When To Stay In Blackjack

Why You Should Always Split Your Eights

Having two 8s in your hand leaves you with the worst position you could be in blackjack: 16, it never has much of a chance to win. But if you do split, you increase your chances of getting two hands of 18.

Many experienced blackjack players are hesitant to split 8s when dealer is showing an 8 or higher. The thought is that if they get two hands of 18, theyre still probably going to lose, so splitting would cause them to lose twice as much.

This makes sense, but, when looking into the analytics over time, it doesnt hold up mathematically. The math shows that splitting 8s, although it puts twice the wager, will lose less over time.

No matter what, a pair of 8s against a dealers 9 or 10 is a bad situation. Youll lose more than you will win. But the goal in blackjack is to keep your losses to a minimum by choosing the strategy that will lose less than other options.

Here are the numbers

16 against a dealer 10: on average youll win only 23 times out of 100, so basically 23% of the time. But when you have a pair of 8s, you have a chance to increase your odds: you can split your 8s and play each 8 against the 10. Why do this? Because when you play an 8 against a 10, youll win this hand more times. 38 times out of 100, which is a 15% higher probability than option one.

Hitting And Staying At An Internet Casino

Play blackjack at a Web-based casino? HIT. Heading to the casino for a night out should always make for good fun, whether you win or lose, but for pure player value, gambling and indulging in 21 at any of our endorsed websites is far superior. With very minimal overheads to cover, online companies can offer players better incentives to play at their sites. Such incentives include:

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For more blackjack strategy info, see also:

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Do you want to hand over to the casino $12 per hour for the privilege of playing blackjack? Of course you wouldnt but that is exactly what you do when you play the 6-to-5 single deck game at a $10 minimum bet.

Its painfully obvious that this game is being that know very little about blackjack. So be forewarned and do not play any blackjack game where player blackjacks pay 6-to-5 .

You can find out even more details about 6-to-5 blackjack games in the video below with Blackjack expert, Henry Tamburin.

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When Does The Dealer Have To Hit In Blackjack

The basic rules that most dealers follow, across the board, are determined to their mathematical advantage over years of study and play. The dealer will always hit on anything below a 16 total. This is why, when you have a 17, you tend to consider staying – you have something fairly close to what they tend to stay at. This can get a little more complex when people start considering aces, which allow the concept of hard and soft 17s to enter the equation, but thats mostly a discussion for a different page. Suffice to say, the basic rule they follow is that they will hit anything that is a 16 total or below.

The Worst Hand In Blackjack: Players 16

No other hand makes blackjack players feel queasy than the dreaded 16. Players hate to hit the hand because they are afraid to bust.

So many chicken out and stand no matter what the dealer shows. Others opt for the surrender option if its available figuring losing half a bet is better than losing it all.

No question that 16 is a lousy blackjack hand. Unfortunately, its one of the most frequent hands you are going to be dealt in blackjack.

But, by following the playing strategy below, you will be optimizing your chances of winning more, and losing less, in the long run. Its the smart way to play blackjack.

Hard 16

First, lets focus on a hard 16. Some examples of a hard 16 would be 10-6 or 5-7-4 or 7-8-Ace.

The correct basic playing strategy for hard 16 is to stand when the dealer shows a small card and hit when the dealer shows a high card . Following this playing strategy will not guarantee that you will win every time but that you are more likely to lose less in the long run. Let me explain:

Suppose you are dealt a 10-6 and the dealer shows a 7 upcard.

If you hit you win on average 30% of the time and lose 70%.

If you stand you will on average win 26% and lose 74%.

Note that you improve your chances of winning the hand by 4% if you hit rather than stand. But the dealer is still an overwhelming favorite to beat you because he will win 70% of the hands to your 30%. But is it better to win 26% of the time by standing or 30% of the time by hitting?

Hard 16 from low cards

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Can Blackjack Dealers Cheat

It is incredibly difficult for a blackjack dealer to successfully cheat at blackjack but it is not impossible. Legal blackjack is a game of drawing cards at random, so cheating is possible for the dealer. The reason it is difficult is because the cards are shuffled in front of the player and are dealt in front of the player as well. Trusted online gambling sites wont have cheating dealers as they want to uphold their legitimate reputation, therefore players can confidently play blackjack online knowing they are not being cheated.

