Blackjack Strategy
The game of blackjack has been played for years at both land-based and online casinos. No matter what the location, players have implemented their own strategies to try and beat the house. Like other table games, the casino has the advantage of having the odds stacked in their favor, but that does not mean that playing the game is a losing proposition.
Most players use the basic strategy of hitting on any thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen, when a dealer is showing a picture card, eight or nine. These type of players assume that the dealers hole card is a picture card. While this can be an effective strategy when a low card comes, it also can be destructive and a quick way to lose money.
The theory for these aggressive players is to beat the dealer, rather then allowing the hand to play out. With the thirteen and fourteen, the player has a strong statistical chance to draw a lower card and keep their hand alive. The players hitting with the fifteen and sixteen are at greater risk of busting.
Another type of strategy that is used is more of a safe way of looking at the blackjack table and its odds. The passive player, given the same situation mentioned above, will stay on the thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen. Their reasoning is that the dealer’s hole card cannot be assumed to be a picture card or a ten. The passive player likes to get deep into the hand in the hopes their low total will hold up when a dealer busts.
The betting styles of players vary even more than the players’ strategy. Aggressive players will often play a pattern in which they keep raising their bets when they win, and back off of their bets when they lose. Conversely, other players push when they are losing, and then gradually back off as they win several hands in a row.
Whatever strategy a player decides to use, consistency seems to be the overwhelming trait that all good blackjack players possess. Playing the same style each time a player sits at a blackjack table, increases the chances that they do not make emotional decisions based on how their luck is going for that particular night. The bottom line is to have fun, and to keep losses to a minimum.