Blackjack Odds Betting
To fully understand the game of blackjack, you must understand and master blackjack odds. It’s crucial to know how the casino gains its edge and how it helps them win. It’s also important to understand blackjack odds such as the odds of hitting a 10 or the odds of being dealt a blackjack. You can read over these blackjack odds charts to help understand the logistics behind blackjack.
Casino and Dealer Advantage in Blackjack
In most casino games of blackjack, the house advantage (the dealer advantage) is ~ 8%. The house gets this advantage by the dealer being the last player to act. By acting last, all other players have already made their decisions and could quite possibly bust before the dealer has his turn.
By using correct blackjack basic strategy, you can turn the casino edge in blackjack from 7%-8% down to 0.5%. If you correctly use advanced card counting techniques, you can often change blackjack odds and give yourself the advantage over the casino. Manipulating the house odds to your favor is the reason most casinos don’t allow card counters to play blackjack.
Probability of Busting on a Hit
It’s very important to know the probability of your hand busting when you are holding any total in the game of blackjack. The following odds chart shows the blackjack odds of busting, depending on your current hand value:
| Hand Value | % Bust If You Hit |
| 21 | 100% |
| 20 | 92% |
| 19 | 85% |
| 18 | 77% |
| 17 | 69% |
| 16 | 62% |
| 15 | 58% |
| 14 | 56% |
| 13 | 39% |
| 12 | 31% |
| 11 or Less | 0% |
Two-Card Count Frequencies
This interesting blackjack odds chart is the two card count frequency chart. This chart shows the percentage chance that you will be dealt a hand in each given value range. The most important frequencey to note is the chance of being dealt a natural blackjack (natural 21 value. The odds of being dealt a natural blackjack are merely 4.8%. Following this chart you will see that the most common two card hand, at 38.7%, is a hand totaling 1-16, which is considered a decision hand.
| Two Card Count | % Frequency |
| Natural 21 | 4.8% |
| Hard Standing (17-20) | 30.0 % |
| Decision Hands (1-16) | 38.7% |
| No Bust | 26.5% |
| TOTAL | 100.0% |
Dealer Final Hand Probabilities
This blackjack odds chart shows the dealer final hand probability. These are the percentages that the dealer will end up with a hand totaling each corresponding value (up to 16). Read over this chart to understand the odds that the dealer has to make his final hand.
| Dealer Final Hand Value | % | Cumulative % Total |
| Natural 21 | 4.82% | 4.83% |
| 21 (3 or More Cards) | 7.36% | 12.19% |
| 20 | 17.58% | 29.77% |
| 19 | 13.48% | 43.25% |
| 18 | 13.81% | 57.06% |
| 17 | 14.58% | 71.64% |
| 16 | 28.36% | 100.00% |
Player Advantage vs. Dealer Up Card
The first two columns in this odds chart explain the dealer’s chance of busting, depending on the up card that he is showing. You should note that the dealer has the highest chance of busting when he is showing a 5. The third column in this chart shows the player advantage of using basic strategy, compared to each up card the dealer is showing. You can see that the player has the highest advantage of 23.9%, when the dealer is showing a 5. When the dealer is showing any card that is 9 value or higher, the player is in the negative advantage range.
| Dealer Up Card | Dealer Bust % | Player Advantage % with Basic Strategy |
| 2 | 35.30% | 9.8% |
| 3 | 37.56% | 13.4% |
| 4 | 40.28% | 18.0% |
| 5 | 42.89% | 23.2% |
| 6 | 42.08% | 23.9% |
| 7 | 25.99% | 14.3% |
| 8 | 23.86% | 5.4% |
| 9 | 23.34% | -4.3% |
| J,Q,K | 21.43% | -16.9% |
| A | 11.65% | -16.0% |
Effects of Removing Cards from a Deck
When looking at the odds of removing certain cards from a 52-card deck, some cards have a much greater effect on blackjack odds. To create the strongest card counting system ever invented, you would have to incorporate all of these slight and subtle differences into the numbers to be a completely accurate system.
