How to win at Black Jack

Author: Victoria Fell

Black Jack was originally known as "twenty-one" and indeed still is in some parts of Europe. It is unknown where or how the game originated. A number of players sit at a table (no less than one and usually no more than 6) and play against the dealer. The object of the game is to get 21 or as close to 21 as possible without going over (this is known as busting). The dealer will deal two cards each to each player face up and one to his/herself also face up.

The players then take it in turns to decide what to do with their two cards. A player can ‘stick’, this is where no more cards are required and the dealer can move on to the next player. Or they can ‘hit’, in which case you may have as many extra cards as you need. Or if the player has 9, 10 or 11 in total with their first two cards they can ‘double’ their bet and receive just one card. Additionally if a player has a pair they may choose to ‘split’ their cards, whereby they match their first bet and receive extra cards on each, this is not limited to one card as it is with doubling. It is seen as very bad form to split 10s and in most casinos (especially in Europe) you would not be able to do this. In Las Vegas however, it can be done and the croupier will shout “splitting tens”.

The hand known as ‘black jack’ is the optimum hand, the one that we all want. This is a face card (a king, queen or jack) or a 10 alongside an Ace. A black jack hand will usually have odds of 3/2 an increase on the odds of evens, which is usually paid for beating the dealer. If you match the dealers total then you get to keep your, you do not win and you do not lose.

The popularity of black jack is due to the fact that there are elements of skill involved as well as luck. It is the best game to play in the casino with regards to the house advantage which is very low, depending on the rules of the particular casino it is usually given as 0.5-6%.

The most important thing you need to learn about how to win at black jack is known as basic strategy. This is a system which gives you the best chance of winning. Set out in the table below is a list of decisions you should make based upon the information that you have, that is, your cards and the dealer’s face card. Because in black jack the player can make choices, if those choices are the correct ones you can maximize your chances of winning and reduce the house advantage.

Look at the table and study it hard, if you are going to the casino then memorize it, if you are playing online then fantastic, keep this table in view, and refer to it when you need to, and you can be sure that you are always going to make the right decision. This system can seem a little mechanical, there is nothing like hitting a 5 when you have 16, but it is the only way to play if you want to make money in the long term.

Your Hand	Dealers Card (This is the first card dealt to the dealer which is shown to the table)
Your Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
Hard Totals
17-20	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13-14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
9	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
5-8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
Soft Totals
A8, A9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A7 (NOTE)	S	D	D	D	D	S	S	H	H	H
A6	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A4, A5	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A2, A3	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
Pairs
AA	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
1010	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
99	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	S	SP	SP	S	S
88	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
77	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
66	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
55	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
44	H	H	H	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
33 – 22	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H

S – Stop right there, you need no more cards.

H – Hit

D – Double (if the rules do not allow a Double then Hit, there is one exception however, you may notice there is a NOTE against A7 where it says Double here, and the ruled do not allow it then Stick)

SP – Split your cards

Just a quick note on the terms “Hard Total” and “Soft Total”; a “Hard Total is a hand without an Ace or where the Ace is counted as 1. A soft total is a hand where the Ace counts for 11.

If you have read “Bringing Down The House” or seen the movie “21”you will know about the group of MIT students who made hundreds of thousands of dollars in Las Vegas casinos by card counting. I bet it has crossed your mind that this would be an easy way how to win at black jack. The system used seems easy enough. Players do not have to remember each card played but rather assign a value to certain cards and keep a ‘count’. If the ‘count’ is high the player has an advantage and knows that the cards that are about to come are of a high value and the player can then raise his/her bet. In most of the world card counting mentally this way is not illegal but if a casino suspects you of doing it you can be asked to leave. It is at the casinos discretion who they do, and do not allow to play.

Card counting mentally even with the system used by the MIT team is very hard, remember most casinos use 5 or 6 decks. Furthermore these guys were not at MIT for no good reason, these are math geniuses! The best way to play is using basic strategy. It really is that simple, by using basic strategy the already generous house advantage is lowered to near 0%. So what are you waiting for? Use the basic strategy today and try and “Bringing Down The House” the easy way.