Basic blackjack table strategy. Blackjack - game strategy


    10 BEST BLACKJACK TYPES
    Blackjack itself is one of the easiest games to play in a casino. The player's task is to collect the sum as close as possible to 21, but no more. At the same time, you need to score more points than the dealer. That's all.
    Despite slight differences in rules, the base game can be found in almost every land-based and online casino in the world. Standard blackjack is just the beginning, in the last few decades the number of its variations in the casino has increased greatly.
    These new versions have been created to breathe new life into an old favorite, adding spice and excitement to the game. They have become popular not only in traditional land-based casinos around the world, but also in online casinos, where they are enjoyed by a wide variety of people playing right from their living rooms.
    So, we present you the Top 10 blackjack variants that are played in land-based and online casinos. To play other versions, you need to know the basic rules of the game, however, they are so simple that most players can understand them in a matter of minutes.
    PONTUN - BRITISH BLACKJACK
    Description of Pontun
    Pontoon is the British equivalent of American blackjack. It has a lot in common with its American brother, but there are a couple of features that make the game more interesting and add a bit of strategy. The main difference is that players can see one card before betting, and they can also increase their bets during the game.
    How to play Pontoon
    Each player is dealt one card, then they choose how much to bet. Then the second card is dealt and the game is on just like in regular blackjack, with the difference only in terms (for example, "twist" instead of "hit"). If the player has more points than the dealer, he wins, with a small exception - if the player has five cards with 21 points or less - he wins double the bet!
    BLACKJACK SWITCH - BLACKJACK WITH A TWIST
    Description of Blackjack Switch
    The Blackjack Switch was patented in 2009 by Geoff Hall and has quickly become one of the most popular blackjack variants found in many casinos, both land-based and online. For the most part, it is similar to regular blackjack, with the difference that each player has two cards and they can change them during the game.
    How to play Blackjack Switch
    In Blackjack Switch, each player makes two bets at the start of the game and receives two cards. The player can then swap cards from the two hands and possibly get better cards by turning two 16s (A/5, 10/6) into blackjack (A/10) and 11 (6/5).
    However, there is a price to pay for this advantage. First, blackjack brings 100% winnings. Secondly, the dealer loses only if he has 23 points or more in his hands, but if he scores only 22, then the players are left with nothing.
    BLACKJACK WITH DOUBLE REVEAL - OPEN THE CARDS OF THE DEALER
    Description of Double Reveal Blackjack
    Double Reveal Blackjack is the undisputed favorite of the players. The fact is that this is one of the few variations where the winnings of the players increase. And for this reason, this version is quite rare - casinos do not want to give players the opportunity to win. more money. So if you come across this variant of blackjack somewhere, don't hesitate to sit down to play!
    How to play Double Reveal Blackjack
    Double Reveal Blackjack is played in exactly the same way as normal multi-deck blackjack, with the only difference being that both the dealer's cards are exposed, so everyone knows them and makes decisions based on that. Of course, this gives the players a huge advantage, so the remaining rules balance the balance in favor of the casino. Insurance, retreat and multiple splits are prohibited, and the croupier wins at 17. But even with all this, the house edge is zero.
    Double Reveal Blackjack is known for increasing the player's chances of winning.
    BLACKJACK BUSTER - LOSS BETTING
    Description of Blackjack Buster
    Blackjack Buster is actually almost the same as the standard game, except that there is an opportunity to place a bet at any time until the dealer loses. The more cards the croupier takes, the more tempting the opportunity to bet.
    How to play Blackjack Buster
    Blackjack Buster is played in exactly the same way as the regular version. The part called "Buster" is an opportunity to place an additional bet on whether the dealer will lose or not. The bet is only on this, it does not matter if the player himself wins. The more cards the dealer has, the higher the payout, from 1:1 with 3 cards to 250:1 with 8 cards.
    BLACKJACK BONUS - BLACKJACK WITH BONUS
    Description of Blackjack Bonus
    Like the Buster variant, Blackjack Bonus is very similar to the classic version, but with the possibility of an additional bet, which gives the player the opportunity to hit a nice jackpot. The Blackjack Bonus is played with two decks and is the most popular version among card counting and professional players.
    How to play Blackjack Bonus
    Blackjack Bonus is played exactly like any other two-deck blackjack, with only a slight difference. You can place an additional bet before the cards are dealt. This is a bet on whether or not you will have blackjack in the first two cards, so you can win even if the dealer also has blackjack. Payouts vary depending on the casino, they can reach, for example, 25:1. If you don't hit blackjack, you lose your bet - it's simple.
    BLACKJACK CALIFORNIA - BLACKJACK WITH BANK
    Description of Blackjack California
    California blackjack originated in the poker parlors of Southern California, where traditional blackjack was banned because the player was playing against the casino. Blackjack California is still extremely popular in California, and its peculiarity is that the role of the banker is transferred between players, that is, each player plays against the others in turn.
    How to play Blackjack California
    Although Blackjack California has similarities to the regular version of the game, it is still very different. One of the players acts as a croupier in each game and plays against other players. During the game, the bet of the player acting as the croupier is the "pot" and other players seek to get it, and the banker, on the contrary, to increase. There are other differences: the deck uses jokers, they count as 2 or 12, you need to score 22 points instead of 21, and when a player scores more points, he does not automatically lose. Therefore, this version of the game is sometimes referred to as No Bust Blackjack.
    No wonder: Blackjack California appeared in California land-based casinos
    BLACKJACK DOUBLE ATTACK - DOUBLE THE BET
    Description of Blackjack Double Attack
    Blackjack Double Attack is sometimes also called Double Attack or Double Blackjack. In fact, this is a version of the Spanish game "21", which became one of the first varieties of blackjack. The game Blackjack Double Attack originated in Atlantic City and then moved to Nevada. Its success is based on the fact that players get a chance to double their bets by looking at the first card of the dealer, and they can also fold at any time.
    How to play Blackjack Double Attack
    This game is usually played with eight Spanish decks (minus the first 10 cards). Blackjack Double attack is similar to regular blackjack in that you need to collect 21 points and defeat the dealer. And it is called so because the player can look at the first card of the dealer and, depending on this, double the initial bet. In addition, a feature of the game is that players can either double the bet or fold at any time, which is especially appreciated by cautious players.
    BLACKJACK PITCH - SHIRT UP
    Description of Blackjack Pitch
    Believe me, even if you hear about Blackjack Pitch for the first time, this game is familiar to you. This is simply blackjack, played with one or two decks, and it got its name from the action that the dealer uses when dealing cards. Online Blackjack Pitch is just one-deck blackjack. Card counting players love Blackjack Pitch because it's easy to keep track of cards. And it is for this reason that this variant of the game is not available in most casinos.
    How to play Blackjack Pitch
    Blackjack Pitch is played with one or two decks, the cards are dealt face down to each player, making the game feel like old-fashioned poker. Tricks, stops, doubling, splitting and insurance are allowed here, just like in traditional blackjack. If you want a card - take it, but if you decide to stop - put your hands on the chips and hope for luck.
    MULTIPLE HANDS BLACKJACK - VIDEO POKER STYLE
    Multi-Hand Blackjack Description
    Multi-handed blackjack is one of the first varieties of online blackjack. Online casino organizers have noticed that visitors like to play multi-handed video poker and they decided to use it in blackjack as well. Of course, in land-based casinos you can also play multi-handed Blackjack, but only if there is a seat next to you at the table. There is no such restriction in the online version, so you can play as many hands as you like.
    How to play multi-handed blackjack
    If you know how to play regular blackjack, you also know the rules of Multi-Hand Blackjack. This is a standard game, but instead of one set of cards, you can play up to eight cards at the same time, which makes the game much more dynamic and interesting.
    Multi-Hand Blackjack allows you to play with 8 sets of cards
    CHINESE BLACKJACK - ASIAN STYLE
    Description of Chinese Blackjack
    As you might have guessed, Chinese blackjack is very popular in China and can be found in many casinos in South and East Asia. At first glance, this is an ordinary blackjack, at the beginning of the game, players have two cards, they aim to score 21 points, and so on. However, there are a lot of differences in the Asian version of the game.
    How to play Chinese Blackjack
    Chinese blackjack starts in the same way as regular blackjack, each player receives two cards from the dealer. This is where the similarities end and the differences begin. Two aces lead to an automatic win, the dealer can choose to hit or stop, and the value of aces differs depending on how many cards you have in your hand. It looks complicated, but believe me, spend a couple of hours at the gambling table and you will be playing Chinese blackjack like a real pro.