Removing every 5 from a deck cards would make the largest impact of improving your blackjack odds, as a player. On the other hand, removing every Ace from a deck of cards would make the largest impact on improving the odds for the casino.
| Card | % Effect of Removal |
| 2 | 0.40% |
| 3 | 0.43% |
| 4 | 0.52% |
| 5 | 0.67% |
| 6 | 0.45% |
| 7 | 0.30% |
| 8 | 0.01% |
| 9 | -0.15% |
| 10 | -0.51% |
| A | -0.59% |
Play Blackjack
Learning how to play blackjack is both a fun and rewarding experience. This is a quick how-to guide for the beginning player who has never played before but is interested in learning how to play blackjack. If you’ve never played blackjack before, be prepared for both a fun and rewarding experience that you will never forget.
Object of Blackjack
The object of blackjack is to achieve a total that is greater than the dealer’s without going over 21. If there are other players at the table, you are still only trying to beat the dealer (the casino).
Card Values
Each numbered card 10 and under, has a value equal to the number on the card. Jacks, Queens, and Kings (all of the face cards), have a value of 10. The 10 valued cards have the greatest abundance in the game of blackjack. The final card in the deck is the Ace. This card has a special value in the game of blackjack because it can count either as 1 or 11, depending on what helps your hand the most. You should learn the values of the cards when you learn how to play blackjack.
How to Play and Win at Blackjack
There are 2 ways to win at the game of blackjack. The first way to win at a blackjack table is to end up with a hand that has a total higher than the hand of the dealer without going over 21. The second way of winning at a blackjack table is for the dealer to bust, by totaling over 21. Anytime the dealer exceeds the total of 21, any player still remaining in the hand that has not busted is a winner.
The Blackjack Table
How to Play BlackjackBlackjack tables feature enough seating for 6 blackjack players. A sign at each blackjack table shows the table information including the betting limits. If the table limits are $2-$100, the minimum bet per hand is $2 and the maximum bet per hand is $100.
The Deal
The game begins after you’ve chosen a table, received your chips, and made your bet by placing it on the table in front of you in the betting circle. Each player receives 2 cards (usually face up) on the table. The dealer receives 1 card face up and 1 card face down.
Checking for Blackjack
“Blackjack” isn’t just the name of the game; it’s also the name of a specific hand of 2 cards that totals 21. Blackjack usually pays out 3 to 2 (although some casinos offer a 6 to 5 version of blackjack). If the dealer gets a blackjack, the players automatically lose unless they have a blackjack too.
If the dealer shows a face card or an ace as his face up card, he checks his hole card (the face down card) for blackjack. If he has a blackjack, he turns over his hand and removes all bets from the table.
If a player gets a blackjack, the dealer pays that player off immediately before continuing the rest of the hand with the other players.
Player Options
The rest of the game takes place after any blackjacks have been taken care of. The player closest to the left of the dealer is the first player to act.
The player has the following options while playing blackjack:
* Hit - Taking another card.
* Stand - Taking no more cards, your hand is set and finalized.
* Double Down - Doubling your wager, taking one hit (one more card), and then standing.
* Split - Doubling your wager and having each initial card be the first card in two new separate hands.
* Surrender - Forfeiting half of your wager and giving up your hand right then.
You have the option of taking as many hits as you want as long as you don’t go over 21. When you finally have a total you are satisfied with, you tell the dealer you’re going to stand, and the game play moves along to the next player.
Dealer’s Options
The dealer acts last. After all the other players’ action is resolved, the dealer flips over his hole card and reveals his total. The dealer must play his hand according to the house rules. Usually the dealer must hit until he has a total of 17 or higher. If the dealer starts with a total of 17, he stands.
Getting Paid
Winning and losing is determined after the dealer finishes playing his hand. The dealer pays out all the winning bets and collects all the losing bets before the next hand begins. The player to the right of the dealer gets paid off or collected 1st, and so on around the table.
Blackjack Strategy
Blackjack is one of the most well-known card games in the world. The ultra-popular game of twenty-one allows the advanced player room for aggressive moves and subtle strategy plays that have been shown to give the informed player a huge leap up in winning percentages, in some cases actually trumping the built-in house edge that casinos utilize. In order for players to efficiently play the game of Blackjack, ChessandPoker.com realized the need to compile a complete Blackjack strategy guide for all plays and betting considerations you will ever face in the game. The first component of our extremely powerful strategy guide is taming the somewhat intimidating factor that is the heart of all professional Blackjack playing strategy, how to count cards.
