Importance of using a correct basic strategy chart for blackjack.
As even the most unseasoned gamblers should know, blackjack gets its supreme popularity from delivering a house edge of under half a percent. No other table game can come anywhere close to that, and slot machines? Forget about it! Only video poker—with just the right rules and pay table—can compare.
But playing blackjack, and playing blackjack correctly, are two very different things. In fact, the vast majority of blackjack players do not use proper strategy in their decision making. That is the number one reason casinos don’t bother altering the rules to make it more profitable for them. They don’t have to.
Basic Blackjack Strategy – It’s Not Complicated!
Just knowing that blackjack is the best paying game on the casino floor isn’t enough to get a good return on it. You have to work for that superbly high RTP. The good news is, there’s a reason they call it a “basic” blackjack strategy. It’s not complicated. It’s just a matter of finding the right chart, for the right game, and following it religiously.
With the right rules/pays in place, using that chart will give you a theoretical return of at least 99.5%. Disregard the directions on that chart just once, and you’re decreasing your return to player (RTP).
The important thing to understand about RTPs is that, unless it exceeds 100%, your expectations is to lose. You read that correctly—you should expect to lose money. Even at 99.5%, you can expect to lose 0.5% of all your wagers.
Expecting to win would be better, but casinos aren’t in the business of offering positive expectations. The lowest possible negative expectation is as good as it gets. Thus, with a bit of luck, and the willpower to quit if/when you’re ahead, blackjack gives players a unique opportunity to walk away a winner some of the time.
Use the Correct Basic Strategy Chart for Blackjack
As I said before, it’s important that you’re using the right strategy chart for your game. There are a lot of rule variations that can impact the way you (should) play blackjack. The number of decks in play, the dealer’s obligation to hit or stand on soft 17, whether dealer peeks for blackjack, and eligibility to surrender a hand or double after split.
Each little rule variation has an effect on the RTP, and the best possible decisions to be made in each situation. The one rule you’ll want to avoid, no matter what, is a short pay for natural blackjack. Blackjack should always pay 3 to 2. If it pays 6 to 5 or anything less, don’t play that game, period.
The sample chart on the right depicts the proper strategy for a blackjack game with 4-8 decks, where the dealer hits soft 17, and double down is available on any 2-card total. But I’m not recommending you use this chart. It is for visual stimuli only.
I recommend you head over to the website of Michael Shackleford—a.k.a. The Wizard of Odds—where you can input the specific rules of the game you are aiming to play. His website provides a lot of awesome things, including a Blackjack Odds Calculator with the unique ability to generate a perfectly correct basic strategy chart for blackjack.
Input the rules and the proper blackjack strategy chart will instantly be displayed. Copy it, print it, memorize it—just don’t ignore it.