    In an effort to win in the game against the casino, players constantly solve the problem of optimizing the result of the game. The optimization problem, like two sides of the same coin, is, on the one hand, minimizing the loss, and on the other hand, finding a way to maximize the gain. The set of optimal solutions in each of the possible game situations (events) constitutes the Basic strategy for playing the game.

    The vast majority of sources declare that playing according to the Basic Strategy allows the player to achieve the best result. If in each game situation, regardless of whether it is favorable for the player or not, the player makes the optimal decision, then the final result should be the same. In practice, this is far from the case. Why does a strict game according to the Basic Strategy not always lead to the expected result? To answer this question, it is necessary to understand the basis, the fundamental principles of building basic strategies.

    The basic strategy is a set of optimal solutions. The optimal solution is the best solution in terms of the mathematical expectation of the result.

    The value of the mathematical expectation depends on the probability of the event and its result (the amount of gain or loss). Each event in the casino game has a random character. It is impossible to predict the result of a single random event, it can only be characterized, estimated by such quantities as probability, mathematical expectation, etc. Probability and mathematical expectation are the main characteristics of a random event. So, on the roulette wheel, the fall of one of the 37 numbers is an absolutely random event, the probability of the fall of each number is the same and is equal to 1/37. Dropping a number in the next spin is a separate, independent, random, unpredictable event. However, knowing the probability of each number falling out, it is possible to predict with sufficient accuracy how many times this or that number will fall out in the next 100 thousand spins. And even more precisely, if the sample contains 1 million events (spins). If we take any ten results of the spins on the roulette wheel, then it is unlikely that we will get an equal number of red and black numbers, although their probabilities are equal (18/36). However, in a significantly larger sample, the number of red and black numbers will rapidly approach equality as the number of spins increases. According to the same law, the actual value of the result of the game will approach the calculated value of the mathematical expectation. Thus, the expected result can be achieved only with a very large number of repetitions of random events.

    The best and most practical example is the basic blackjack strategy. Here, a small table contains all possible combinations of starting hands (two cards of the player against the dealer's card) and prescribes further action - the adoption of one of the five possible options (take a card (hit), do not take a card (stay), make a split (split), make a double (double), to be from further continuation of the game (surrender)). Each of the possible options has an absolute result: lose (minus one bet), win (plus bet), draw (result - zero) and 0.5 bet if the choice is to refuse to continue the game (surrender). Each result of decision making on the box has its own probability. This allows you to calculate the mathematical expectation of the result of each option separately, which, as a rule, is presented as a percentage of a single bet. The highest value of the mathematical expectation of the result determines which of all possible options is the best (optimal).

    Unfortunately, most sources, books and articles on blackjack present a basic strategy in the form of a decision table for all possible starting hands, without information about the value, the digital value of the mathematical expectation of the result - the average expected result when choosing the optimal option, and how much the optimal option is better than the others. Since the basic strategy is based on a priori values ​​of probabilities and the mathematical expectation of the result (results), it must be understood that the basic strategy operates only under conditions when the game corresponds to the mathematical model, that is, it operates on an infinite set of random events. In practice, in a real game, only a few players can meet this requirement. Most players are limited by resources (money in the game), which also creates a time limit. Even if we consider individual game sessions as part of a single game, the number of hands played does not allow us to talk about an infinite number of random events. At the same time, the deviation of the final actual result of the game from the mathematical expectation remains very significant. Most players who play several times a month have a quite countable number of hands played, in these conditions the requirement that the number of repetitions of each individual starting layout approach infinity is unattainable. Under these conditions, it is not necessary to talk about the correspondence of the game to the mathematical model, which means that the basic strategy, as a tool for managing the game, is ineffective. The basic strategy works only in the area of ​​large numbers, in a long game, in the absence of resource restrictions. Moreover, in any game in a casino, in any game situation, when the player is significantly limited in resources or time, the solution that is optimal in terms of the mathematical expectation of the result is not the best. So, in Blackjack, if the player has the last bet in a situation of 15 points against 9 for the dealer, the surrender option becomes preferable to the hit option (take a card), which has a mathematical expectation of the result higher than -0.5 from a single bet . In Russian poker, when a player has a combination of a high rank, situations often arise when the "Insurance" bet becomes profitable and expedient for the player (when the dealer's probability of playing is less than 50%). At the same time, the value of the mathematical result of the option - the average expected result of the "Insurance" bet is positive and directly proportional to the value of the bet. Those. if the bet is profitable for the player, then the maximum allowable bet should be bet. Nevertheless, in conditions of limited resources, it is not advisable to bet "everything" on insurance - the risk of losing the bet and with it all the money remaining in the game is less than 50%, but at the same time, it is very high. Moreover, in Russian poker, situations where the Insurance bet is profitable occur regularly, but the frequency of such events is not so high, and even more so, it is not comparable to an infinite set.

    In the lottery: if the player is offered the option of taking a large cash prize immediately or doubling it if any number from two to six comes up during a roll of a six-sided dice. If one rolls out, the player loses the opportunity to receive a prize. Here, the chances of doubling the prize are much higher than the chances of losing it (5/6 vs. 1/6), therefore, the calculation of the mathematical expectation of all possible options will indicate the expediency of going for a dice roll with a chance of doubling the prize at the risk of losing it completely (1 .5 vs. 1):

    1. Get the prize immediately: the mathematical expectation of the result is 1 = 1 prize * probability 1 (100%);

    2. Take the risk 2*5/6+(-1)*1/6=9/6=1.5 (double prize with probability 5/6 or loss of prize with probability 1/6).

    But to consider this situation in the lottery as one of many random events is not correct, since this is a one-time event and is not one of many events, both in nature and in magnitude.

    Of course, when playing in a casino, you need to make the best use of every chance, every option, provided that it (the option or its result) occurs regularly, so often that you can talk about it as a random event from an infinite set.

    Despite the fact that the events in the casino have a pronounced nature of randomness, each of which is individually unpredictable, the entire set of random events in each individual game, repeating an infinite number of times (day after day, infinitely long), obeys a strict distribution law. The result of the game, however, is predictable and tends to the calculated expected value as the number of random events increases. This is the basis of the mathematical and statistical model of the game.

    In a casino, the laws of probability theory operate unquestioningly. The game of individual players, all casino players in the aggregate, the results of the game of the casino itself, as an institution, is subject to the same laws. It is on the laws of probability theory and mathematical statistics that the mathematical model of the casino is built. These laws protect the profitability and existence of the casino as a business.

