Blackjack House Edge Without Basic Strategy
Blackjack House Edge Without Basic Strategy 7,7/10 9923 reviews
- Blackjack House Edge Without Basic Strategy For Dummies
- Blackjack Basic Strategy Practice
- Basic Strategy Blackjack Test
The house edge percentage in blackjack is 0.5%. This is determined by players effectively using basic blackjack strategy but will alter based on how well a strategy is executed. For more experienced players who use advanced blackjack strategies, the house edge can be reduced further towards zero. Most blackjack games have a house edge of between 0.5% and 1%, placing blackjack among the cheapest casino table games from the perspective of the player. Casino promotions such as complimentary match play vouchers or 2:1 blackjack payouts allow the player to acquire an advantage without deviating from basic strategy. The answer is yes, they change very slightly in favor of the player with the house edge against a basic strategy player in a typical 6-deck game reduced by about 0.1%. The reason the CSM causes the house edge to go down ever so slightly is because of a phenomena known as the “cut card effect” (this increases the probability slightly of getting tens and blackjack when a CSM is used).
Basic strategy for online blackjack games
If you don’t know basic strategy, you don’t know how to play real money blackjack. Without it, you cannot expect to enjoy the lowest possible house edge. Let us show you how blackjack strategy works, complete with play charts for some of the best online 21 games at Australia’s top real money casinos.
Best casino sites for online blackjack
Bonus
Pokies
Availability
300+
400+
400+
Each of the online casinos above is officially licensed, fully regulated and 100 per cent legal for Australian blackjack players over the age of 18. They support numerous AUD banking methods for instant deposits and fast withdrawals, including VISA, MasterCard, POLi, Neteller, Skrill, Paysafecard and direct bank transfers. All games on offer at these sites, including both RNG-based digital 21 and live dealer blackjack tables, are audited and tested several times a year by third-party regulators such as eCOGRA (eCommerce Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance), so there is no need to doubt whether they are safe, fair and honestly run.
What is basic strategy in blackjack?
Many casino games don’t offer players the scope to improve their odds of success through skill and smarts. Popular pursuits such as online baccarat, real money roulette and especially the pokies are beasts of pure chance where all a punter can do is put down a bet and hope for the best.
In blackjack, however, players can control their destiny to some degree by choosing when to stand, hit, double down, split, or surrender. It is still a game of chance, and there is no way to completely overturn the house edge (besides counting cards, which is a pointless ploy when playing online), but knowing the right move for each and every scenario means we can give ourselves the best possible odds of winning.
That’s what basic strategy is: a list of preset plays that describe what to do for any given situation in a hand of real money 21. Each move is calculated to provide the most likely route to success in accordance with the specific rules in play and how they affect probability, expected returns and true odds. All we have to do is read the charts, memorise the plays and put them in action.
Best strategies for online blackjack games
While most Australian, American and European blackjack games have much in common, the vast array of rule variations in 21 means the ideal strategy can differ from game to game. That being said, blackjack strategy sheets are not hard to find – a simple Google search will do the trick – and there are a number of strategy calculators on the web that will show you the right plays for any set of rules.
Below are the proper basic strategies for some of the most popular online and mobile blackjack games, all of which are available at our approved safe casino sites for Australians. These charts were formulated with the assistance of the excellent blackjack strategy calculator devised by gambling guru Michael Shackleford (Wizard of Odds).
Strategy key:
S = Stand
H = Hit
Dh = Double down if allowed, hit if not
Ds = Double down if allowed, stand if not
P = Split pairs
Rs = Surrender
Microgaming Gold Series
House edge = 0.13 per cent
Soft hands
Pairs
Vegas Strip Blackjack
Microgaming Gold Series
House edge = 0.35 per cent
Hard hands
Soft hands
Pairs
Single Deck Blackjack
NetEnt Pro Series
House edge = 0.48 per cent
Hard hands
Soft hands
Pairs
VIP Live Blackjack
Evolution Gaming
House edge = 0.49 per cent
Hard hands
Soft hands
Pairs
(Same as Vegas Strip Blackjack)
How to read blackjack strategy charts
If you have never seen a basic strategy chart before, it might look a little complicated at first glance. There is no great mystery to it, however, and it becomes pretty straightforward once you get a handle on how things are laid out.
