Surrender is when you give up your hand and lose half your bet. Early surrender is before the dealer peeks for a 21. Late surrender is after the dealer peeks. I don't believe anyone offers early surrender anymore.
Thank you so much for posting that blackjack trainer! It's so much fun, and I've really gotten better at strategy just in the past 2 hrs or so! This comes in so handy, as I'd love to try the table games, but I'm shy about it.
thanks this is going to help out alot to bad i didnt read this early but i will use this next time i go, and is counting cards hard
It ain't SIMPLIFIED enough for me ... Simplified Basic Strategy- 1)Dealer Rules(H17): Draw on 16 or less, stand on 17 or more. Exception: Hit soft 17. Never take insurance or even money. 2)Easy Splits: Always split aces and 8's. 3)Easy Stands: Versus dealers 2-6, stand on hard 12-16. 4)Easy Doubles: Double on 10 or 11 when your total is higher than the dealers up card. 5)Soft Doubles: Double all 18 and less soft hands against dealer 4-6. 6)More Splits: Split all pairs (except 4's, 5's and 10's) against dealer 2-7. .......... Can anyone tell me What is the House Edge with the above simplified rules versus if I just follow Rule Number one and Rule number three and Dont Never Do Any Splits Or Doubles?? So my modification of Simplified Basic Strategy to embrace nothing but Hit or Stand would be: Dealer Rules(H17): Draw on 16 or less, stand on 17 or more. Exception: Hit soft 17. Stands: Versus dealers 2-6, stand on hard 12-16, else Hit. Six deck shoe.
When Dealer's Up Card is... ...then Hit until you have at least: 2-3..................................... 13 4-6..................................... 12 7-A..................................... 17 (Technically the above is only when Player does not have a soft hand, but I just follow the rule no matter whether I have an ace or not). When you have... ...Double down when dealer shows: 11........................ 2-10 (not Ace) 10........................ 2-9 (not Ace or 10) 9........................ 3-6 (not 7 or higher) Always Split when you have A-A 8-8 I followed these abbreviated rules recently and did great. So WHY when it came time to utilize my Match Play certificate, did I use it at the Mini-Bacc table where I had been doing really poorly?
Simplified Basic Strategy...plus some. I just found this. Its a bit more challenging to remember, but I think I'll give it a whirl. It seems to have different rules for doubling than I am used to. Splitting Always split Ace's and 8's Never split 10's, 5's, or 4's Split 9's against 9 or less, except 7 Split 7's against 7 or less Split 6's against 6 or less, except 2 Split 2's and 3's against 4 through 7 Doubling With soft 17 or 18, double against 3 through 6 With soft 15 or 16, double against 4 through 6 With soft 13 or 14, double against 5 or 6 With 10 or 11, double if more than dealer's up-card With 9, double against 3 through 6 Never double with 8 or less Hard Hands (no ace, or ace counted as one) With 17, stand With 12 through 16, hit against a 7 or more, else stand. The only exception to the above is to hit 12 against a 2 or 3 With 11 or less, hit unless doubling. Soft Hands (ace in hand which may be valued at one or 11) With soft 19 or more, always stand With soft 18, hit against 9 or more With soft 17 or less, hit.
Okay, y'all can tell that Blackjack is not really my game. And with my slow-witted arithmetic it never will be. But I do have one question: what is the definition of a blackjack which gets paid at 3:2? Is it limited to an Ace and a Picture Card or does it include an Ace and a 10?
Ace and a 10 pays the same. Its only not paid out if: 1) it comes off of split aces. You split aces and get 21, its just paid 1:1 2) a dealer ace is showing and you ask for even money. Then you're paid 1:1 3) a dealer ace is showing, you dont take even money and they have 21. Then its a push.
Thanks. I gave up trying to figure out 'even money'. The dealer was clamoring for me to take it and so was the only other player at the table. So I took it (I thought it meant I had to pay extra such as in Insurance). Yesterday I got very tired and signaled for another card but a player yelled out '19'... so I stopped. I was playing at a 25.00 table so it was hard for me to figure out what 3:2 was but I figured the dealer knew what to pay.
One reason I have not ponied up to the tables yet is A, they have crappy rules at my local casino, and also I have not figured out if with basic strategy you are better off playing with people or one on one, my thinking is the odds of people at the table playing stupid, could screw up the chances?, or is it a wash either way? I have done amazing playing online just me vs dealer so far.
The only impact of other players at the table is how fast the hands get dealt. If you are playing partly for comps/free booze or on a tight budget, you want fewer hands per hour so that the house edge has less time to bite you, so you want crowded tables. You versus dealer directly will get very swingy. How people play around you has no statistical effect on your expected value. It should only be a consideration if it bothers you to the extent that people playing badly will hurt your enjoyment of the game.
I find I have enough trouble keeping track of the cards that I was actually dealt without worrying about the cards I would have been dealt had someone at the table not been foolish is deciding whether to hit or stand.
Split 8's... You'll not win everytime splitting 8's. But in the long run you'll come out ahead. So, always split 8's...
Follow Basic Strategy Since I started using basic stragegy (several years ago)it has made a world of difference. I know that I have had better results by sticking to one policy in blackjack, that being, follow basic strategy at all times and do not (EVER) deviate from this system.
I am happy to see Andsen's post still getting some airtime. I am sure he is smiling where ever he may be.
That is probably good advice. However, I think it should be realized that occasionally the official Basic Strategy rule and a "runner-up" rule are not that far apart. Basic Strategy may be best but some of the variations are pretty-good options even if they are not the best option. NEVER split tens is the RULE. Splitting 10s against a dealer's 4-6 is a modification that some people follow: Statistically, the "value" of this NON-Basic Strategy option is only $0.13 less than the value of the official Basic Strategy rule of Never Split Tens. For a lousy thirteen cents per dollar of your wager, I'd tend to recommend that you do whatever you feel like doing. I don't split tens. IF I ever split tens, it will be: when I've been winning alot of money AND when I've been swilling alot of free booze AND when I want to impress some sweet lovely thing that I've picked up AND when the dealer's up-card is 4, 5 or 6.
This is a great post! Like others I wanted to play BJ but wasn't sure on what to do. I have been following the basic strategy on a few online sites and it seems to be doing well. I think I will have to give it a go on my next trip.
