation, you are taking advantage of the fact that you can’t bust by taking a hit. If you have a soft 19 or better, though, you should stand, because you already have a great hand and taking a hit will most likely reduce the value of your hand.

If you have a pair of twos through sevens, you should take a hit against a dealer 10 up card. You don’t want to split the pairs because the dealer probably has a good hand and you don’t want to double the bet. However, if you have a pair of eights, you always want to split because you’re taking a soft hand (16) and giving yourself a chance of drawing two much better hands (18).

If you have a pair of nines, you should stand against a dealer 10 up card. You already have a hand of 18, and splitting the cards could only improve your hand by one, while giving the possibility of reducing the hand’s value. Also, you should be conservative about doubling against a dealer 10.

You should always stand with a pair of tens, no matter what card the dealer shows, because you already have a hand of 20. Conversely, you should always split a pair of aces, no matter what card the dealer has, because an ace is the most powerful card in blackjack and you want to start a hand with one as often as possible.

With this strategy in mind, you are free to win some money playing online blackjack at your favorite casino.

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Blackjack Strategy: Dealer 8 Card

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Reducing the house edge in blackjack to an acceptable level – as low as 0.5% — requires strict adherence to blackjack basic strategy. This strategy works in online casinos as well as the brick and mortar variety. Given the importance of basic strategy, I decided to analyze it from many different angles. Here is the basic strategy for when the dealer shows an 8 as the up card.

If the dealer shows an 8 as an up card, he has a good chance of having a hand of 18, given the high number of 10-value cards in the deck. That makes this situation drastically different from when the dealer shows a 2-6, because that leaves the dealer with a high likelihood of a stiff hand. If the dealer has an 18, he will stand and there is no chance of the dealer busting.
First of all, as always, you should hit if you have an 8 or less, because there is no risk of busting and your cards aren’t good. If the dealer shows an 8, you should also hit if you have a 9. Again, there is no risk of busting, but your hand isn’t really good enough to double down.

If you have a 10 or 11, you should double down against a dealer 8. That is because you have a good hand. Upon drawing the next card, you have a good chance of drawing a 20 or 21, which are tough to beat. Given the strength of those potential hands, you should double the money on your bet.

If you have a hard 12-16, you should hit against a dealer 8 up card. Unfortunately, you have a stiff hand, which is likely to bust but is too low to outdraw the dealer. In fact, you can only win if the dealer busts. When the dealer has an 8 as an up card, he is not likely to bust, since the dealer will stand on a 17 or better. For that reason, your odds are slightly better (though still not good) taking a hit than standing.

If you have a hard 17 or better, you should always stand, no matter what card the dealer shows. There are too many cards that will bust you and not enough that will improve your hand.

For soft hands, you should hit if you have a soft 13-17 against a dealer 8 up card. That is because, again, the dealer is unlikely to bust, so a hand below 17 is unlikely to win. For that reason, and because there is no risk of busting with a soft hand, you should take a hit and hope to improve your hand.

If you have a soft 18 or better, you should stand against a dealer 8 up card. If the dealer has an 18, you would tie with an 18 and win with a better hand, so there is no reason to risking drawing a card that reduces the value of your hand.

When it comes to splitting pairs, you want to do so conservatively against a dealer 8 up card. That is because the dealer likely has a good hand, so you want to be careful about doubling your bet. Therefore, if you have a pair of twos, threes or fours, you should take a hit. Splitting the pairs might not help your hands and doubles your bet against a good dealer hand.

If you have a pair of fives against a dealer 8 up card, you should double down. Despite the dealer’s good hand, you probably have a better one. Drawing one more card can give you a 20, which can only be bested by a hand of 21. Therefore, doubling the money on this hand is a good idea.

You should hit a pair of sixes and sevens against a dealer 8 up card, because splitting could give you two hands of 16 and 17, which could very well be outdrawn by the dealer’s hand. Therefore, you don’t want to double the bet.

You should split, however, if you have a pair of eights or nines. This splits up a hand of 16 (a stiff hand) or 18 and gives you a good chance of drawing two hands of 18 or 19. Given how bad a 16 is and how good hands of 18 and 19 are, combined with the fact that the dealer likely has an 18, this is the wise play.