Most strategy sheets are divided into three parts, each of which details the different plays for a hard hand (one with no Ace, or where an Ace can count only as one point), a soft hand (one with an Ace that can count as either one or 11 points) and a pair that can be split to form separate hands. Charts are displayed as tables upon which the player’s possible hands are listed on the left and the dealer’s possible up-cards are listed across the top. Each cell on the grid shows the correct move for X (the player’s total) in the event of Y (the dealer’s card).
For example, let’s say we are holding a hard total of 10 and the dealer is showing an Ace. If we find the row labelled ’10’ on the left of the chart and follow it to the column labelled ‘A’, the cell where those two intersect will tell us the correct play is to hit (‘H’).
Perfect strategy for real money 21
Simple, effective and repeatable, basic strategy is all most players need in order to enjoy a low house edge on 21 games. As shown above, it can keep the casino advantage well under 0.50 per cent when you play real money blackjack online. That’s much better value than you will find at any land-based Australian casino in this day and age, never mind the obvious convenience of playing via Mac, PC, smartphone or tablet.
However, there are other, more complex play charts available that take into consideration not only the hand totals and whether they are hard, soft, or paired, but also exactly which cards are on the table, the number of cards the player has drawn and other such specifics. This type of play is known as perfect composition-based strategy, or optimal strategy, and it provides the lowest blackjack house edge possible (without executing a flawless card count).
In most cases, the difference between basic play and perfect blackjack strategy is minute. In Vegas Strip Blackjack Gold, for example, a mere 0.0055 per cent separates the theoretical returns for basic strategy (99.64701 per cent) and optimal play (99.65251 per cent). So while the hardcore high stakes blackjack players might miss that extra five-and-a-half cents out of every $1000 wagered, most punters will give up little to nothing by sticking to basic strategy 21.
on
One of the popular myths surrounding blackjack in casinos is that the average player can get an edge over the casino if he just plays his hands correctly. In other words, a lot of people think that you can win at blackjack just by mastering basic strategy.
But basic strategy isn’t enough to win at blackjack in most instances.
You need an additional strategy – an advantage technique – to get an actual edge over the casino in blackjack.
This might mean counting cards, but there are other ways, too. I’ve written extensively about counting cards in blackjack in the past.
But today I want to take a different approach.
Here’s how to win at blackjack WITHOUT counting cards.
The First Step to Winning at Blackjack Is Mastering Basic Strategy
In blackjack, you have a finite number of potential situations to deal with. The dealer can only have one of the following face-up cards: ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10.
And you can only have one of a handful of potential totals, starting with a total of 3 and going up to a total of 21.
And many of those situations offer obvious strategic decisions. You’d always stand with a total of 21, for example. It’s an automatic winner. You’ll also always stand with a total of 20. You have far too many ways to bust in this situation to ever make it worth your while to hit in that situation.
The same holds true for a lot of your smaller totals, too. Any hand totaling 11 or lower is impossible to bust, so you’ll always at least hit in that situation.
But for many hands, you must compare what you’re holding with the dealer’s face up card to determine the playing decision with the highest expected value. In a lot of these situations, your expected value is negative. Imagine having a hard total of 16 against a dealer’s face up 10, for example. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t in that situation.
But, in those situations, some plays have a lower negative expectation than others. Your job is to make the play that loses the least amount of money in the long run.
Luckily, basic strategy is easy to memorize and implement. When you use basic strategy for every blackjack decision, you reduce the house edge to its theoretically lowest possible number. In most casinos and under most rules, this means that the basic strategy player faces a house edge of 1% or less.
You still can’t win in the long run with a house edge of 1% or even 0.5%.
But your probability of being a winner in the short run improve dramatically.
An average blackjack player with no knowledge of basic strategy is probably giving up between 2% and 4% of their house edge.
Advantage Play Techniques and Blackjack
An advantage play technique is a way of playing a casino game that gives you an edge over the casino. The most common advantage play technique is counting cards, but that’s not your only option. You can win at blackjack without counting cards, even though it’s probably the easiest way to get an edge.
How does card counting in blackjack work?
Counting cards is just a means of roughly tracking the ratio of high cards (aces and 10s) to low cards in the deck. When the deck has a higher proportion of high cards, the player is more likely to get a blackjack. That’s a 2-card hand that totals 21, and players love this hand because it pays off at 3 to 2 odds.
Bet $100 on a hand of blackjack, get dealt a natural, and you’ll get a payout of $150.
Card counters raise the size of their bets when their probability of getting a blackjack goes up based on the count.
And counting cards isn’t hard, either.
You just subtract 1 from the count every time you see a 10 or an ace.
