Basic Strategy

In the game of blackjack, assuming no other knowledge about the contents of the remaining deck, it can be mathematically demonstrated that certain actions are more effective than others. For example, assuming that you are playing with three decks, if the dealer's up card is a 6, then s/he has a 0.423 probability of busting. Knowing this, the player can make a decision based on the chart below. In this instance, the best reponse for a player with cards totaling 12 in value would be to stay. Were the player to hit, s/he would have a 0.296 probability of busting. This means that 71.9% of the time, the player would beat the dealer by standing with a 12. The following chart lists the player's best response for all possible, non-obvious hands where either the count (discussed in the next section) is neutral or it is unknown.

Rules of Blackjack | Basic Strategy | Plus-Minus Count | Updating Probability Charts