    Not only players, but also casinos are subject to the risk of inconsistency of the mathematical model. Incorrectly chosen maximum bet limits, insufficient reserves, low attendance, the presence of several players whose game result determines or significantly affects the final result of the casino as a whole (for a certain period (day, month)) can put the casino in a situation where an average result is expected for a short period of time (a day or a month) is impossible. In order for a casino to bring a stable, positive result (income), it is necessary to take into account many factors, ranging from the rules of games, drawings and lotteries, bet limits and reserves, to the level of service, management, marketing and security. Casinos with an unstable, unbalanced structure of visitors, with betting limits not backed by assets (which do not allow playing a big game for a long period of time), operate under conditions of an increased risk factor, when the mathematical and probabilistic characteristics laid down by the rules of the games lose their significance, which can lead to both extra profits and problems securing (payments of) winnings. Casinos that do not conform to the mathematical model get into a situation where the outcome is unpredictable, which can lead to a situation where the existence of the business becomes dependent on the outcome of a random event.

Blackjack- a card game with simple rules between one or more players and the dealer, in which each player plays individually against the dealer. The game is played with one or more decks of 52 cards. Blackjack is considered to be the most popular table game in casinos around the world. When following the basic strategy, the house edge in blackjack is minimal, at only about half a percent, which makes this game the most profitable in the casino for players.

Glossary of blackjack terms

Dealer A representative of the casino against which the game is played. In an online casino, the process of distributing cards is automated. Hand

A set of cards held by a player or dealer. A blackjack hand consists of at least 2 cards.

Blackjack combination (Blackjack, BJ)

The best blackjack hand worth 21 points. Consists of an ace + any card worth 10 points. All possible options blackjack composition: A10, AJ, AQ, AK. This combination beats all other combinations, including any others that add up to 21 points.

Hard hand A hand that does not contain an ace. Example: K8, 23, 86 are hard hands. Soft hand All hands with an ace except blackjack. The peculiarity of a soft hand is that a player cannot bust by taking one card. Example: A2, A3, A5 - soft hands. Bust A situation in which the sum of points in the hand is more than 21 points. Means automatic loss for the player. Draw (Push or Stay) The situation in which the player and the dealer scored the same number of points. In this case, the bet is returned to the player. Winnings The entry “Winning is paid 1 to 1” means that the player doubles his money if he wins. Often on the tables you can find the inscription “Blackjack pays 3 to 2” (“Blackjack pays 3 to 2”) - it means that the player receives his bet + an amount 1.5 times higher than it, that is, the total winnings is 2.5 bets. Deal (deal cards) In an online casino, pressing this button starts a new distribution. Hit Deal one more card in order to increase the total score in the hand. If, after taking an additional card, the total points exceed 21, the player loses. Stand Do not draw a card. Means that the player is satisfied with the number of points in the hand. Double Double the bet. The option is available after the player has been dealt 2 start cards. After doubling, the player is immediately dealt one, the third card, and he will not be able to make more moves in the current round. Split Split a pair into 2 different hands. The option is available if the player was dealt a pair of cards of the same denomination (for example, 66, AA, 22). After doubling, the player places a bet equal to the original bet on the table, the original hand is split into 2, another card is dealt into each hand, and the player plays against the dealer with two separate hands. Surrender An option that allows the player to surrender in a round and receive half of their bet. Insurance (Insurance) An additional bet, equal in size to half the usual, which can be placed if the dealer's up card is an ace. If the dealer has a blackjack after opening the second card, then the player wins an amount that is 2 times the additional bet, but loses the main one. If the dealer does not have blackjack, then the insurance bet goes to the casino. Shoe In conventional casinos and online casinos with live dealers, a plastic tray containing decks of cards. The dealer deals cards from the shoe. Ten Tens in blackjack are abbreviated to all pictures and tens, that is, A, K, Q, J, 10. All these cards in blackjack have the same value - 10 points. A pair of tens is any of the following combinations: picture + picture, picture + ten, and a pair of tens.

The value of the cards in blackjack

Each card in blackjack has a certain value. The sum of the points of all the cards in a hand is called the value of the hand.

  • Ace– 11 points or 1 point depending on the situation. In general, it is worth 11 points. If the total amount of points in a hand with an ace counted by 11 is more than 21 points, then the ace counts as 1 point.
  • Kings, Queens, Jacks, Tens – 10 points
  • Cards from two to nine- respectively from 2 before 9 points.

The suits of the cards don't matter.

Example 1: You are dealt 7 diamonds and 2 spades. The strength of your hand = 9 points.

You took another card, which turned out to be a king. The total number of points in your hand = 19.

Example 2: You are dealt A6. A six is ​​worth 6 points, an ace is worth 1 or 11. The total number of points in your hand can have two possible values ​​- 7 or 17 depending on your further actions, and whether the hand with an ace will bust, counted by 11.

  • If you decide not to draw any more, your hand will be worth 17 points, since the total value of the hand is no more than 21.
  • Let's take the third card. She had another ace. Your hand is now A6A. The second ace in the hand always counts as 1 point., since 2 aces, if they are counted by 11 points, give a bust in total - 22 points. In our example, an ace-of-11 hand is still under 21, so the total value of the hand is 8 or 18 points. If we stop the set at this point, our hand will be worth 18 points.
    Let's take the fourth card. For example, she turned out to be a four. Our hand is A6A4. Now if we count the first ace as 11 points, we will have bust - 22 points. Therefore, from now on, both aces in our hand, no matter how many cards we still take, will be worth 1 point. Total hand value = 12.

Purpose of the game

Purpose of the game– beat the dealer in one of the following 2 ways:

  • dial large quantity points than the dealer, but not more than 21 points;
  • allow the dealer to score more than 21 points, while not allowing a bust in his hand.

If a player scores more than 21 points, this situation is called bust, and the winning side
the dealer is considered, and regardless of his hand. The same goes for the dealer. If the player has completed the set of cards and has scored 21 points or less in total, and the dealer has scored more than 21, the player wins.

If both the dealer and the player have an equal number of points (while neither of them has collected a blackjack combination), a draw is awarded, and the player receives his bet back.

If neither the dealer nor the player busts, the player with the most points in their hand wins.

Game progress

Before the start of the round, each player at the table makes a bet by placing chips in a specially delineated area on the gaming table.
Then the card distribution process begins. In an online casino, to start this process, you need to press the button "deal". Each player is dealt 2 cards face up, the dealer is also dealt 2, but one of them is face down.
Players make their moves first, then the dealer.

Player moves

Depending on the two starting cards that the player got, several scenarios are possible.

    1. If the player is lucky to collect blackjack (that is, score 21 points) with the help of the first two cards, and at the same time the dealer's open card is any card from two to nine, then the player is considered the winner of the distribution and he is paid a win in the ratio of 3 to 2 (in 1.5 times his stake).
    2. If the player hit blackjack with the first two cards, and the dealer's upcard is a 10, a picture, or an ace,
      that is, the possibility that the dealer will also collect blackjack. If he fails, then the player receives a 3 to 2 win, but if the dealer also collects blackjack, then a draw is counted and the player receives the bet back.
      In some varieties of blackjack, if the player has a blackjack and the dealer has an ace, the dealer offers the player even money (equal money)– get a win in the ratio 1:1 (instead of 3:2 in case the dealer fails to collect blackjack). If the player accepts this offer, then he receives a win and the round ends for him, regardless of the dealer's second card.
    3. If a player has not made a blackjack, then he must evaluate his hand and decide whether to take additional cards to improve his hand or not. The following actions are available to players:
      Hit (more card)- take another card. You can take as many cards as you want until the total value of the hand becomes equal to 21 or exceeds this value. Used if you think that the amount of points in your hand is not enough to win, and there is a risk that the dealer will score more points.
      Stand (enough)– stop a set of cards. In this case, the player remains with the same cards and the same amount of points until the end of the round. Used if you believe that the current value of your hand will be enough to win.
      Double(double the bet)- double the bet. After doubling, you will be dealt only one card. Used when you are sure that your hand is much stronger than the dealer's.
      Split- if you received 2 cards of the same value, for example 2 fives, then you can split your hand into two. In this case, both of your hands will play separately against one
      dealer hands. Accordingly, you will need to place an additional bet equal to the original one on the second hand. In some types of blackjack, you can split pairs a limited number of times. A pair of aces can only be split once in most casinos, although there are exceptions.
      Surrender (surrender)– in some versions of blackjack there is an option to surrender. In this case, the player gets half of his bet back. It is used if you think that the dealer's hand is much stronger than yours, and the risk of losing is high.
      Insurance- in the event that the dealer's open card is an ace, the player gets the opportunity to bet an insurance bet equal to half the normal bet that the dealer will collect blackjack - that is, the dealer's second card will be a ten or a picture.

