Blackjack is also sometimes called “Twenty-One.” Casino guests who look for a table game that involves a little bit of skill usually gravitate to the blackjack tables. All of the other table games will generate your outcome for you without requiring you to take any decisions, or think at all. But in blackjack, you skill is a factor in how much and how fast you lose your money. This makes it a more interesting game for most players.

Blackjack 21

Blackjack is also the only table game in which you might even be able to overcome the house edge and come out ahead in the long run. This house edge is the result of the inherent probabilities of the game, together with the important fact that the player goes first, and the dealer later. Thus, if the player “busts,” the dealer wins, even if he or she might have also “busted” if the hand were played out. Minor rule variations also contribute to the edge – either in your favor or against you.

Most commonly, casinos offer rules that create a slight positive edge for the house, and hence a slight negative edge for the player. In such circumstances, the only way you can turn the edge to positive is to count cards.

An experienced player who does not count cards but who also does not commit any tactical errors in playing blackjack, will have an expectation as close to even as a casino will willingly grant.
The next few pages tell you how to play blackjack and then how to get settled into a blackjack game in a casino. After that, you should learn “basic strategy” (the best way to maximize your chips without counting cards). The last few pages on blackjack describe card counting.

Blackjack Tips, Strategy, & Information

An approach to blackjack that is almost universally recognized as the maximum-win technique short of counting cards. Even card counting systems are based on this approach, which everyone calls “basic strategy.” Anyone who plays blackjack without first mastering basic strategy is throwing away money. Some of the principles in basic strategy are so... more»
Other than counting cards, the veterans may be able to tell stories about other ways of beating the system. “Tells” is a gambler’s term for physical manifestations of what is going on inside a person’s head. A fancier term for it is “kinesics” or “body language.” For example, poker players wear dark glasses to hide their pupils from their... more»
By rigorously sticking to basic strategy, a player can sometimes nearly even up with the house. Here we take a look at card counting, considered the only way to make the blackjack edge decidedly positive for the player. Casinos would like to make people think that card counting is illegal. It is not. It is no more illegal than keeping track of... more»
Definitions A distinction is drawn between hands in which an ace counts for 11 and hands in which there is no ace or the ace counts for 1. The former are called “soft” hands. They range from soft 13 (ace and deuce) to soft 21 (ace and ten, a natural). By contrast, “hard” hands range from hard 12 to hard 21. Below 12, hands are neither hard nor... more»
The system explained here is HiLo, which is the most productive of the simple systems. Many books have been written on other systems that have more predictive accuracy, but are more detailed in what they ask you to keep track of in your head. It is also possible to keep side counts for special purposes. This will be taken up later. For purposes of... more»
You hope for a hand, the value of which is closer to 21 (including 21) than the dealer’s, without going over. The dealer (representing “the house”) is your only competition. Other players at the table do not matter, as they also are playing against the dealer. The dealer must follow certain standard rules of play. He or she has no discretion how... more»
The following table shows some calculations concerning the house edge when basic strategy is used. They describe the best possible situation for the player when basic strategy is applied perfectly. These calculations were extracted from computer simulations of millions of hands. The starting point is the zero edge game, which is one deck, dealer... more»
Once you have picked out your table, find an empty chair and hover around, but do not barge into the game. Frequently a new player is not admitted to a game until the next shuffle; however, this rule is often relaxed in shoe games. At a minimum the current hand must be completed. The dealer will be aware that you want to join in and will invite... more»

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