You should never split a pair of tens, because you already have a hand of 20, and you should always split a pair of aces, since aces are the most powerful card in blackjack. They are the best because you can’t bust with a soft hand and you can use an ace to draw a natural blackjack, which pays 3:2.

The above strategy works in online casinos as well as the brick and mortar variety.

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Blackjack Strategy: Dealer 7 Card

Friday, June 4th, 2010

If you want to reduce the house edge in blackjack to a manageable level, you need to learn and stick to blackjack basic strategy. This strategy works in online casinos as well as the brick and mortar variety. Here is the basic strategy for when the dealer shows a 7 as the up card.

If the dealer shows a 7 as an up card, he has a good chance of having a hand of 17, given the high number of 10-value cards in the deck. That makes this situation drastically different from when the dealer shows a 2-6, because that leaves the dealer with a high likelihood of a stiff hand. If the dealer has a 17, he will stand and there is no chance of the dealer busting.

First of all, as always, you should hit if you have an 8 or less, because there is no risk of busting and your cards aren’t good. If the dealer shows a 7, you should also hit if you have a 9. Again, there is no risk of busting, but your hand isn’t really good enough to double down.

If you have a 10 or 11, you should double down against a dealer 7. That is because you have a good hand. Upon drawing the next card, you have a good chance of drawing a 20 or 21, which are tough to beat. Given the strength of those potential hands, you should double the money on your bet.

If you have a hard 12-16, you should hit against a dealer 7 up card. I’m sorry to say that you have a stiff hand. Those hands are likely to bust but they are too low to outdraw the dealer. In fact, you can only win if the dealer busts. When the dealer has a 7 as an up card, he is not likely to bust, since the dealer will stand on a 17 or better. For that reason, your odds are slightly better (though still not good) taking a hit than standing.

If you have a hard 17 or better, you should always stand, no matter what card the dealer shows. There are too many cards that will bust you and not enough that will improve your hand.

For soft hands, you should hit if you have a soft 13-17 against a dealer 7 up card. That is because, again, the dealer is unlikely to bust, so a hand below 17 is unlikely to win. For that reason, and because there is no risk of busting with a soft hand, you should take a hit and hope to improve your hand.

If you have a soft 18 or better, you should stand against a dealer 7 up card. If the dealer has a 17, you would win with an 18 or better, so there is no reason to risking drawing a card that reduces the value of your hand.

When it comes to pair splitting, the strategy against a dealer 7 up card is more conservative than for the previously discussed hands. That is because of the lower odds of the dealer busting. With a pair of twos, threes or fours, you should take a hit. You don’t want to split the pairs and risk having two stiff hands against a 17. If you have a pair of fives, you should double down because you have a good chance of drawing a 20 with your next card.

You should hit a pair of sixes against a dealer 7 up card, because splitting could potentially give you two stiff hands instead of one. You should split a pair of sevens or eights because as is they are stiff hands (14, 16), but if you split them you have a good chance of having two much better hands (17, 18).

You should not split a pair of nines against a dealer 7 up card because an 18 is already a good hand and would beat a 17. You should never split a pair of tens, no matter what card the dealer has, because you already have a hand of 20. Finally, of course, you always split a pair of aces, since it’s the best card with which to start a hand. That is because it gives you a soft hand and a chance of drawing a natural blackjack (ace, 10).

Remember this strategy the next time you play a game of online blackjack.

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Blackjack Strategy: Dealer 6 Card

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

Blackjack basic strategy should be employed by anyone who wants to lower the house edge to a manageable 0.5%. It can be used at an online casino as well as in a brick and mortar casino, like those in Vegas. Today I will describe what strategies to follow when the dealer shows a 6 as an up card.

First of all, as always, you should hit if you have an 8 or less, because there is no risk of busting and your cards aren’t good. If the dealer shows a 6 as an up card, you should double down if you have a 9-11. That is because – taking into account the fact that there are more cards with a value of 10 than any other value – the dealer has a good chance of having a stiff hand (12-16). That means that the dealer is likely to bust. If you have a 9, 10 or 11, the drawing one more card gives you a good chance of drawing a 19,20 or 21, which are good hands even if the dealer doesn’t bust. For that reason, doubling your bet is a good strategy.

