Blackjack is a game with a an illustrious history. First played in France where its name Vingt et Un gives a clue to its rules, it wasn’t until it reached the US in the 18th century that it was renamed as blackjack.
It earned this name because of an incentive offered by the earliest casinos to adopt the game. If the winning hand was an ace of spades along with either a jack of clubs or spades, the payout would be 10-1 instead of the standard 3-2 used today.
Obviously, this incentive is long gone, but the principle of the game is exactly the same.
Briefly put, you play against the dealer with the objective to get as near as possible to scoring 21 with your cards, ideally scoring 21 with two cards. Aces can count as one, or eleven. The dealer deals two cards to themselves and the player. One of the dealer’s cards is face up, the other face down. Both of the player’s cards are face up.
As the player you can decide to either hit if you want another card, or cards, or stand if it’s already a good hand. Then the dealer turns their second card face up and goes through the same process. They, however, have to keep on hitting until their cards reach 17 or higher.
At the end of each round the individual the closest to 21 wins.
Learning the basic strategy
The first of the basic strategies to master is called, confusingly, the Basic Strategy. This comes in the form of a series of table, mathematically calculated, to show whether it’s better to hit or stand in any given situation.
There’s no easy way round simply memorising these tables – although if you’re choosing to play on an app you can easily keep them by your side and refer to them while you play.
In-play strategies
Before we move on to specific moves to deploy in given situations, there are certain aspects of blackjack strategy to understand. The first of these is when to hit and when to stand and you will get all the information you need to do this effectively when you’ve mastered the Basic Strategy. For example, if your hand is between 12 and 16 while the dealer’s up card is between a 7 and an ace then hitting is a good move.
But if they are showing between a 2 and a 6 then standing and hoping they bust would be the best option.
Splitting is something that you can do if the cards you are holding is either a pair or two picture cards. Opinions are divided – no pun intended – about whether this is always a good idea. But it can help to turn a weak hand into two potentially stronger ones. If you have a pair of 8s, most experts would recommend splitting as 16 is a bit of a middling position – not near enough to 21 but risking going bust if you hit.
Doubling down is something that some casinos let you do. So if you have a particularly good-looking hand you may be allowed to double your stake before the dealer enters the round.
Some specific examples
There are certain circumstances when it’s generally going to be in your favour if you choose to double down or split. Here are just a few of them.
Double down if the first two cards add up to 11. Statistically speaking you stand a very good chance of beating the dealer, especially if the particular game rules say they must stand on 17.
You should also double down when you’re holding a two-card 10 and the dealer’s up card is 9 or less. This is a particularly easy rule to remember, and one which promises to pay dividends when it’s applied.
When it comes to splitting your hand there are also some hard and fast rules that should be followed to give yourself the best chance of success.
The first is to never split a pair of 5s. Having two initial cards that only add up to 10 gives you plenty of room to hit at least once more in a bid to get close to 21.
The second is to always spilt if you have a pair of 2s or 3s. Because you are beginning from a low base, it offers the chance to double down once you start hitting more cards and building up your score.
Finally, a word about insurance. Some casinos let you take this out to protect you in the event of the dealer getting blackjack. That’s because the payoff of 2-1 is lower than the odds that the dealer will get blackjack.
With practice and experience you’ll get more used to the strategies of blackjack and how to make the most of them – and hopefully you’ll also be winning hands and having fun on the way.