When To Stand In Blackjack

The basic idea of when you want to stand in blackjack is when you have a pretty good idea that your total is pretty close to 21, you dont want to risk going over, and you want to put the onus on the dealer to beat your total. This tends to mean that you want to start seriously considering standing at around 17 total. The idea here is that, unless you can see an ace from the dealer, youre fairly likely to have more than them at this point, given the amount of times cards that are worth more than 7 appear in the deck. If you have 19, youre always standing, for example. Youre likely to bust if you hit, and its relatively hard to beat. The rules for this are fairly fluid so understand them well.

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Ill Play By The Dealers Rules

Id be remiss if I didnt say something about players who mimic the dealers rules when they play blackjack namely, they always hit on 16 or less, always stand on 17 or more, and never double down or split . This is a terrible strategy that results in roughly a 5% house edge against you . Fuhgeddaboudit!

Put Our Blackjack Strategy Tips Into Practice At Borgata Online

Knowing when to hit or stand is key if you want to play blackjack successfully. The strategy chart makes it even easier to decide for every hand in this fast-paced table game, and although it doesnt guarantee you a win, it does help improve your chances of winning. Sometimes the choice is pretty obvious and you just need to follow your instinct.

So, why not come to Borgata Online and learn some more by playing some of the live casino online games available at our online casino? You can try out some simple blackjack strategy on our demo games or play for real money! We also have many other types of online casino games for you to explore when you register at Borgata Online.

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When Does The Dealer Have To Stay In Blackjack

Dealers in blackjack follow strict rules – rules that are designed for them to play as optimally as possible against you. The basic idea behind most of them is to optimize their mathematical odds at victory. For this reason, almost all dealers will stand when their total is 17 or above. As before, aces throw a bit of a wrench into this equation, but there is a lot of grey area in Blackjack. The basic rule they follow is to stand on 17 because that puts the onus on you to beat a 17, which is pretty hard to do without going over.

The Option To Surrender

There is one alternative move players can make which leads to the least money losses. However, due to this fact many landbased casinos do not offer the option to surrender as they know that if players know when to take advantage of it, they can greatly benefit from it.

Many professional gamblers wont play in a casino which doesnt provide the option to surrender when playing blackjack. However, if players find themselves in such a situation and there is no surrender option, all they can do is act according to the above-mentioned strategy and hope for the best.

When this option is available, most casinos tend to offer late surrender. This allows players to give up on poor hands like hard 15 and hard 16 in exchange for half of their original wager. With late surrender, you can forfeit a bad hand after the dealer has checked for blackjack when starting with an ace or a ten-value card.

Late surrender is beneficial to players because it takes away around 0.07% from the house advantage. Most novice players are averse to surrendering as the name of the move itself evokes negative connotations. However, surrendering is a smart move when you are dealt negative-expectation hands like 15 or 16 versus strong dealer upcards like 10s and aces.

The correct late surrender plays depend on deck number and the dealers fixed standing rules. In single-deck blackjack, surrender is recommended when you have hard 16 versus the dealers ace or 10.

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The Two Reasons For Standing On Your Hand

There are only two reasons for standing on your hand:

• You believe that your total will beat the dealers total.
• You believe the dealer will bust.

If you are standing on your total for any other reason than one of the two mentioned here, failure is guaranteed.

You must remember that blackjack is a mathematical game. It operates on a specific set of mathematical principles that cannot be violated. Even the basic rules of the game dictate specific actions by the dealer. The dealer must always hit on 16 or less and stand on 17 or more.

Just as the dealer must follow certain rules, so must you. The difference is that the dealer has the casino watching over him to ensure he will follow the rules. You only have yourself. You must always exercise self-discipline when it comes to hitting and standing in order to always make the proper play.

What Is Blackjack Card Counting Does It Actually Work

With card counting, you know when you have the edge based on the change in the composition of the decks and therefore youll know when its the right time to bet more.