As a rule, if the player has a total of 21 points as a result of taking the next card, the dealer moves on to the next player. If a player after taking new card the sum of points exceeds 21, then the player's bet goes in favor of the casino.

Dealer moves

After all players have completed their moves, it is the dealer's turn. Unlike the player, the dealer always plays standard. He is not allowed to double down, split pairs, or give up, besides, the dealer's moves are absolutely independent of the number of points in the hands of the players. In most versions of blackjack, the dealer is required to draw cards until he scores 17 or more. In different versions of the game, the rule may change whether the dealer should stop in a situation if he has A6 (that is, 7 or 17 points in his hand). Usually this rule is written on the game table.

Basic blackjack strategy

Blackjack is a fairly well studied game from a mathematical point of view. On the basis of numerous computer calculations, the so-called Basic Game Strategy has long been formed and established, which allows reducing the advantage of the casino in blackjack to only half a percent. Moreover, the application of the basic strategy, coupled with the technique of counting cards, may even give the player the opportunity to beat the casino in this game in some establishments. If you are new to blackjack, this section is highly recommended.

Table

The basic blackjack strategy table determines the optimal actions of the player in all situations that arise during the game. The table was compiled as a result of computer analysis of tens of millions of hands played. For the convenience of users, our site provides 2 versions of the table for playing blackjack. One is in Russian, the second is exactly the same, but in English. The presented table describes the player's actions in the most common version of blackjack in online casinos today.

How to use the table:

The left column shows the number of points in the player's hand, the top row shows the dealer's open card. We look at the number of points in our hand, find the corresponding value in the table, do the same with the dealer, find the intersection of these two values, and make a move.

Example 1. You are dealt 2 3. In total, these cards give you 5 points. Dealer's card - 3. Find the cell in the table that is at the intersection of these values.
The text in this cell tells us that we need to draw another card. We take 1 more card, which turns out to be a four. We have a total of 9 points. Again we look at the table, which tells us that this time we should double our bet. We double our bet.
In most varieties of blackjack in modern online casinos, after doubling the bet, the trading process stops, so regardless of the value of the next card that came out, we can no longer take any action. It remains to wait for the next card and compare the resulting combinations.

Example 2. You are dealt K J. The dealer's card is Q. All pictures (king, queen and jack), as well as tens in blackjack, have a value of 10 points. You have two pictures in your hands - a king and a jack, so we are looking for the value 10-10 in the left column. Having found it, we look in the upper column for the dealer's card - an ace. At the intersection of these two values ​​is a cell that tells us to stop.

Common Mistakes

Learning basic blackjack strategy is not difficult. Playing according to the table, after a few hundred hands played, you will remember most, if not all, of the moves of the basic strategy. However, in some situations, some players make mistakes, deviating from the optimal behavior.
Consider 2 situations in which players make mistakes most often.

  • The first very common mistake is refusal to take a card at 15 or 16 points. Suppose we are dealt 7 and 9, and in total we have 16 points. The dealer's card is 8. It would seem that we have already come quite close to 21 points, and a large number of cards from the deck will give us a bust. At the same time, the dealer himself can score more than 21 points. Therefore, many players, despite the fact that the basic blackjack strategy advises us to take another card, are afraid of busting and prefer to press Stand, hoping that the bust will be with the dealer. This is the wrong approach. Why? Let's look at this situation from a mathematical point of view. The problem with this hand is that you are already unlucky from the start. 16 points against the dealer's 7 to 11 point range is the most frustrating situation in blackjack. Most likely you won't be able to win this round, but you can reduce your loss in the long run if you follow the basic strategy.
    Here are some figures obtained as a result of computer simulation of this situation.
    If you do not draw a card with 16 points or less in your hand, you lose:
    • 74 percent of the time if the dealer's up card is 7
    • 76 percent of the time if the dealer has an upcard 8
    • 77 percent of the time if the dealer has a 9 or 10 upcard
    • 83 percent of the time if the dealer's up card is an Ace.

    In all these cases, the dealer scores 17 or more points and does not allow a bust.

    At the same time, if you have 16 points in your hand, the probability of busting in your hand in case of taking another card is 62 percent. That's a lot, but still less than the 74-83 percent chance of losing without drawing a card. On average, you will lose 48 rubles from every 100 bet if you do not take a card in situations where we have 16 or less and the dealer has 7 or more points. Taking a card in such situations reduces the average loss to 40 rubles. Therefore, basic blackjack strategy advises us to always take a card in such situations.

  • The second common mistake in blackjack is division of tens.
    Recall that tens in blackjack means not only tens, but also pictures, since they are also worth 10 points. That is, the combinations picture + picture, picture + ten, and a couple of tens all mean the same thing - a couple of tens.

    Suppose we are dealt a pair of tens, and the total value of our hand is 20 points. We actually have 2 reasonable options - not to draw a card, and split our hand into 2 hands, each of which will be ten points. Let's look at these 2 options from a mathematical point of view.
    Our advantage over the dealer when we have 20 points is much greater than if we have a ten against a five. If our starting hand contains 20 points, we win on average 70 rubles from the dealer out of every 100 bet. If we divide our 20 points into 2 hands of 10, then our winnings are reduced to only 43 rubles out of 100. We are still favorites, and we will win a lot of money in these situations, but our profit is significantly reduced compared to if we didn't share our hand. So in this case it is also recommended to follow the basic strategy.

There are still a lot of mistakes made by players who do not play according to the basic strategy, but within the framework of this article, we will limit ourselves to only these two most popular of them. The only way to avoid all errors is to follow the guidelines given in the table above.

Where to play blackjack online for money?

Today, the vast majority of online casinos use games from third-party developers. This means that the same game with exactly the same rules, graphics and design can be presented in several casinos. Therefore, it may seem to a beginner in the world of online gambling that there is no difference in which online casino to play blackjack for money. And yet, there is a difference. It lies primarily in the honesty and decency of the gambling operator, the availability of licensed games from leading developers, the speed with which winnings are withdrawn, the availability of a competent and prompt support service, and many other factors that are discussed in more detail in the article “Which online casino to play ? Online casino choice.”
From our side, we recommend the following casinos for playing blackjack:

1.Zigzag777

ZigZag777 online casino is a relatively new gambling establishment, founded in 2016, but during this time it has managed to win the hearts of many gamblers around the world. And there are reasons for this - a beautiful innovative website design, the ability to play both in a browser and through a mobile application and through a PC program, a polite and competent live chat that works 24/7 and is available in Russian, reliability and speed withdrawal, amazing selection of games.

