Blackjack Tips from A to Z
Blackjack Tip: #1 Whether to Hit or Stand
When the player has to make a decision on how to play his/her hand the choice he makes depends upon the total of his hand and the dealer up card. The best thing any player might do is look for typical scenarios and Blackjack Tips foreseen by the scholars that have developed the Basic strategy and to make his/her choice according to the provided solution. Deciding whether to hit or stand is the basic option the player considers. Here we provide the list of most common and most important Blackjack tips.
Tips for Hard hands
- Player‘s hand — 17, 18, 19 or 20
Always Stand - Dealer’s hand — 7, 8, 9, 10 or Ace
Hit with a 16 or less — Otherwise, Stand
Blackjack Tips for Soft hands
- Player‘s hand — Soft 19 or 20
Always Stand - Player‘s hand — Soft 17 or less
Always Hit
Blackjack Tip: #2 When to Double Down
The reason why the Doubling Down option is such a good lies in the fact that it is a good chance to increase your profits when you are sure to have a stronger hand with one extra card or are confident that the dealer will bust. The reason many players prefer to Double Down on 9,10 or 11 is because all the decks have a high percentage of 10 valued cards, and thus the extra 10 will sure make such a hand a very strong one. Moreover, in case you choose to Double Down depending on the dealer face up card (when the dealer has a high probability of busting) will increase your chances to win and therefore get larger payouts. The most important thing the player must remember is that when choosing to Double Down the player not only increases his bet and gets one more card, but the fact that the hand automatically atands and nothing more can be done. The basic Blackjack Tips for when to Double Down include:
Hard hands
- Player‘s hand — 11
Double down if the Dealer’s hand is not an Ace - Player‘s hand — 10
Double down if the Dealer’s hand is not a 10 or Ace - Player‘s hand — 9
Double down when the Dealer’s hand is not a 3, 4, 5, or 6
Soft hands
- Player‘s hand — Soft 17 or 18
Double when Dealer’s face card is a 3, 4, 5 or 6 - Player‘s hand — Soft 15 or 16 (Ace with a 4 or 5)
Double when Dealer’s face card is a 4,5 or 6 - Player‘s hand — Soft 13 or 14
Double when Dealer’s face card is a 5 or 6
Blackjack Tip: #3 When to Split a Hand
When the first two cards dealt to the player are a pair of the same rank, he may choose to split them in order to make two separate hands. However, this option is not always advisable as some of the pairs make a strong hand when not split or a too small value when split. Moreover, the value of the dealer face up card has a great influence upon the decision on whether to split or not to split. Nevertheless, there are still such hands that can never be split as there are those that should always be split. Here are the basic Blackjack Tips for splitting hands:
- Player‘s hand — Pair of Ace's
Always Split - Player‘s hand — Pair of 8's
Always Split - Player‘s hand – a Pair of 2's or 3’s
Split against Dealer’s 4, 5, 6, or 7 - Player‘s hand – a Pair of 6's
Split against Dealer’s 3, 4, 5, or 6 - Player‘s hand — a Pair of 7's
Split against Dealer’s anything less than an 8 - Player‘s hand a Pair of 9's
Split against Dealer’s 7, 10 or Ace
Blackjack Tip : #4 When to Surrender
The surrender option is not offered in all casinos mainly due to the fact that it increases the player edge over the casino. When playing in a casino that allows such option, the best advice is to surrender when your hand totals 15 and dealer face up card is 10, also when your hand is of 15 or 16 and the dealer holds a 9, 10 or an Ace.
These are the basic strategy blackjack tips for all the players regardless of their experience. It may seem very difficult for the beginner to learn all the strategies and all the advices to do his best in a game against the casino. However, there are two solutions for every gambler that are considered to be the best methods of studying the strategy: Number 1 Look for logical patterns and reasons for each solution. Number 2 Practice practice and practice once more!