Monday, March 15, 2010

Blackjack - Part Two - Decisions, Decisions

Once the starting cards have been dealt, each player must decide what to do, based on their hand and that of the dealer's.

Should a player bust while playing their hand, the dealer will immediately collect their cards and bets.

After all players have finished playing their hands, the dealer turns over his hole (face down) card, and plays out his hand, which is always done according to the house rules; he cannot choose for himself. In these examples, we'll use two rules that are commonly found at casinos on the Strip in Las Vegas, and at many online casinos. I'll cover variations in later posts.

The dealer must draw cards to his hand until:
  • he has a total of 17 or more.
  • he busts.
If the dealer busts, all players still in the game (not busted) win their hands. Otherwise, he will end up with a final total between 17 and 21. Those players whose hands total more than the dealer's are winners and receive even money on their bets. If the player's and dealer's total are the same, it's a push and no money changes hands. Otherwise, the dealer wins.

Making the right choice when playing a blackjack hand does affect your chances of winning, sometimes dramatically. Playing accurate basic strategy is most definitely your best bet. A regular player will want to memorise the entire strategy, but for now, we'll start with the simplest decisions and work up from there.

Today, we'll just consider when to stand.

If you have a hard total (that is to say, where you don't have an ace worth 11 in your hand) of 17 or more, or a soft total (where you do have an ace worth 11 in your hand) of 19 or more, ALWAYS stand, no matter what the dealer has. When playing online, there'll be a button onscreen marked STAND, but if you were playing in Vegas, you'd indicate you wish to stand by waving your hand, palm down, above your cards without touching them.

You should also stand:
  • if you have a hard total of 12, and the dealer has 4, 5 or 6.
  • if you have a hard total between 13 and 16, and the dealer has 6 or less.
There is just one special case, where you have a total of 18, and we'll look at that when we discuss splitting and doubling.

Easy, right? Of course it is; blackjack is not a difficult game to learn, and it's lots of fun.

Tomorrow: when to hit. See you then.