Last week, we briefly
highlighted nine truisms about blackjack that most players, even experienced
ones, aren't aware of. You can be sure, though, that blackjack pros
and semi-pros alike are keenly aware of them. So today, we'll take a
few of those truisms and explain them in further detail, so that you
can get a better grip on the real game of blackjack.
1) Basic Strategy
is no "be all/end all": The other night I doubled down right
off the top of the shoe with A/8 against a 5 and caught a 10, which
didn't change my hand. Like most players, first base became visibly
irritated -- especially since the dealer turned up a 7 in the hole and
followed it with a 6 to make 18. First base had 14. I won double and
first base lost a hand he would've won had I stood pat.
Something the common
player doesn't realize is that doubling with A/8 vs. 5 isn't far from
being a proper basic strategy play. And when the rest of the board is
8/6, 5/4/3 and 2/4/7 the way this one was, doubling is the best move.
The thing to understand about basic strategy is it assumes all cards
are equally available. In this case, they weren't. Anytime at least
five more "babies" (2s thru 5s) have been killed than 10s,
doubling down with A/8 against a 5 or 6, as well as with 9 against a
deuce, all become correct.
As for how your
custom play will affect those players around you is strictly a random
thing. If the next two cards had come out 6/10 rather than 10/6, first
base would've loved me!
There are seven
blackjack hands that can be optimized by merely noticing the cards on
board. They're called the "Magnificent 7" hands. They are
9 vs. 2; 11 vs. A; 12 vs. 4; 13 vs. 2; 16 vs. 10 and A/8 vs. 5 or 6.
You can upgrade your game beyond basic strategy by learning how to play
these hands more efficiently.
2) Money Management
doesn't win: Most players are fixated on betting their money according
to the results of the last hand, or two, or three. That's irrelevant
information. You want to know where you're going – not where you've
been - and your recent outcomes give no clue of that.
In our last article,
we showed how a 1-2-3 betting progression would merely break even over
the long haul if you won as many bets as you lost. I used a sample just
three bets long to illustrate this, but you can test out for 6 bets,
or many more if you like. Just be aware that even a six-bet sample must
contain a list of 64 won/lost sequences. You can also change the progression
to a 1-1-3-5, a 1-2-4-8 or anything else you can dream up. Anyway, you'll
see that with any progression over any number of bets, all the winning
sequences will win the same amount that all the losing sequences lose.
It's elementary.
3) Lose the Superstitious
Mindset: Bad players are not the slightest threat to your blackjack
results. Suppose you and I were alone at the table. We both had 16 against
the dealer's 5 up. You stood pat and now it's my turn. Which way are
you more likely to win your own hand: if I hit or stand?
Of course, you don't
want me to take the dealer's bust card, but which card is the dealer's
bust card – the first or second card? Suppose the dealer went so
far as to show us her hole card and it was a 10, giving her 15. Then
she even showed us the next two cards in the shoe, a 6 and a 9. Now
she shuffles those two cards, just like she did before and put them
back in the shoe. Would you rather I hit or stand? When you can say,
"It doesn't matter", you've taken your game to the next level.
