How to Improve your Blackjack Game (for Beginners)

Blackjack is a game of chance where there is yet room for skill to affect the outcome of the game. Even though the game is structured so that the odds are in the house's or dealer's favor, by knowing the optimal strategy for hitting and standing, you can reduce the dealer advantage.

The Blackjack strategies below will assume the rules of simple, informal home play, i.e., playing with a single deck of cards, and no pair splitting or doubling. These tips are based on mathematical probabilities and do not guarantee winning, but they do improve the odds.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. First, understand that the dealer's method of play is predetermined, and that method is agreed upon ahead of time. There are two ways the dealer can play: standing on all counts of 17 or higher, or, standing on a hard 17 but hitting on a soft 17. (A hard count means no aces, a soft count includes aces.)
   
   Also, the dealer only makes his play until after all the other players have made their final plays. This is where the house advantage lies, since players have to make their decisions to hit or stand with incomplete knowledge of what the dealer's final count will be.

2. *When to hit or stand on hard counts*
   
   If you have a hard count of 11 or lower, you should always hit, regardless of what the dealer's up card is.
   
   If you have a hard 12, you should always hit, unless the dealer's up card is a 4, 5, or 6. When the dealer's face up card is a 4, 5, or 6, your chance of busting is greater than the chance of beating the his final count, and so you should stand.
   
   If your Blackjack hand has a hard count of 13-16, you should hit whenever the dealer's up card is a 7, 8, 9, 10, or A.
   
   And finally, you always stand on a hard 17 or higher.

3. For example, you are dealt 5-6 and the dealer's up card is 8. Since you have 11, you should hit.
   
   If you are then dealt an 8 and your hand is 5-6-8, you should stand because your hand is now 19.

4. *When to hit on soft counts*
   
   Soft hands have one or more aces. Since A counts as either 1 or 11 in Blackjack, the strategy for knowing when to hit with soft counts is slightly different.
   
   If your hand's soft total is 17 or less (counting the ace as 11), then you should hit regardless of the dealer's up card.
   
   If your hand's soft total is 18, only hit when the dealer's up card is a 9, 10, or A.
   
   If the soft total is 19 or 20, stand.

5. For example, suppose you are dealt A-7 and the dealer has a 10. You should hit because your soft total is 18.
   
   If you then get a 10 and your hand becomes A-7-10, you can no longer count the ace as an 11 without busting. Your hard count is now 18, which means you should stand.

6. In addition to learning this very basic strategy, you can also improve your game by mentally tracking how many high cards (8, 9, 10, A) have been played, and how many low cards (2, 3, 4) have been played. This tracking technique is called card counting.
   
   By knowing the relative chances of getting a high or low card, you can adjust the basic strategy and make more informed decisions.