Casino Zigzag777 constantly holds a variety of promotions, bonuses and tournaments to encourage new and existing players. If you are not yet registered at the Zigzag777 casino, our site offers you an exclusive no deposit sign up bonus – 20 free spins in Great Rhino + 50 rubles for mobile phone verification. In order to use the bonus, you need to follow this link, go through a quick registration at the casino and go to the casino's live chat. In addition, all new players have access to a 100% welcome bonus on their first deposit up to 24,000 rubles.

ZigZag777 online casino presents 32 varieties of blackjack, including the popular European, American, classic and live dealer blackjack games.

Particular attention should be paid to the version of blackjack called Premier Bonus Blackjack.

In this game, hints automatically appear at the bottom of the screen on how to play in a given game situation according to the basic strategy. In addition, one of the varieties of the game offers tempting side bets with payouts. 50 to 1, if you hit a blackjack consisting of AJ spades, 25 to 1 if you collect any suited blackjack from AJ, and also 5 to 2 in the event that you get any 2 suited cards in your starting hand.

2 Frank Casino

Frank online casino also features more than 30 types of blackjack, including dozens of Live Casino tables for every taste.
Of the unusual types of blackjack, we can note Sonya Blackjack by Yggdrasil, which imitates the game with a live dealer. The game is played according to the standard rules and has a realistic design.

If you don't have an account at Frank Casino yet, you can take advantage of the amazing first deposit offer from this establishment. Each new player can choose from four great gifts from Frank Casino - 175 free spins on the best slots, 2% cashback, double francs or a 100% first deposit bonus. To receive a bonus, you need to follow this link, select a bonus and make a deposit.

Blackjack in popular culture

And finally, a couple of funny moments. As we have already noted, blackjack is the most popular card game in the casino, and one of the most popular, along with poker, card games generally. Not surprisingly, this game has left a noticeable mark in popular culture. The phrase “I will build my own amusement park with blackjack and whores” became a popular meme, and the movie “Blackjack” attracted the attention of many people who want to get rich at the expense of casinos to this game.

That's all. If our article helped you understand the rules and strategy of playing Blackjack, please like it.

In contact with

There are several basic strategies for blackjack, and in this article we will try to consider the main ones. For example, such as the basic strategy. The fact is that there are only two hundred and seventy combinations in blackjack - all of them are collected in the blackjack strategy table. But you need to understand that no strategy will protect you from losing if you suddenly have catastrophic bad luck, but there are a few basic rules that will always help you avoid stupid mistakes.

Table of blackjack strategies with symbols

First of all, you should not use the “do not bust” tactic - many, having taken a ten, do not buy any more, and this is the main reason for their loss. This strategy reduces their chance of winning by as much as four percent, which is an unacceptable amount in Blackjack to win.

Many beginners master tactics - to repeat all the actions of the dealer, which is also fundamentally wrong. But if we look at the statistics of games, we will see that such tactics brought more losses than wins in the long run.

Here is a table of basic blackjack strategy. And the notation of the table.

  • H - Hit (draw another card),
  • S - Stand (pass, pass the move to the dealer),
  • D - Double (double the bet), if you cannot double, then just take another card,
  • Ds - Double (double the bet), if you cannot double, then pass,
  • P - Split (split cards),
  • H / P - Split (split cards), if you can double after splitting, otherwise - take a card,
  • H / R - Surrender (surrender) if allowed, otherwise draw a card,
  • A - Ace (ace, 1 or 11 points).

If you spend a couple of hours of your time to practice playing BlackJack in any online casino where you can play without registration, SMS, and opening a deposit, that is, absolutely free and without fear of spending extra money, then you can easily learn how to play in BlackJack with a profit for yourself, without even looking at the above blackjack strategy table.

Almost all decent online casinos have a demo version feature for all slot games, including online poker and online blackjack - this allows inexperienced players to fully master the game for maximum profit and not be afraid to try, apply different strategies and develop their own need. Study the table of strategies for playing blackjack, play and win, because the world of gambling has become much closer to you over the past decade.

“For more than half a century, I have been most often asked whether it is still possible to beat the casino using the strategies described in the book “Beat the Dealer”. And despite the fact that time runs, the answer to this question remains in the affirmative. By using this book, you can quickly learn how to play in favorable cases with odds close to even without even counting the cards. By mastering the basic skills of card counting, you can gain a modest advantage. Those gifted readers who are not afraid of the difficulties of training and the practical application of what they have learned will be able to reach a professional level. Beat the Dealer has sold over a million copies, and thousands of readers have told me how it affected them. Some have used it as an enrichment aid. Others were more interested in the stories told in it and the opportunity to look into the secrets of the world of gambling. Readers in mathematics, science, and engineering were interested in learning about innovative ways to use computer programming and probability theory. What I love the most are the stories of readers who applied what they learned from this book to the world outside the casino. Blackjack bankrolls spawned equestrian syndicates, stock trading firms, and investment fund managers. The method of determining the size of bets in each situation, which I used and popularized in connection with blackjack, is now used by investors, brokers and asset managers in the stock and debt markets. (E. Thorp)

* * *

The following excerpt from the book Beat the Dealer: A Winning Blackjack Strategy (Edward Thorpe, 1966) provided by our book partner - the company LitRes.

4. Winning strategy

Gambling players quickly learn from experience that these games can be arranged in such a way that one side has a certain "percentage" advantage over the other. That is, with a sufficiently large number of game rounds (“on a long-term scale”), the payoff of the side with such an advantage usually approaches a certain fixed fraction of the sum of all bets made by the opponent of this side. Modern gambling houses participate in their games on the side, the advantage of which is known from practice. If necessary, casinos change the rules of the game so that their advantage is sufficient to recover costs and provide the desired rate of return on capital invested in casinos by their owners.

The total amount of bets made can be called the "turnover" of the player. For example, if I bet 3, 2 and 11 dollars, I will have 16 dollars "in circulation". A player with a certain amount of capital can usually have funds in circulation that are many times greater than this amount, until he eventually loses all his capital to the institution. This is what makes gambling so interesting.

Disadvantages of common gaming systems

Attempts to overcome the advantage of the casino were made repeatedly. A commonly used approach is to vary the bet sizes from one game to the next according to a variety of techniques, sometimes simple and sometimes quite intricate. For example, a player playing the "small martingale" system, also known as "doubling systems", may make an initial bet of, say, $1.00. If he loses, he bets $2 next time. Then he bets $4, $8, $16, and so on, doubling down to the first win. After that, the procedure is repeated anew, starting with a dollar bet. Each bet placed after a losing streak is equal to the sum of all losses in that streak plus one dollar. The winning bet is either a dollar or a bet made after a losing streak. Thus, each win brings 1 dollar of net profit, counting from the previous win, and such a player wins a dollar every few bets. However, this system has one drawback. The casino always limits the size of the maximum bet. Let's say the limit is $500 and we start with a $1 bet. In the event of a nine loss streak (on bets of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 and 256 dollars), the next bet under the “doubling system” must be equal to 512 dollars, which is not allowed by the rules.

In practice, it turns out that such maximum bet limits allow the casino to win the same percentage of turnover that they usually win, even if the player uses the doubling system. Thus, the doubling system does not give the player any advantage. Other, more complex game systems appear to have the same drawback. Therefore, it is not surprising that it was subsequently proved, based on the mathematical theory of probability, that for most common gambling games it is impossible to develop a betting system that would in any way change the long-term advantage of the casino.

Among the games for which this assertion has been proven are games that mathematicians classify as "processes with independent trials" (such as craps and roulette). This term means that the result of each game is not influenced by previous results and does not itself affect future results. Imagine, for example, that we shuffle a deck of cards and draw one card from it - let it be the four of spades. Now let's return the card to the deck and again carefully shuffle it. If we draw a card again, the probability that it will again be a four of spades is no more and no less than the probability of drawing any of the remaining 51 cards. As the common saying goes, "maps have no memory."