If you have a hard 12-16, you should stand. That is because you have a stiff hand and are likely to bust if you draw another card. If you and the dealer both bust, you lose, so it is best to stand and hope that the dealer busts. If you have a hard 17 or better, you should always stand, because you have a good hand that you are not likely to improve (and will probably bust by trying).

If you have a soft 13-18, you should double down versus a dealer 6 up card. In this situation, you’re doubling because the dealer has a bad hand and since you have a soft hand, there is no risk of busting by taking another card. If you had a hard 13-18, you would stand and hope the dealer busts because drawing another card could bust you, but since you can’t bust with a soft hand, it is best to double down in this situation.

If you have a soft 19 or better, though, you should stand because even though you can’t bust, you already have a good hand that is likely to win even if the dealer doesn’t bust and you have little chance of improving that hand.

When it comes to splitting pairs, you should split twos and threes against a dealer 6. That is because the dealer has a bad hand and you are doubling your chance of winning. Also, if you have a 4 or 6, you are likely to draw a stiff hand by taking another card. By splitting the cards and starting your hands with twos or threes, you have better odds of drawing a good hand. If you have a pair of fours, you should split if you’re allowed to double afterwards. Otherwise, you should take a hit.

If you have a pair of fives, you should double down versus a dealer 6 card. That is because with your 10, you have a good chance of drawing a 20 with your next card. With those odds, combined with the dealer’s likelihood of busting, putting double the money on the bet is a good idea.

You should split a pair of sixes, sevens, eights and nines against a dealer 6. For the 6-8 pairs, splitting them means breaking up stiff hands, which is a good idea. As for the pair of nines, one hand of 18 is good, but the chance of two hands of 19 is better. Again, the dealer is likely to bust with his stiff hand, so you can be more aggressive.

No matter what card the dealer shows, you should never split a pair of tens, since you already have a hand of 20, which is the second-best hand in blackjack. Likewise, you should always split a pair of aces, since it’s the best card with which to start a hand. That is because it gives you a soft hand and a chance of drawing a natural blackjack (ace, 10).

Always remember to stick to basic strategy when playing blackjack at your favorite online casino.

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Blackjack Strategy: Dealer 5 Card

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

Whether you are playing blackjack at an online casino or the brick and mortar variety, you need to know basic strategy to have success. If you stick with blackjack basic strategy, you can lower the house edge to 0.5%. This is the fourth part in a series covering basic strategy based on the up card that the dealer shows.

If the dealer has a 5 as the up card, he has a good chance of having a stiff hand (12-16). In fact, drawing any card that has a value of 7 or better would give him a stiff hand, which is likely to bust. That knowledge influences your decisions when you follow basic strategy.

If you have a hand of 8 or lower, you will always hit no matter what card the dealer has because there is no risk of busting but your hand isn’t particularly good, either. If you have a hand of 9, 10 or 11 versus a dealer 5 up card, you should double down. That is because there are more cards with a value of 10 than any other value. With those hands, you have a good chance of drawing a 19, 20 or 21 with your next card. Combine that with the high probability of the dealer busting and you have good reason to double your bet.

If you have a hard 12-16, you should stand when the dealer shows a 5. That is because you have a stiff hand that is likely to bust and there’s a good chance that the dealer has a stiff hand as well. If you both bust, you lose, so the best play is to stand and hope the dealer busts. You should always stand with a hard 17 or better no matter what card the dealer has because you have a good hand that is more likely to bust than to be improved.

Soft hands are a little different. If you have a soft 13-18, you should double down versus a dealer 5 up card. In this situation you’re not doubling because your hand is good, you’re doubling because the dealer’s hand is bad and you’re protected against busting. If the dealer has a 15, there are only 5 cards (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) will improve his hand, while seven cards (7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K) will cause him to bust. If your hands of 13-18 were hard hands, you wouldn’t double because of the high chance that you can bust yourself. However, because you can’t bust with a soft hand, that risk is taken away. Basically, here you are doubling because of the likelihood of the dealer busting.

If you have a soft 19 or better, though, you should stand because even though you can’t bust, there are more cards that would weaken your hand than improve it. Also, if the dealer doesn’t bust, you still have a good chance of outdrawing him with a 19 or better.

