The Basic Strategy

The most important thing to know about blackjack is the basic strategy. It can be found in every introductory blackjack book. This strategy is simply the best way to play every possible situation, without regard to card counting. The basic strategy was created by Edwin Thorp, the first person to study the game with computers. He programmed a computer to play millions of hands to determine which is the best way to play every situation. Because the dynamics of single deck and multiple deck blackjack are different the basic strategies vary in a few situations so both are presented below. Depending on the rules the house edge will be a scant 0.0% to 0.8% if you use the basic strategy properly.

To use the charts look up your hand along the left vertical edge and the dealer's up card along the top. In both cases an A stands for ace. From top to bottom are the hard totals, soft totals, and splittable hands. The splittable hands have been divided into two groups depending on whether or not doubling after splitting is allowed. In multiple deck games doubling after a split is usually allowed and that rule can go either way in single deck. In the body of the chart are color coded cells that indicate the best play: H=hit (RED), S=stand (YELLOW), D=double (BLUE), P=split (GREEN).

Some obvious situations have been left out to keep the chart as small as possible they are:

• Always hit a hard 7 or less in single deck.
• Always hit a hard 8 or less in multiple deck.
• Always stand on a hard 17 or more.
• Always stand on a soft 20 or more in single deck.
• Always stand on a soft 19 or more in multiple deck.
• If you have a soft total that normally calls for doubling, but the rules do not permit you to do so, then hit on soft 17 or less and stand on soft 18 or more.

Do not take insurance, even if you have a blackjack. The average casino advantage in the insurance bet is 7.7%. Card counters can get away with making smart insurance bets because they know when the deck is rich in tens but the basic strategy player should always decline it.

At a few places the option to surrender is allowed. If you have a 16 (other than two eights) and the dealer is showing a 9, 10, or ace, or if you have a 15 and the dealer is showing a 10 then you take it.

The best way, I have found, to memorize the basic strategy is notice patterns and to try to understand why you should play every situation as the chart says. Then make flash cards and go over and over them until you know it cold. Do not deal out cards to yourself because the soft totals and the pairs will not occur often enough to test your knowledge.

Many people do not believe in the basic strategy because they once took the advice of someone who knew it and then lost the hand. Let me make something perfectly clear, you will not win every hand with the basic strategy! In fact you won't even win half your hands. However I can personally testify that while you will have short term ups and downs over the long run you will roughly break even using the basic strategy.

House Edge

Below is the house edge, by playing the basic strategy, assuming standard rules including the dealer hitting a soft 17 and the player doubling on any two cards.

Rule variations will have an effect on the house edge as shown below: