Simple Blackjack Strategy

While most people know that you can bring the blackjack house edge down under 1%, they’re not too thrilled about studying blackjack casino strategy charts. Fortunately, there are some simple rules for those who don’t want to waste much time studying casino blackjack strategy. With that in mind, here is some easy-to-remember blackjack advice for splitting, doubling and making standard casino plays.

If you don’t have a blackjack strategy casino chart on hand, just remember these simple rules for making standard blackjack plays:

When Dealer’s upcard is 2 or 3 - hit until you reach at least 13.

When Dealer’s upcard is 4-6 - hit until you reach at least 12.

When Dealer’s upcard is 7-A - hit until you reach at least 17.

These casino rules are extremely easy to remember, and this alone will help you minimize the house edge to around 2%. But keep in mind that these are only simple rules for those who are hoping to play good blackjack. There are more specific situations such as when the dealer has an ace that will require you to think more and use additional casino strategy. You should also remember the following advice for splitting and doubling.

Your average blackjack player knows the simple tips that we just discussed. However, a large majority of players are sketchy as to when they should split and double down. Unfortunately, if you don’t know when to split and double down, you are spotting the house an extra 1-2% edge, which could mean hundreds of dollars over a long blackjack casino session. Don’t give the house an even bigger edge!

The easiest way to remember splitting hands is that aces and eights should always be split. Aces get split because they give you a great shot at two strong casino hands, while eights make a weak hand on their own and need to be split. If you want to get more in-depth with your splitting, these are also good rules to follow:

Doubling down is a lot trickier than splitting because it’s more involved. You’ll have to put a little more effort into learning when to double down in different situations. But if you’re up to the task, here are the situations when you should double down:

While knowing when to split, double and make standard casino plays will get you pretty far in blackjack, it also helps to know a few other things about the game - namely what blackjack variations to play/avoid, and why you should never buy insurance.

Blackjack Variations to play/avoid

While most casinos offer 6 deck blackjack with a standard set of rules, different deck amounts and rules can alter the house edge one way or the other. As a general rule, the lower the amount of decks offered, the lower the house edge is; in single deck blackjack games, you can actually gain an edge on the house! Along with this thought, also remember that 8 deck blackjack gives the house a higher edge so you should avoid this game at all costs.

Another blackjack variation you want to avoid is any game that only pays 6:5 on natural blackjacks; this one rule change raises the house edge from 0.5% to around 1.8%. Since most casinos are willing to pay 3:2 on a natural, you don’t have to settle for 6:5 payout games. Also keep in mind that many single deck blackjack games offer 6:5 natural payouts, which still has a high house advantage at 1.3%.

Why you shouldn’t buy Insurance

If you’ve ever looked at blackjack strategy, you probably know not to buy insurance. However, people rarely explain why you’re not supposed to buy insurance, so a quick explanation is in order.

Instead of looking at insurance as “insurance,” you need to look at it as a casino side bet on whether or not the dealer has a blackjack. So if the dealer has a natural, you receive a 2:1 payout; if the dealer doesn’t have a natural, you lose your side bet (half of the original wager). The key thing to note in all of this is that the dealer won’t have a blackjack two-thirds of the time, which means you lose the side bet more often than not.

Knowing not to buy insurance is just another easy thing you can remember along with the aforementioned standard plays, and splitting and doubling down. Assuming you can digest this simple casino strategy, you’ll be a much-improved blackjack player!