The Importance of Experience Interdependence in Blackjack

Unlike the previous case in blackjack played in the casino, the cards have memory! What happens in one round of the game can affect both the next and further rounds of the game. Therefore, blackjack can be excluded from the scope of mathematical reasoning, which excludes the existence of profitable gaming systems for games with independent experiences.

Suppose, for example, that in the first hand, all four aces come out of a fresh, carefully shuffled deck. At the end of this round, the used cards are placed face up under the deck, after which the next round is dealt from the remaining unused cards. There can be no aces in this second round; this means there will be no blackjacks, no soft hands, no splitting pairs of aces (splitting a pair of aces is extremely beneficial for the player). This situation of playing without aces (which, as we will see later, reduces the player's advantage by an average of almost 3%) is maintained in all subsequent hands until the deck is reshuffled and the aces come into play again.

A few years ago, in one of the casinos, they began to remove four tens and one nine from the deck. Our calculations show that this gives the casino an edge of 2.5%. The Nevada State Board of Gaming Control discovered this scam and called the casinos to account. As a result, the license of this casino was revoked. However, this court case had one funny but instructive aspect. There were people in the administration of the casino the highest degree practical, but not having the slightest idea of ​​​​the theory. They knew that such a thinned deck was beneficial to them, but they did not know how much. Therefore, they could not answer the damning statement of the forensic scientist, who claimed that they had reduced the advantage of the player not by 2.5, but by 25%!

Taking Advantage of Opportunities

The winning strategies presented in this book rely primarily on the fact that as the composition of the deck changes during the game, the levels of house edge and the blackjack player's edge change in different directions. The advantage of one side or the other often exceeds 10%, and in some cases even reaches 100%. We keep track of the cards used in the first round of the game. The fact that these cards are now out of the deck generally increases or decreases the house edge in the second round deal that is made from the reduced deck.

In subsequent hands from an ever-shrinking deck, as the edge fluctuates between the player and the house, we bet larger when the player has the advantage and very small bets when the advantage is at side of the casino. As a result, the player usually wins most profitable big bets and, although he can lose most small bets in unfavorable situations, he ends up making a significant profit.

Here is one of the very concrete examples of a profitable situation that can be found by carefully counting the played cards. Let's assume that you are playing heads-up with the dealer, that is, there are no other players at the table except you. Let's also assume that you have carefully watched the played cards and know for sure that the unused cards that can be dealt in the next round are two sevens and four eights. How much should you bet? Answer: Make the maximum bet allowed at this casino. You can even borrow if necessary, because you will definitely win if you just settle for the two cards you are dealt.

Let's analyze this situation. If you stop at the first two cards, you will definitely not bust - for now, your position is safe. The dealer's hand can be (7, 7), (7, 8) or (8, 8). Since its sum is less than 17, the dealer is obliged to buy. If he has (7, 7), then there are no more sevens in the deck, and the dealer will inevitably buy an eight and get a bust. If he has (7, 8) or (8, 8), he will go over if he buys a seven or an eight, and there are no other options. So the dealer busts and you win.

This brings us to the central problem that I had to solve in my analysis of blackjack: how can a player generally evaluate a partially used deck to determine if a given situation is profitable for him, and if so, how much? This problem was solved by several questions put to the IBM 704 high-speed computer. The first question was this: suppose that blackjack is played with a deck from which only four aces have been removed. What is the player's optimal strategy in such a situation and what is the advantage of the house (or the player)? In other words, the computer had to do exactly the same thing that it did when developing the basic strategy, but with one difference. This time the problem had to be solved for a deck that was missing four aces.

The result is interesting. When playing with a deck that lacks four aces, the casino has a 2.42% advantage over the player playing according to the optimal strategy. It would seem that the removal of four aces should affect the situation much more than the removal of any other four cards, since aces play a unique role in blackjack. They are essential for blackjack and soft hands, and a pair of aces is the most advantageous in terms of splitting. Whenever aces appear in the game, they seem to help the player. Therefore, some players may assume that fluctuations in the number of aces in the deck should have a much larger effect than fluctuations in the content of any other cards, and that one should simply separately track what happens to the aces. However, we will see later that the value of aces is not so overwhelming.

The computer was then asked to alternately calculate the player's advantage and the house's edge, given the optimal strategy for playing a deck that had four deuces, four treys, and so on removed. The results for these and some other special decks are shown in Table 4.1. The corresponding optimal strategies have also been calculated, but are not given here for the sake of space.

From table 4.1 it follows that a lack of cards with values ​​from 2 to 8 can give a player an advantage, and a relative excess of such cards can hurt him. On the contrary, the lack of nines, tens and aces should be harmful to the player, and their excess should be good for him. Several different winning strategies can be developed based on counting cards of one or more types. One of the simple and reliable winning strategies is based on counting fives. It is described in detail in the remainder of this chapter. The reader who finds the basic strategy in Chapter 3 difficult should use the five-counting strategy as their first winning blackjack strategy in the future.

However, the reader who has easily mastered the basic strategy is advised to use the scoring strategy presented in the next chapter as the first winning strategy of the game. It has numerous advantages over the five-counting strategy, with only a slight increase in complexity. Such a reader probably does not need extensive training in the use of the five-counting strategy. However, since the various discussions later in this chapter are relevant to the strategies that follow, this chapter should be carefully read and understood even by players intending to use stronger strategies.

First winning strategy: counting fives

Table 4.1 shows that the removal of four cards of the same value from the deck most significantly changes the relative advantage of the player and the house in the event of the removal of all four fives. This effect is even stronger than if all four aces were removed. More importantly, removing four fives gives the player a 3.6% advantage.

Assume that the partially played deck does not contain fives, but contains enough cards for the next round of the game, that is, that there will be no fives in the next round. It can be shown that such a situation can be considered mathematically identical to the situation in which cards are dealt from a full deck in which all four fives are missing. Without trying to give a full explanation of this fact, we only note that in this way, if the player knows that fives cannot appear in the next round of the game, and follows the strategy that we will call "counting fives", he gets an advantage of 3 in this round of the game. .6% as shown in Table 4.1.

The strategy for counting fives is outlined in Table 4.2. Its format is the same as that of Table 3.5.

Note that the 5-counting strategy is very close to the basic strategy for a full deck, which makes it easier to remember. In particular, it should be noted that the soft stop amounts remain the same, in all cases of doubling the bet in the basic strategy, doubling is done in the five-counting strategy, and the same is true for splitting pairs, except that a pair of sixes is not split if the open the dealer's card is a seven.

As a matter of fact, when all fives are out of the game, you can safely use only the modified hard stop amounts, and otherwise play in accordance with the basic strategy. The errors associated with this mainly concern a few cases in which you may miss the opportunity to split a pair or double down. Their effect is very small. The advantage of the player decreases in this case from 3.6 to 3.4%. I recommend this technique so as not to overload your memory. In all calculations and discussions concerning the method of fives, we will use this “simplified strategy of fives”.


Table 4.1. Player or house advantage for some special decks


Table 4.2. Optimal strategy for the case where we only know that no fives can come up in the next round of the game

Outline now a simple technique, which allows you to win blackjack in the casino. Start with "small" bets and use the standard strategy. Watch the cards being played and keep track of the appearance of fives. When you see that all four fives are out of the game, make sure that the next round will be completely dealt from the remaining cards in the deck and therefore no fives can appear.

