play better blackjack

Blackjack is binary. 

For every decision you face during the course of a hand, there is a right and wrong way to play. 

These decisions have been statistically proven and when followed exactly, will give you a disadvantage of only 1.5% against the house; one of the lowest of any casino game.

This method of playing is called ‘basic strategy’. 

It’s very good, but memorizing it can take some time, and for the recreational player (aka not blackjack obsessed like myself) can seem like more trouble than it’s worth.

For this reason, when friends and students alike of mine begin learning the game, I am often asked the same question;

“Arn’t there some basic rules I can follow to improve my chances?” 

The real answer is: No.  Learn basic strategy dammit. 

The other answer I sometimes give: Sort of. 

What follows is my completely guarantee-free yet hopefully helpful list of 7 simple rules that *should* help your game a bit.

P.S. Learn basic strategy dammit.

7 Rules to Improve Your Blackjack Game

1. Always split 8’s
2. Always split Aces
3. If you have 12, and the dealer is showing a 4, 5, or 6: STAND. 
4. If you have 16, and the dealer has a 10 showing (or Jack, Queen, King): HIT
5. If you have 9, and the dealer has a 3, 4, 5 or 6 showing: DOUBLE DOWN
6. If you have an Ace+7 (Soft 18) and the dealer has a 3, 4, 5 or 6 showing: DOUBLE DOWN
7. If your first two cards are lower than the dealers up card + 10: HIT

Good luck.

P.S.S. To my friends:  you KNOW the rules regarding surrender.  They’re not included here for simplicity’s sake

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