Blackjack Strategy Basics
Blackjack Strategy Basics for Beginners
It's well-known that blackjack is a game where strategy matters. In many (if not most) casino gambling games, the player makes no decisions at all other than how much to bet. In other gambling games, players make decisions, but those decisions don't affect the mathematical outcome. In blackjack (and video poker), the choices a player makes affects the likelihood that he'll win.
When gambling experts discuss casino games, they talk about the "house edge." That's just a percentage that describes how much of each bet a player can expect to lose over the long term. For example, if we say that a game has a house edge of 5%, then the casino expects, over time, to win $5 of every $100 that the player bets. The lower the house edge, the better chances the player has of leaving a winner. If the house edge becomes negative, then the casino expects to lose money, not the player.
Most people who play blackjack without understanding any kind of strategy are giving the house an edge of about 2%. That's relatively low for a casino game, but smart strategy can reduce that amount to 0.5% or less. Strategic decisions in blackjack are determined by the player's total, the dealer's upcard, and the rules variations in effect at the casino. You can find websites which will generate a chart covering every possible situation in every possible game, and casinos will let you bring those printed charts to the table to play with.