You must now place your bet before the next round of cards are dealt. However, you know that no matter what bet you make, you have an edge in excess of 3%. Therefore, make a “large” bet compared to the previous ones. After the cards are dealt, use the simplified fives strategy.

We advised to make a big bet and use the simplified fives strategy if all fives were out of the game before some round of the game was dealt. However, it may happen that some fives will remain in the deck at the beginning of the distribution of the next round, but all of them will appear in this round. Once this happens, the player should switch to using the simplified fives strategy. For example, suppose he is dealt a hard 7 and the dealer's up card is a deuce. Let's also assume that when a player buys, he gets the last remaining five. Now he has a hard 12 in his hand. According to the basic strategy, he should buy. However, the fives strategy is now in effect, and in accordance with it, the player must stop.

This rule should be considered an additional clarification; it is not so significant in terms of winning using the fives strategy. It improves the player's chances of winning some small bets, namely some of the bets placed at the beginning of the round in which the last fives appear.

Suppose you continue to bet large when Q(5) = 0 and small bets at all other times throughout a large number distributions. In those situations in which you make large bets, you win on a long-term scale by more than 3%. On small stakes, you lose at around -0.2%. If the big bets are large enough compared to the small bets, and profitable situations develop often enough, winning on big bets should not only compensate for the loss on small bets, but also bring a good profit.

For completeness of this description, it is necessary to give detailed answers to several questions.

1) How can you determine if there are enough remaining cards for the next round of the game?

2) How often do advantageous situations arise?

3) How big should be more small bets?

4) How fast can you earn money this way?

5) How big is the risk of such a game?

6) What should be the initial capital?

We will address these issues in the order in which they are listed.

card counting

To check if there are enough remaining cards, you can act several different ways. The most reliable way is to simply count the cards used in the game. For example, after each round of the game, you can say something to yourself like "11 cards came out, we saw two fives." All used cards should be considered "out", but fives should be counted only if you saw them. For example, if a card is demolished, it must be taken into account regardless of whether you saw it or not. You may not see some of the cards used in the game. However, if you miss any played cards in your scoring, some of them may turn out to be fives, in which case you may miss out on some advantageous situations. For example, suppose that after some round you see that 17 cards have come out of the game and three fives have been used. Let's also assume that another five has been demolished, but you don't know it. Then, as far as you know, one five can still appear in the game; therefore, you make a small bet and miss the opportunity to use a profitable situation.

If the dealer doesn't usually reveal a discarded card, it may make sense for you to ask him to show it. Sometimes it can be difficult to determine whether or not to contact the dealer with such a request. This should not be done if you think that the casino may suspect that you are playing one of our winning strategies, as the countermeasures that the casino may take in this case will cost you more than not knowing the discarded card.

If, according to the rules of the casino, the last card of the deck is not used, it should be included in the calculation from the very beginning. This is because the number of cards dealt, when subtracted from 52, should give the number of cards still to be played. Table 4.3 gives a rough idea of ​​when the remaining number of cards may be sufficient for the next round.

Not only does card count tell the player if there are enough unused cards for the next round, but it also provides other benefits. First, practicing card counting prepares you for the stronger but more complex winning systems that are presented in the following chapters. Secondly, such a count is an invaluable means of detecting cheating, since one of the most common cheating tricks is to remove one or more cards from the deck. Here you can ask if the casinos are also trying to put extra cards in the deck. When two or more decks are used, this is easy to do. I have only seen one instance of such an attempt using a single deck. This approach is unsafe. Imagine the surprise and fury of a player who opens his hand and finds that both of his cards were not just fives, but fives of spades!


Table 4.3. Conditions for the probable sufficiency of the deck for a full round of the game, depending on the number of cards used


Card counting also often reveals another well-known cheating trick called "turnover". Although this name accurately describes it, it has nothing to do with a sweet pie. When using a weak variety of turnover, the dealer monitors whether the first half of the deck gives a significant advantage to the house. If this is not the case, he continues the game in the normal way in the hope that the second half will be more favorable. If the cards of the first half of the deck are beneficial to the casino, he secretly turns the deck over so that the used cards are on top and are played again in the second half of the game. The dealer, who uses a strong variation of the turnover, collects the used cards of the first half of the deck after each draw and puts them in a pile. After using about half of the deck, he flips it over and starts dealing out the previously stacked cards!

An unsuspecting player usually doesn't remember cards they've already seen in play. However, if the number of cards in the used part of the deck is different from 26, the card counting player will think that the deck does not contain 52 cards, but twice the number of cards in such a used part of it. Moreover, even if the used part contains exactly 26 cards, such fraud can still be detected, unless it contains two fives. The player counting fives will also notice that their total number in the deck is equal to twice the number of fives in the used part of the deck.

A reader who does not wish to count used cards may use a less accurate method of determining the number of cards still in play. It can be applied if the dealer checks how much is left before the end of the deck. To do this, the dealer slightly shifts the lower cards forward so that their upper edges appear. Used face-up cards appear "whiter" than unused ones - if the unused face-down cards do not have margins that make their edges appear white as well. Comparing the thickness of these two parts of the deck makes it easy to estimate the number of unused cards left.

If you have a deck with no brimless backs, flip a portion of it face up and place the rest of the cards on top. Now tilt the deck by pushing the bottom cards slightly forward. A clearly visible dividing line should appear between the two parts of the deck. From it you can estimate the number of cards in each of the parts. With a little practice, you can achieve considerable skill. Doing the same with a deck whose card backs have white margins is more difficult, since a clear dividing line does not appear.

The following warm-up experiment can be done with any deck; it should show you that estimating the number of cards in some part of the deck is not that difficult. First of all, trim the deck by tapping its end on a flat table. Then try to divide the deck into two equal parts. If necessary, move several cards from one part to another so that they appear equal. Don't put both stacks of cards on the table to compare their heights - this makes the experiment meaningless. Its purpose is to teach you how to estimate the number of cards by eye. After several attempts, you will find that if you are wrong, then only occasionally and no more than one or two cards. Many can quickly learn to accurately cut the deck in half almost every time.

Improvements to the Fives Counting Method

Suppose you are counting not only the number of fives remaining in the game, but also the total number of cards that have not yet appeared. Then you can evaluate the "wealth" or "poverty" of the deck in fives. For example, to do this, you can divide the number of remaining U cards by the number of remaining fives F. In a full deck, U / F \u003d 13. If U / F is greater than 13, the deck can be considered poor in fives. In the limiting case, when there are no fives in the deck, F = 0, and the U/F ratio does not make sense. But you already know what to do in this case.

How more value U/F, the bigger your advantage. For example, with U/F = 26, the player's advantage is about 1.9% (that is, it is in the middle between 0.13% and 3.58%). In this case, you should put 2 or 3 units.

If U/F is less than 13, the deck is rich in fives. Then the casino has the advantage and you should make small bets.

The use of the U/F value is advantageous in that it allows many additional advantageous situations to be discovered and exploited. This technique works with any number of decks without any changes.

The frequency of occurrence of profitable situations

The speed of winning money depends on the frequency of occurrence of profitable situations, taking into account the number of players at the table. This dependence is shown in Table 4.4.

It is clearly seen that the advantage of the player using the fives strategy increases in games with no more than five players.


Table 4.4. Change in the number of known advantageous situations when counting only fives depending on the number of players

Variation of bet sizes

To the question "How big should be more than small bets?" instinctively you want to answer “As far as possible”, since it is large bets in favorable situations that provide profit. However, some additional circumstances must be taken into account.

End of introductory segment.