If you have a pair of twos or threes, you should split against a dealer 5 up card. Again, this is not because starting a hand with 2 or 3 is good; it is because the dealer has a good chance of busting so you are taking the opportunity to double your bet while still getting to draw more than one card if you need to (unlike when you double down). With a pair of fours, you should split if you have the option of doubling after splitting. If not, you should hit.

If you have a pair of fives, you should double down. You should never split a pair of fives, no matter what hand the dealer has. Assuming the likelihood of drawing a 10 when you take a hit, splitting fives means you have a good chance of having two hands of 15, which are stiff hands. Doubling your hand of 10, though, gives you a good chance of having a hand of 20, which can only be beaten by a 21.

If you have a pair of sixes through nines, you should split against a dealer 5 up card. For 6, 7 and 8, by splitting you are breaking up a stiff hand. While having a hand of 18 is good, two hands of 19 is better, and you have a chance for that if you split the pair of nines.

You should never split a pair of tens no matter what, since you already have a hand of 20, and you should always split a pair of aces, no matter what. An ace is the most powerful card in blackjack because it gives you a shot at a natural blackjack (ace, 10) and a stiff hand.

Remember that this strategy applies whether you are playing online blackjack or blackjack at a land-based casino.

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Blackjack Strategy: Dealer 4 Card

Monday, May 24th, 2010

This is the third part in the series covering what to do based on what up card the dealer shows. This is according to blackjack basic strategy, the accepted means of reducing the house edge to as low as 0.5%.

If the dealer shows a 4 card, he had a good chance of having a stiff hand (12-16), especially considering that there are more cards with a value of 10 than any other value (which would give the dealer a 14). With that in mind, here is what you should do when the dealer has a 4 as an upcard.

You should obviously hit with an 8 or lower, because there is no risk of busting and your cards aren’t good. If you have a 9, 10 or 11, you should double down. That is because the dealer has a bad hand that is likely to bust anyway. You, on the other hand, will have a hand of a 19, 20 or 21 if the next card you draw is a 10. Your chance of a good hand combined with the dealer’s likelihood of busting means this is a good situation to double your bet and take one more card.

If you have a hard 17 or more, you should stand as always. Against a dealer up card of 4, you should also stand if you have a hard 12-16. That is because you have a stiff hand and if you hit, you have a good chance of busting and low odds of improving your hand. On the other hand, the dealer also likely has a stiff hand. If you both bust, you lose, but if only the dealer busts, you win no matter what hand you have. Therefore, in this situation it is best to stand and hope the dealer busts.

Soft hands are a little more complicated when the dealer shows a 4. If you have a soft 13 or 14, you should take a hit, because your hand isn’t great, you have no risk of busting, and your hand would only win if the dealer busts. If you have a soft 15-18, you should double down. In this situation, there is no risk of busting. If you draw a low card you improve your hand but even if you draw a high card you are left with a stiff hand, which isn’t any worse than what you started in the case of the 15 and 16. Also, the dealer has a good chance of busting with his hand, so doubling the bet makes sense.

If you have a soft 19 or 20, you should always stand, no matter what card the dealer shows. You have a great hand that can only be improved with an ace or two and even though you can’t bust, your odds of ending up with a lower hand are better than your odds of improving your hand.

When it comes to pair splitting strategy, there is a lot to remember. If you have a pair of twos or threes, you should split against a dealer 4. The dealer is likely to bust and hands of 4 and 6 are likely to land you right in the middle of a stiff hand. It is better then to double your bet and start each hand with a two or three. If you have a pair of fours, though, you should hit because your 8 can become a hand of 18 if you draw a 10. If you have a pair of fives, you should double down because you have a good chance of drawing a 20 by taking one more card.

If you have a pair of sixes through nines, you should split when the dealer shows a 4. Hands of 12-16 are stiff hands that you always want to break up when you can. A pair of nines is a good hand (18), but if you split them you have a good chance of getting 2 hands of 19. If you have a pair of tens, you should always stand, because you already have a 20, which can only be improved with an ace. If you have a pair of aces, you should always split because an ace is the most powerful card with which to start a hand.

The above strategy works at online casinos and brick and mortar casinos.

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