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Introduction
To use the basic strategy, 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. There are two charts depending on whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17.
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Other basic strategy rules.
- Never take insurance or 'even money.'
- If there is no row for splitting (fives and tens), then look up your hand as a hard total (10 or 20).
- If you can't split because of a limit on re-splitting, then look up your hand as a hard total, except aces. In the extremely unlikely event you have a pair of aces you can't re-split and drawing to split aces is allowed, then double against a 6, otherwise hit.
If you play a mixture of six-deck games, some where the dealer hits a soft 17, and some where he stands, and you only wish to memorize one strategy, I would recommend you memorize the one where the dealer stands on soft 17. The cost in errors due to playing the wrong strategy is 2.3 times higher playing a stand on soft 17 game, with the hit on 17 strategy, than vise versa.
Basic Strategy in Text
For the benefit of my blind readers, here is the above strategy in text form, when the dealer stands on soft 17 and surrender is allowed. To use the strategy, start at the top, and follow the first rule that applies.
Surrender
- Surrender hard 16 (but not a pair of 8s) vs. dealer 9, 10, or A, and hard 15 vs. dealer 10.
Split
- Always split aces and 8s.
- Never split 5s and 10s.
- Split 2s and 3s against a dealer 4-7, and against a 2 or 3 if DAS is allowed.
- Split 4s only if DAS is allowed and the dealer shows a 5 or 6.
- Split 6s against a dealer 3-6, and against a 2 if DAS is allowed.
- Split 7s against a dealer 2-7.
- Split 9s against a dealer 2-6 or 8-9.
Double
- Double hard 9 vs. dealer 3-6.
- Double hard 10 except against a dealer 10 or A.
- Double hard 11 except against a dealer A.
- Double soft 13 or 14 vs. dealer 5-6.
- Double soft 15 or 16 vs. dealer 4-6.
- Double soft 17 or 18 vs. dealer 3-6.
Hit or Stand
- Always hit hard 11 or less.
- Stand on hard 12 against a dealer 4-6, otherwise hit.
- Stand on hard 13-16 against a dealer 2-6, otherwise hit.
- Always stand on hard 17 or more.
- Always hit soft 17 or less.
- Stand on soft 18 except hit against a dealer 9, 10, or A.
- Always stand on soft 19 or more.
As I've said many times, the above strategy will be fine under any set of rules. However, for you perfectionists out there, here are the modifications to make if the dealer hits a soft 17.
- Surrender 15, a pair of 8s, and 17 vs. dealer A.
- Double 11 vs. dealer A.
- Double soft 18 vs. dealer 2.
- Double soft 19 vs. dealer 6.
My thanks to Kelly for putting together the above text strategy.
Written by:Michael Shackleford
Blackjack is one casino game where a combination of luck and skills can do wonders, and many Blackjack players have had their own “from rags to riches” stories to boast to the rest of the world! When players choose to play slots, they rely entirely on luck – which is not the case for more complex games such as Blackjack. Rather, they usually combine their luck with certain blackjack skills such as card counting, and a basic blackjack strategy. If you’re looking to get one up over the house, you too can easily learn these skills and turn the tables with our ultimate blackjack cheat sheet!
A Blackjack strategy is essential
There’s not an awful lot you need to learn in order to use a basic strategy for blackjack. This blackjack cheat sheet is a simple chart which suggests the various different types of actions you can take when playing this game, such as hit, stand, split, double down, surrender, etc. You can match your hand’s total with the dealer’s “upcard” on this chart, and then take the suggested action.
Unlike games such as poker, luckily you don’t need to completely memorize the blackjack cheat sheet if you want to play blackjack online and win real money. When playing online, you simply play against the computer, thereby avoiding any real risk of being caught using a strategy chart of some kind.
Counting cards using a Blackjack cheat sheet
As far as blackjack card counting is concerned, this is something where you do need to have a good memory, plus the ability to perform addition and subtraction very quickly. In card counting, you assign positive (+1), negative (-1), and neutral (0) values to individual cards in a deck. Assign positive values to the cards from 2 to 6; assign neutral values to the cards from 7 to 9; assign negative values to the cards from 10 to Ace.
A fool-proof blackjack strategy or blackjack cheat sheet will always advise players to keep a mental tally of the cards dealt. That way you’ll have a better idea of your next moves, and how they will affect the game.
A simple way to count cards in blackjack would look like this…
Begin your count at 0. Each time a positive card is dealt, add 1 to your count. And each time a negative card is dealt, subtract 1 from your count. Leave the count as it is in the case a neutral card is dealt. If your count is +2 or more, you should place relatively bigger bets because the chances of getting a hand like 20, 21, or a Blackjack are pretty elevated in a positive count. On the other hand, if the count is negative, place relatively smaller bets.
Don’t get caught!
These techniques look promising but they have their cons too. First, if you’re caught cheating, the casino folks will waste no time kicking you out. Secondly, you need to be very quick at addition and subtraction if you want to use this blackjack cheat sheet and utilize blackjack card counting effectively. Consider yourself ready for card counting if you can count an entire deck of cards under 30 seconds. Finally, these blackjack winning techniques work, but may not work every time. These techniques are suggestions, not the word of God.
Nevertheless, many people have made their fortunes using the techniques within this blackjack cheat sheet, and there’s no harm in trying them out while playing free casino games. Who knows, you just might make a fortune using them. Good luck while enjoying the best gambling experience at the best US casino!