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Basic blackjack strategy.

We all know http://www.safecasinos.net/">online blackjack is one of the simplest and most straightforward casino games to learn. The rules are easy, and playing it is not a superhuman feat either. This is probably the reason why it is one of the most popular casino games to date. Most people also know that the house possesses an edge on this game that is simply unbeatable without some previous up-close study of the game. In order to be able to defeat this edge and turn it around in your favor, you need to apply some kind of advanced card-counting strategy. You can however, diminish the house edge some simply by playing according to basic blackjack strategy. What exactly is basic strategy?

I'd define it as a collection of charts which tell you what to do according to the cards that you're dealt and to the dealer's open card.
Let's take it all one step at a time: first of all, there are a few actions that you can take in blackjack once you're dealt one or more cards:

if you hit, it means you ask for another card to be dealt to you, thus assuming the risk of possibly going over 21 and busting.

If you stand, it means you give up the right to draw any more cards and you await the dealer to act as he sees fit.

When you double, you basically raise the stakes to double the amount it was before. Do this in case you feel you have something you're sure to win on.

Double else stand means that you either have to quit drawing any more cards or you have to double the stakes in order to draw another one.

When you surrender your bet, it means you give up all equity you had in that hand.

These are the decisions you'll be faced with in a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackjack”>blackjack</a> game. With that out of the way, let's see what basic strategy really comes down to.
There are three charts that you need to learn pretty much by heart ( that is if you don't plan on taking peeks at a little piece of paper while playing live in a casino) which will tell you what to do when you hold certain cards in relation to what the dealer's open card is.

The first table is about splitting. In case you have a pair of 2s you'd do better to split them whenever the dealer has a 2,3,4,5,6 or seven, and not split when he has 8,9,10, J,Q,K or A.

This is only one example of how the chart is going to aid your game. It contains information like this for every pair you can be dealt. On a pair of aces you should split no matter what the dealer holds.

The second such table is called the "hard hand table". A hard hand is a hand that has no aces in it. A soft hand is one that has an ace. If you have an ace you can draw at least two more cards without risking a bust ( remember, the Ace counts as 11 or 1 depending on what you need in your hand) given the fact that the max value of two cards you draw cannot exceed 20, you are not risking anything when you already hold an ace. This is why it's called a "soft" hand.

The hard hand table will tell you what to do when you have one such hand depending on the dealer's open hand.

An example here would be the following: if you hold 16 in a hard hand, you have to stand when the dealer's card is anything between 2-6, hit if it's 7 or 8, and surrender if it's something between 9-A.

The "soft hand table" gives you similar instructions on what you have to do when in possession of a soft hand.

As for insurance: decline it. Simple as that.

It isn't easy to remember every single table to the very last detail, but if you spot certain similarities between different rules you can group them by that and give yourself an easier time learning it.

Learning http://www.safecasinos.net/blackjack.html>basic blackjack strategy</a> is the first step one has to take in order to eventually successfully turn the house edge around. Learning card-counting is also a must but the first thing you need to know to perfection is , of course, basic strategy.

Written by James West

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