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The GameMaster's Blackjack School Lesson 1: Basic StrategyThe foundation of winning at Blackjack is to utilize proper basic strategy in playing the hands. "Proper" means that each decision you make on hitting, standing, doubling or splitting pairs is the correct mathematical play for that hand. There is no room for intuition, gut feelings or guessing when it comes to basic strategy; you must make the "percentage" play each time. Even if you've doubled an 11 against a dealer's 10 five times in a row and lost, when that hand comes up a sixth time you must double. Consistency is a big part of playing a winning game, so resolve right now that you are going to make the proper play, regardless if the dealer rolls his eyes upward or the other players at the table groan quietly when you do it. You are there for the money -- there's no other reason to play blackjack -- and the application of proper basic strategy is going to get that money for you; what others think of your play is not important. The correct basic strategy for a blackjack game depends upon the rules of the casino where you will be playing. The strategy that applies to a single deck game in Reno, for example, is quite a bit different than the strategy for an eight-deck game in Atlantic City. I'm going to show you how to learn the basic strategy of your choice; exactly what that strategy is will depend on you. To select a basic strategy, go to the "Blackjack Strategy Engine" and simply fill in the blanks. Once your strategy is computed, print it out. Here's what that looks like for a fairly common game: Six decks, double on any first two cards, double after splitting pairs is permitted and the dealer stands on A-6. (If any of these terms are unfamiliar, go to ConJelCo's FAQ ). Basic Strategy Matrix :
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| Pairs | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | T | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (A,A) | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| (T,T) | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N |
| (9,9) | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | N | N |
| (8,8) | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| (7,7) | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N |
| (6,6) | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N |
| (5,5) | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N | N |
| (4,4) | N | N | N | Y | Y | N | N | N | N | N |
| (3,3) | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N |
| (2,2) | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | N | N | N | N |
| Soft Totals | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | T | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (A,9) | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
| (A,8) | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
| (A,7) | S | Ds | Ds | Ds | Ds | S | S | H | H | H |
| (A,6) | H | D | D | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
| (A,5) | H | H | D | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
| (A,4) | H | H | D | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
| (A,3) | H | H | H | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
| (A,2) | H | H | H | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
| Hard Totals | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | T | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 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 |
| 14 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
| 13 | 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 |
| 8 | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H |
This is the chart that you will eventually know as well as your own name -- but don't worry, you're not going to memorize it in this form. What we are going to do is convert all this into what a "normal" person can understand. I call what's above the "Basic Strategy Matrix" and you'll use it in some of your training. But what we need to do in order to memorize this is to translate the information above into all-inclusive rules. Let's do a few as examples.
Look at the strategy for a player's hand of 9 on the matrix above; it says to double against a 3,4,5 or 6 and hit it against everything else. We can turn that information into a simple rule: "With a hand of 9, double versus 3 through 6, otherwise hit." See how this works? We are going to take each player's starting hand and convert the proper play of that hand into one easy-to-understand rule. Now look at a hand of A-2. Proper basic strategy says to double against 5 and 6 and hit it against everything else, so our rule for A-2 is "Double vs. 5 & 6, otherwise hit." As a bonus, we can group A-2 with A-3 since the play for each is identical. So we end up with a rule like this "A-2 , A-3; double vs. 5 & 6, otherwise hit." One more example; a pair of 3's. When double after split is permitted, proper basic strategy says to split 3's whenever the dealer is showing a 2,3,4,5,6, or 7. Against any other dealer up card, we do not split; we should just hit the hand. Thus, our rule for a pair of 3's becomes "3,3; split vs. 2-7, otherwise hit". Clear on all that? Good. Below is the basic strategy chart for the matrix shown above.
| Player's Hand | Decisions | |
| 5 thru 8 | Always Hit | |
| 9 | Double 3 thru 6, o/w hit | |
| 10 | Double 2 thru 9, o/w hit | |
| 11 | Double 2 thru 10, o/w hit | |
| 12 | Stand 4 thru 6, o/w Hit | |
| 13 thru 16 | Stand 2 thru 6, o/w Hit | |
| 17 or higher | Always Stand | |
| A,2 | Double vs 5&6, o/w Hit | |
| A,3 | Double vs 5&6, o/w Hit | |
| A,4 | Double vs 4 thru 6, o/w Hit | |
| A,5 | Double vs 4 thru 6, o/w Hit | |
| A,6 | Double vs 3 thru 6, o/w Hit | |
| A,7 | Double 3 thru 6, Stand vs 2,7,8 Hit vs 9,10, A | |
| A,8-A,9 | Always Stand | |
| 2,2 | Split 2 thru 7, o/w Hit | |
| 3,3 | Split 2 thru 7, o/w Hit | |
| 4,4 | Split vs 5 & 6, o/w Hit | |
| 5,5 | Never Split, treat as "10" | |
| 6,6 | Split 2 thru 6, o/w Hit | |
| 7,7 | Split 2 thru 7, o/w Hit | |
| 8,8 | Always split | |
| 9,9 | Split 2 thru 9 except 7; o/w Stand | |
| 10,10 | Never Split | |
| A,A | Always Split | |
Remember The Basic Strategy Decision Chart shown here applies only to the game described earlier; you must produce your own to fit the rules of your favorite casino.
Once you've made your Basic Strategy Chart, we can begin to memorize it. To do that, we will produce a set of "Flashcards". Remember those? You probably learned how to add or subtract using those cards and they will also teach you how to win at Blackjack. You need to make one flashcard for each starting hand by reproducing the information above on a 2" x 2' piece of paper. (Manila file folder material does well for this.) Here's what one looks like...
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When you're finished, you'll have a pack of flashcards which will help you to memorize the proper basic strategy for the game you've chosen. Start carrying them with you and as you encounter those "lost" moments we each seem to have in our day -- waiting for a plane, sitting at the dentist's office or even while watching TV, pull your cards out and start reciting the rule for the hand shown. Check your accuracy by flipping over the card and then put it on the bottom of the pack. You'll be amazed at how quickly you begin to learn all these rules.
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