You add 1 to the count every time you see a card worth between 2 and 6 points.
Blackjack House Edge Without Basic Strategy For Dummies
If you’re playing in a game with multiple decks, you adjust that running count to account for the extra decks of cards in play. That’s as simple as estimating how many decks are still in the shoe and dividing the running count by that number.
For example, if the running count is +8, and you estimate that there are 4 decks left in the shoe, the true count is only +2.
Why does this matter?
Because you raise your bets proportionally related to the count. You’ll bet more when the count is +8 than you would if the count was +4.
Not everyone wants to learn how to count cards, though.
You Can Win at Blackjack Without Counting Cards by Getting Lucky
The house edge in blackjack is a long-term phenomenon. In other words, your short-term results might look like anything. You’re mathematically expected to lose between 0.5% and 1% of your action at
the table in the long run.
But, in the short run, anything can happen.
So, one way to win at blackjack without counting cards is to keep your session short and walk away when you’ve won a specific amount of money. This is called having a “win goal.”
Most gamblers who use win goals set a win goal based on a percentage of their bankroll. For example, you might sit down at a $10 blackjack table with a $200 bankroll for the session. Your win goal might be 50% of that $200 – or $100. In that case, if you ever get to a point where you have $300 or more in chips, you walk away from the table and book your win.
Since blackjack is a negative expectation game, you’ll have more losing sessions than winning sessions over time.
But, unless something weird happens, you WILL inevitably have some winning sessions.
Another Way to Win Is to Bet Really Big and Negotiate Better Rules
Don Johnson is a living example of a blackjack player who won really big at the game without counting cards. He won over $6 million on blackjack in a single evening. Here’s how he did it:
To start with, he had mastered basic strategy. Everyone who’s ever been interviewed about him said that he played perfect cards. If you want to duplicate Johnson’s success, start with mastering basic strategy.
The next thing he did was negotiate with the casino. High rollers like Johnson, who bet $10,000 or more per hand, don’t have to play by the same rules as the average casino-goer.
It’s common for high rollers to get loss rebates. This means that the casino offers a player a discount on his losses. For example, if the casino is offering a 10% discount on your losses, and you lose $100,000, you only really lose $90,000 because of the rebate.
Some casinos also give high rollers bonus money to gamble with up front just to get them started gambling. Online casinos do this all the time, but brick and mortar casinos save this kind of treatment for their higher rollers.
Don Johnson negotiated a 20% loss rebate on his action the night he won all that money in Atlantic City.
On top of that, he negotiated specific blackjack rules that reduced the house edge to a tiny percentage. They played with a hand-shuffled, 6-deck show, and the dealer was forced to stand (rather than hit) a total of soft 17.
In total, all the rules changes wound up making this blackjack game a game with a house edge of only 0.25% — making it almost an even money game.
But on top of that, because of his loss rebate/discount, he was only risking 80 cents for every dollar he stood to win.
He had to buy in for a million dollars, but he was guaranteed a 20% discount on his first $500,000 in losses. Also, he wasn’t required to lose the entire million. He could lose the $500,000, quit, and get his $100,000 rebate – leaving him with “only” a $400,000 loss.
On the other hand, if he started winning – which he did – he could just keep playing.
And that’s how he won over $6 million without counting cards.
Other Advantage Techniques in Blackjack
Counting cards isn’t the only strategy for getting an edge at the game of blackjack. Advantage players use other techniques, some of which are well-known.
Dealer tells is one of these techniques. This describes the tendency that a dealer has to give some kind of physical clue after looking at his or her down card. The savvy blackjack player can then adjust his decisions based on the information he gleaned from the dealer tell.
Shuffle tracking is another advantage technique. The idea is that even though decks of cards get shuffled and randomized, they don’t get completely randomized.
If you can keep up with clusters of cards that are heavy with 10s and aces, you can raise the size of your bets when the dealer gets close to using those cards.
Hole carding is similar to dealer tells. It’s when a dealer accidentally reveals his actual down card when he looks at it to check for blackjack. The advantage of knowing which 2 cards the dealer has is obvious from a strategic perspective.
Other advantage play techniques exist that advantage players don’t share in public, too.
Blackjack Basic Strategy Practice
Conclusion
Basic Strategy Blackjack Test
Counting cards is definitely the easiest way to win at blackjack, but you can without this technique. It’s harder to do, though, and I recommend learning to count cards if you’re serious about becoming a blackjack winner.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.