Casino Blackjack Strategy
Basic strategy is a simple and proven system that doesn't require a lot of brainwork and concentration, but does take a little bit of study to memorise completely.. A rule of thumb that will help you: just assume that the dealer's bottom card is a 10. Why? Because there are more 10s and face cards in the deck than anything else, so chances are good that the dealer's "hole card" is a 10. For the same reason, you should assume that the next card dealt will also be a 10. Therefore, let's say you're dealt a 9 and a 7. You have a total of 16. The dealer is showing a 6. Do you want another card? No you don't, because chances are the next card is going to be a 10, and the dealer will bust instead of you.
Remember this, too: for decision-making, the dealer's up card is usually just as important as the total of your cards. Your decisions should be based not just on what you hold, but also on what the dealer has. Experts say that nearly 40% of your starting hands will be "stiffs," or bad hands. You won't get a 19 or 20 every time. Then again, neither will the dealer. Using basic strategy, you'll win much of the time even with a bad hand—simply because the dealer must draw until he has at least 17. He's forced (by the rules) to take another card when he's got a bad hand. You are not. Once again, it's important to remember that the object is not simply to get a good hand. It's to beat the dealer.
You've probably heard that one player at the table who doesn't play properly can adversely change the outcome for everyone else; especially the player in the last position, or the "hot seat," as it's called. The reason for this, according to legend, is that the strategy of the player in the hot seat is supposed to affect the cards that the dealer gets. This is simply not true. Granted, half the time a bad play will help the dealer, but half the time it will hurt him. So it really isn't important how anyone else at the table plays his hand. Everyone is playing his own cards against the dealer's cards.
Most gamblers, however, like to blame someone else when they lose. Who are they going to blame at the dice table? The shooter! Who are they going to blame at the blackjack game? The person sitting in the hot seat, that's who.