Blackjack strategies

While playing this interesting game Like Blackjack, the player must be aware that his final success depends not only on luck, but also on a pre-selected game strategy. There are many such strategies, but I would like to highlight the basic - the only strategy, the game according to which the advantage of the gambling house over you is reduced to only 0.5%.

How to play this game:

1. Basic Blackjack Strategy

So many players follow simple rules, according to which they try to reduce the probability of their loss, i.e. search. For example, many, having received 12 points in their hands, are afraid of getting 10 (and this is not surprising, because 10 points is the most frequently encountered card), so they decide to pass. But such a strategy will not bring profit in the long run. The fact is that playing on it, we reduce the probability of winning by 4%.

Let's get acquainted with the table of the basic strategy of the game, which shows the order of actions when various options alignment.

As you can see, each option is calculated. At the same time, I repeat, the casino will have an advantage over you of only 0.5%. That is, the probability of his winning is 50.25%, and the probability of your winning is 49.75%. It's even better than playing roulette.

So, let's give a few examples for a better understanding. Begin new game, and we get a ten and a six in the distribution. At the same time, the dealer has a ten (as shown in the first screen). We look at the table and find the intersection of line 16 (ten plus six) with column 10. We are recommended to give up. Well, let's do that. In this case, we get back half of our bet.

As you can see from the second screen, we did the right thing. After all, the dealer had a blackjack combination. We would have completely lost our bet.

As you can see, everything is simple and clear. Using such a strategy, you can not only increase the chances of winning, but also reduce the likelihood of losses.

2. Blackjack doubling strategy

This blackjack strategy is quite similar to the well-known martingale strategy. which is used in roulette (see Martingale in roulette), as well as in bookmakers and other gambling games. And if the martingale is not effective enough in sports, as well as in roulette, then doubling up comes to fruition in blackjack.

The main point of the strategy is to double the bet after the next loss, and return to the original bet size after each win. Three conditions are necessary for such a game – a table with an unlimited maximum bet, impressive game capital and iron nerves, coupled with good endurance. As a result of playing according to this strategy, even after three losses and one subsequent win, the player will be in the black.

So, let's look at a simple example. We have 20 dollars. The minimum bet on the table is 2 cents, the maximum is $1. Of course, the bet is limited, however, we will be able to double up as many as 6 times. Let's consider this case in more detail.

First distribution. We put 2 cents. As you can see on the screenshot, we had a bust. We lost. The final balance is $19.98.

Well, let's not despair. We continue to play. But now the bet size is 4 cents. Again, we were unlucky - the dealer had a blackjack. Balance is now $19.94

This is just the beginning. Our next bet is 8 cents. And we were able to win. Dealer overkill. As you can see on the screenshot, the final balance was $20.02. That is, we increased it by the initial bet size.

That's the whole strategy. The main thing is not to flirt and keep a cool head while playing at high stakes. Someday, but the win will happen.

In general, the theme of Martingale in gambling is very common. There are many theories and options for action. All the most interesting and effective methods I recommend reading the article: Martingale in roulette. where 6 different options are disassembled.

3. Hilo System in Blackjack

This strategy is also quite common. Its simplicity allows even beginners to enjoy the benefits. True, it is suitable only for real casinos, or for single-deck Blackjack. So what is its meaning?

Hilo's strategy is to count cards. First, the player must remember that each card must have its own number. All picture cards plus the ace and ten should be taken as -1 points. each nine, eight or seven is taken as 0. and all other cards are taken as +1. The player, receiving cards, must carry out calculations by adding or subtracting the values ​​​​assigned to the cards.

Depending on what number the player will get, he must pass or bet. For example, if he gets +5, this means that there are still many tens left in the deck, so you can continue to play. In situations where the sum becomes negative, Hilo offers to pass.

But there are several nuances here. Firstly, you can play using such a system only in real casinos, and not online. Indeed, in online establishments, cards are shuffled after each distribution, which nullifies all calculations.

Secondly, the system will work most simply and accurately in single-deck blackjack. With an increase in the number of decks, it will be necessary to apply a formula according to which the amount received is divided by the number of decks.

If all these conditions are met, then the game becomes simple - with a negative value of the amount, it is better not to take risks, but with a positive value, the probability of winning increases.

As you can see, the system is easy to use, and brings a small but stable profit at a distance, however, a combination of many circumstances is necessary for a successful game on it.

4. System 1-3-2-6

Another rather interesting and simple blackjack strategy is the 1-3-2-6 system, which is quite similar to the Paroli system.

In simple words, the system works in accordance with its name. If the card goes and you win, then you need to increase the bet as many times as indicated in the name of the system.

For example, a player has a certain bank. Let's say his minimum bet is one dollar. So the game begins. The player bets one dollar and wins.

The next bet is already in the amount of $3. If he wins again, then the bet will be $2.

If the player is lucky this time, the next bet will be $6. And here comes an interesting point - the next bet does not depend on the outcome of this distribution. The circle ends, so in any case, the player must bet one dollar.

In addition, he must return to the original bet after each loss.

Using such a strategy, although it is quite risky, can bring good profits. For example, if a player wins four times in a row, then his initial bet will increase by 12 times.

And although the probability of such an event is quite low, some beginners may try to hit the jackpot, but professional players use slightly different strategies.

This strategy belongs to the category of competent money management. Those. achieve the maximum benefit through different rates. For those who like to play and have fun, the 1-3-2-6 system will bring pleasure to the game and a lot of excitement. At the same time, the chances of success are quite high.

5. Chase in Blackjack

This strategy of playing blackjack is based on the fact that before the start of the game the player determines the size of the smallest and largest bet per hand. For example, his game bank is $100. And the player decides that the minimum bet will be $1 and the maximum bet will be ten.

On the first hand, he bets the minimum amount. The size of the further bet depends on whether the party is winning or losing. In a situation where the player wins, he bets the maximum bet, in our case, $10. And this bet will be until he loses.

After each losing bet, the minimum value is set - in our case it is 1 dollar.

The essence of the strategy is that during the white winning streak, the winnings will be large (10% of the pot per hand), but the black losing streak will not bring significant losses (only 1% per hand).

Although this strategy is considered quite risky by many professionals, it often turns out to be effective and effective.

This system can be easily modified in terms of reasonableness. For example, if you have won 4 times in a row, then it is better not to bet $ 10 again on 5 times in a row, since the probability of winning will already be very small. Or make another rule. After two wins in a row, do not bet big. Each player chooses this for himself, depending on his psychology and passion.

6. Careful pursuit

This BlackJack strategy is very similar to the pursuit strategy, but it has its own characteristics.

So, before starting the game, the player must allocate three types of bets in his bank - the maximum possible, the minimum possible, and also the average. Let's take a $100 bank as an example. In this case, $1 would be the minimum bet, $5 would be the average, and $10 would be the maximum.

The game can be started with any bet. Each loss means that the player must return to the minimum bet, but the player's actions after winning are the difference between this strategy. After the first win, the player must wager $10, i.e. maximum bid. If the win happens for the second time, the player must place an average bet. On the third and subsequent wins, the player must bet the minimum bet.

This type of behavior is explained by the fact that with each new win, the probability of the next one decreases. Therefore, this strategy allows you to further reduce the likelihood of losing a large amount of money.

In another way, this strategy looks like this: minimum ($1), maximum ($10), average ($5), minimum ($1) until the first loss. And the main condition is victory.

No matter how you contrive with bets, you should not forget that the advantage of the casino in the long run will still make itself felt. Therefore, forget about a stable income, this is just a passion that can bring a win.

The ideal option for making money on blackjack is the option in which the player combines both a financial strategy with a basic strategy. Those. he looks both at the probability of winning in each individual game, and at the competent management of his capital.