Universal Basic Strategy

admin — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 14:24:47 +0000

Early professional blackjack players learned that there was one right way and many wrong ways to play the game. By combining experience, sound reasoning, and their knowledge of odds, they developed winning playing strategies, which they applied very successfully. Only a select few people knew these strategies, however, and they intended to keep it that way.
During the early 1950s, Roger Baldwin, Wilbert Cantey, Herbert Maisel, and James McDermott, a group of sharp statistical analysts, published the first blackjack playing strategy in a mathematical journal. They applied their knowledge of statistical analysis to the game and after three years of plugging away on mechanical desk calculators, arrived at a surprisingly-accurate playing strategy. They called it the basic strategy, and the term has been with us ever since.
At that time, blackjack was only a moderately-popular game, so just a few people recognized the importance of their efforts. One of those people was Professor Edward O. Thorp of M.I.T. who, a few years later, refined their work using an IBM 704 computer. Professor Thorp then
published the first book describing a method for winning at blackjack by keeping track of the played cards. The basic strategy was the backbone of his innovative card-counting system.
In the following years, Julian Braun and others developed computer programs that simulated millions of blackjack hands. These simulations ultimately brought the original basic strategy to perfection. This perfect basic strategy is what I am presenting here and in later posts.

Strategy for novices

admin — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 14:22:21 +0000

Here are several often situations in online blackjack:
Pair of 8s
Always split a pair of 8s. The value of the initial hand is 16, which is the worst hand you can have. Splitting the eights limits your losses. The dealer will give you one card on each 8, and if one of those cards is another 8, you should resplit to a third hand. Now you can commence playing the hands, one at a time, according to the rules below.
Any Other Pair
Some of the remaining pairs should never be split and others should only be split when the dealer shows certain cards. This is where the rules get more complicated,
so to play it safe in the Really Simple Strategy, don’t split any other pair.
Total of 9 or Less
When your hand has a total count of 9 or less, it cannot be busted and should, therefore, always be hit.
Total of 10 or 11
These hands also cannot be busted and should always be hit, but only when the dealer shows a 10 or ace. When the dealer shows a 9 or less, the chances of getting 20 or 21 and beating the dealer are very good. You should, therefore, take advantage of this by doubling down, which doubles your wager.
Total of 12 to 16
This is a stiff hand that can be busted, so you should stand if the dealer shows a 6 or less, in the hope that the dealer will bust. If the dealer shows a 7 or higher, she likely has a pat hand. In this case, you probably have a losing hand, so you should take a hit and risk busting in an attempt to beat the dealer. Continue hitting until your total count exceeds 16.
Total of 17 to 21
This is called a pat hand, and you should always stand. Although you may not have the dealer beat, your risk of busting is too high to take a hit. The exception is an ace 6 hand, which should be hit. A 17 is not a good total— the best it can do against a dealer’s pat hand is push. Since, a soft 17 can’t be busted, you have everything to gain and little to lose by hitting.

Blackjack

Universal Basic Strategy

Strategy for novices