So unlike betting progressions that are based on whether you win or lose the previous hands, card counting is based on the mix of cards that were played on previous hands.

If more small value cards were played in previous rounds, there are more big value cards left in the unplayed cards, and the edge shifts from dealer to the player. This would be the best time to bet more.

But Im a realist. Not a whole lot of average blackjack players have the time or mental concentration during play that is required to master one of the popular point count card counting systems.

Learn all about card counting on our Blackjack Card Counting page!

And if youre in New Jersey or Pennsylvania, you can play the blackjack online for the absolute lowest house edge, winning options, and best payouts.

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Blackjack Strategy Chart 2021 When To Hit & Stand

Blackjack is the most popular casino table game of all drawing in countless numbers of hungry players both in the brick and mortar casino, and in online casinos.

Are you a player who is knowledgeable about blackjack strategy? In this article, we detail the basic blackjack strategy charts and provide you with other handy tips to give you the best possible chance of leaving the casino physical or virtual in profit.

The Correct Playing Decisions For Hard Totals 14 15 And 16

Hard 14, 15, and 16 are hands with fixed totals that lack Aces to give them flexibility and improve the players chances of making a successful hit. How you play them depends on several variables which include the dealers upcard, the deck number, and the fixed drawing and standing conditions the dealer must adhere to when playing out their hand. Below are several examples for hard totals 14 through 16:

• Hard 14: 7-7, 10-4, 6-8, 9-5, 10-3-A, and 9-3-A-A
• Hard 15: 7-8, 6-9, 10-5, 10-2-3, and 9-5-A
• Hard 16: 8-8, 10-6, 9-7, 6-4-6, and 10-2-3-A

These rank as the worst possible hands you can get in blackjack. They put players in significant trouble, even more so when they are up against a dealer who shows powerful upcards. The trouble with these hands is that they expose the player to a considerable risk of exceeding 21 and thus, automatically losing the round. Take a look at the table below you will surely notice starting totals 14 through 16 are the ones with the highest probability of causing a bust:

The bottom line is you stand a good chance of losing with these hands no matter what the upcard of the dealer is although your chances of losing increase further when the dealer has a powerful upcard. The best course of action in this case would be to surrender your 15 and 16 against dealers with powerful cards like 10s or Aces.

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Which Blackjack Strategy Should You Choose

There are options for how much money you should bet and many theories about when you should change it. There are two basic schools of thought:

Neither of these is perfect, but some betting systems are less perfect than others. Read below to find out why.

What Is Stand In Blackjack

Stand is a decision in Blackjack that considers not taking any more cards in your hand. You choose to stand when you think you have the best value for your hand in the round. After you and the dealer stand, the value of both hands is calculated, and the winner is determined.

For example, when your initial hand makes 10-9, you are likely to stand instead of taking more cards. However, it also depends on the dealers hand, which can make 10-10, meaning that you will lose 100% if you stand. Below we will disclose when to stand or not to stand in detail.

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Can You Double Down On 21 In Blackjack

No, you cant double down on 21.

If you could, everyone would do it every time thecroupier dealt them blackjack!

If you are lucky enough to get blackjack, youllfind that the dealer pays you straightaway and you wont be able to do anythingelse with your hand.

Once youve read these, why not practice playing blackjack for free or play online blackjack for real money?

Why To Hit On Hard 12

When the dealer has anything else, the odds of a bust will decrease to the point where it makes sense to hit on a hard twelve. It’s certainly not the best hand you could be dealt. I myself dread getting a hard 12 and then having to make a tough choice. Just follow these tips because they are mathematically the “correct” blackjack move over the long term.

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How To Signal Double Down Inblackjack

When looking to double down in blackjack, theresonly one thing you need to do: push a stack of chips next to your initial bet.

This stack must be of equal value to your starting bet.

How to double down in blackjack: double your bet and receive only one more card.

If pushing the extra chips onto the table doesnt work , simply tell the dealer your intention to double down and point with one finger to signal that you want one more card.

It really is that simple.

Top Tip: Dont put the chips on top of the initial bet. This is frowned on by croupiers and other casino staff as it could mean youve tampered with the initial bet.