Why isn’t Betting in Blackjack Always Obvious?
This is the third part of our tutorial on Jacks or Better blackjack at Jackpot Capital online casino. We offer blackjack at both the desktop casino, which also runs the laptop casino, and at our superb mobile jackpot casino.
Many players at Jackpot Capital casino choose the mobile platform for both short and longer gaming sessions. Mobile is the perfect platform for short sessions you might wish to play when you have a few free moments while you’re otherwise involved in your busy daily activities. Mobile is also becoming the most popular gaming platform for gamers playing at home simply because it is so comfortable to curl up on a soft sofa and play some blackjack and all our other great games. Also, it's not limited to phone play - this is the platform for tablets, as well.
Finally, we always point out that curling up on a sofa or in bed with your favorite person is a great way to have some gaming fun together. Blackjack is an interactive game since you need to decide how to proceed on every hand. To that end, we began this tutorial a few weeks ago. Here we will try to finish our thorough analysis of the best blackjack strategy card so you and your significant other can have a lot of fun and win as well!
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Strategy with 13 or 14 Points
This is a weak hand for the player since there are so many cards that you can go over 21 with. Because of this, most blackjack players stand whenever they have these point counts. It is correct to stand if the dealer is showing from 2 to 6 points.
The dealer will have to hit and might go over 21 herself! However, if the dealer is showing a 7 through and ace, you should hit with 13 or 14 points. To be fair, you will lose with this hand more often than you’ll win but in the cases where the dealer might already have a hand that can beat you, it is statistically better to hit than to stand. It is also statistically better to hit than to surrender.
15, 16, or 17 Points Oh My!
The first two point counts are very weak for players. Seventeen points will win more often than 15 or 16 points will win but it is still a weak hand. In fact, statistics show that even 18 points is not a great hand for the player.
With 15 to 17 points, we introduce surrender as an option. Surrender is an important element in keeping the return to player rate as high as possible. Surrender means that you give up half of your bet without a challenge to the dealer. In games where surrender is allowed, it is a major strategic play that conserves a lot of money even as it surrenders some money!
If you have 15 points, you stand if the dealer is showing 2 through 6 points; you hit if the dealer is showing 7 to 9 points; and you surrender if the dealer is showing 10 points or an ace.
Many players would also surrender if the dealer is showing 7 to 9 points but, once again, you are statistically better situated even with 15 points to hit when the dealer has 7 to 9 points! We agree that this seems counter-intuitive but it is based on statistical analysis of many thousands of hands.
If you have 16 points, you stand when the dealer is showing 2 through 6 points; you hit when the dealer has 7 or 8 points; and you surrender when the dealer shows 9, 10, or an ace. This demonstrates the vast statistical difference between a holding of 15 points versus a holding of 16 points.
If you have 17 points, you stand on all hands except that you surrender when the dealer has an ace.
When you have 18 points, you stand in all cases.
The Power of an Ace
A hand with an ace and another card is called a soft hand. It may be a very powerful hand numerically, but the presence of the ace makes it “soft” because the ace can be worth one point or eleven points and you can decide which point count to give the ace.
Therefore, the statistically best strategy changes when you have a soft hand. Even if you have 12 or more points in your dealt soft hand, you can’t bust with one more card because you'll change the A count to 1. This makes doubling down a very powerful play especially with point counts that are poor hands if they don’t have an ace.
When You Have 13 to 17 Points
First look at the end of the chart. With these point counts, you always hit when the dealer is showing a 7 through an ace. If the dealer has 5 or 6 points showing, you always double down with 13 to 17 points. Remember, you cannot bust and the dealer might very well bust. By doubling down, you’ll be statistically primed to double your win.
When you have 13 or 14 points, you hit when the dealer has a 2 or a 3 showing. If you have 15 or 16 points, you hit when the dealer shows 2 or 3 points and you double down when the dealer has 4, 5, or 6 points. Finally, when you have 17 points, you hit when the dealer has 2 points and double down when the dealer shows 3 through 6 points.
When You Have Soft 18
You double when the dealer has 2 through 6 points; you stand when the dealer has 7 or 8 points; and you hit when the dealer has 9, 10, or an ace. Remember, you cannot bust because you have an ace!
Soft 19 or 20
With these hands, you stand in all cases except when the dealer shows 6 points and you have a soft 19. The point here is that soft 19 and 20 points are very strong hands and it is a mistake to double down with them.
Statistics Reign Supreme
As we have seen, statistics are so powerful that they change the strategy even when our point count or the dealer’s point count are even as little as single point different. Similarly, statistics tell us when it is best to double down, hit, stand, and surrender.
In our next and final blackjack tutorial article, we will discuss the science of splitting.
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