For the game of Blackjack, there are essentially two types of players: Those who count cards while they play, and those that don’t. When utilizing a blackjack strategy for a serious game there is really no reason not to count the cards. Using the counting system below, which was originally developed by Harvey Dubner, a player can achieve a betting correlation (how accurate the counting system is when used to determine the size of a players bet) of 97%, or almost perfect. It is very simple to learn and implement, and also very potent. Let’s have a look at it.
Blackjack Card Counting System
To use this blackjack counting system, you must start out with a count of zero in your head (for some of us, this is quite easy). Then everytime you see a 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 come out of the deck in any players hand, including the dealers, you mentally add “+1″ to the count in your head for each one of these cards you see. But whenever you see a T, J, Q, K, or Ace in any players hand, you subtract one (-1) from the count in your head. This ongoing total in your head is called the “running count”.
| Values 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are counted as +1 | Values T, J, Q, K, and Ace are counted as -1 |
Whenever the running count is positive, it is said that the player has an advantage. When negative, however, the player is at an disadvantage. The larger (or smaller) the running count, the more pronounced the advantage (disadvantage) is for the player. As we have now seen, card counting is in fact not that hard at all, and will quickly become second nature. The next step is to use this newfound talent to determine your bet on any given hand.
How to Play BlackJack
The objective of Blackjack is for a Player to come as close to 21 without going over, while still having a higher total than the Dealer. Prior to receiving any cards, the Player must place a wager. Once the wager is made, the Player is dealt two cards face up. The Dealer is also dealt two cards. If the total value of the Player’s cards is closer to 21 than the Dealer, the Player wins as much as was wagered. The Player also wins if the Dealer goes over 21 and the Player has not busted. If the Player’s total goes over 21, the Player loses the amount wagered.
Player Actions/Wagers and Button Descriptions
BET - To place a bet, the Player must click on the chip value that they wish to wager.
DEAL - Press Deal to begin the game once a wager has been placed. The Player gets two cards face up and the Dealer gets two cards.
HIT - Player desires another card to be dealt. The Player may take a hit at any time before standing.
STAND - Player desires to keep hand dealt. The game will automatically stand when the Player has 21 or after doubling down.
SPLIT - If the Player’s first two cards are of the same value (i.e. 7, 7, or Q, K) they may be split into 2 separate hands by placing a second wager of equal value. The Player may have up to 3 hands at one time.
The Player then proceeds to draw cards as usual, with these exceptions:
If a Player splits two aces, only one additional card is dealt for each hand. A hand totaling 21 after splitting aces is considered 21, not Blackjack.
DOUBLE - When a Player has been dealt the first two cards and believes that the third card will give them a position to beat the Dealer’s hand, they can “double down.” The wager is doubled, and one additional card is dealt to the Player. The hand is automatically stood, and the Dealer then completes its hand comparing it to the Players’ total.
BLACKJACK - is achieved when first two cards total 21. Blackjack beats a score of 21 consisting of 3 or more cards.
BUST - is achieved when total value of cards for either the Dealer or the Player exceeds 21. If the Player busts the wager is lost, if the Dealer busts the Player automatically wins the wager.
PUSH - is achieved when the value of the Dealer’s cards (from 17 to 21) and the Player’s cards are equal resulting
in neither winning. It also results in the return of the Player’s wager.
INSURANCE - gives you a chance to protect yourself when you believe the Dealer might have Blackjack.
If the Dealer’s first card is an ace, and the Player believes the Dealer’s hole card (face down) value is 10, the Player may purchase insurance against Dealer Blackjack at the price of half their initial bet. If the Dealer does have Blackjack, the insurance pays 2 to 1, which corresponds to the amount of the initial bet. If the Player has bought insurance and the Dealer does not have Blackjack, the Player loses his insurance. The Player’s initial bet is then settled by comparing his cards with the Dealer’s. If the Dealer and the Player both have Blackjack, the game results in a push with the Player profiting by the amount won by taking insurance - also called “even money”.