Blackjack Table: A Simple Strategy To Win

A few days ago we talked about different blackjack strategies that players use to try to increase their winnings. In that post we tell you the most used tips, except for the basic blackjack strategy table. This strategy is a little more complex, so we have created a specific post so that you understand how this strategy works. Let’s see it!

Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart

The purpose of this table is to tell the player what to do in each situation that may occur during a blackjack hand.

How to use the basic strategy table

The first thing to be clear about is that this table includes the basic strategy for the blackjack variant where the dealer uses four or more decks and is forced to stand on 17 points. Also keep in mind that for this table to make sense the player can never make the insurance bet (bet you make when the dealer’s up card is an Ace). Once this is known, let’s see how the table works:

The first row indicates the upcard the dealer has in a given hand. Below are the hand a player has and all the decisions he can make broken down by card type:

• Hard cards: In these hands the player does not have any AS or the AS can only be worth 1.
• Soft cards: In these hands the player has an AS and this can be chosen to be worth 11.
• Pairs: In these hands the player has received two equal cards.

To know what to do in each situation, you just have to look for the column with the value of the dealer’s uncovered card and the row of the hand that the player has at that moment. The intersection between the column and the row will be the action to perform.

This strategy table is not only used to make the first decision, but it is used throughout the hand. That is to say, if the player has carried out the action of requesting a card, he must recalculate the sum of his hand and do what the table determines again.

Practical example:

Let’s say the dealer’s up card is an 8 and the player’s starting hand is AS,4. The first thing to do is locate the intersection square:

Column 8, group of soft cards row “A, 4” à Request card

Once the card has been requested, the player receives an 8. We add the hand again and see that if the AS were still worth 11 we would exceed 21 points, so its value is updated to 1 and the total sum is 13. We return to look at the intersection:

Column 8, group of hard cards row 13 à Request card

This time, the player receives a 5. We add the hand again and this time we would have a total score of 18. We check the intersection of the table again:

Column 8, group of hard cards row 18: Stay (stand)

On this occasion, we see how the table indicates that the sum of points is already strong enough for the player to stand up and have options to beat the bank.

Also Read: How To Play Blackjack From Your Mobile