Important Rules:

If you would like to stroll out of the casinos with money after hours of playing blackjack, these are the 3 most important rules to help you learn how to win at blackjack.

1. What you want to accomplish is to get a point value higher than the dealer, not as close to 21. Of course this leads to players busting more than is needed.

2. The dealer has no free will and has to follow a set of rules in spite of his position. Even if the dealer has a winning hand with a total of 16 he still has to hit even with the possibility of busting.

3. The dealer has the benefit in that all players go first. If you bust first you lose even if the dealer busts later in the game.

Basic game strategy

The basic game strategy is the most vital thing to know on your way to becoming a winning blackjack player. This is the best way to play every probable situation. In this way you use numerical analysis to forecast the outcome of various hands. You then play your cards the way that is statistically the most likely to result in a win.

Because the dealer have to play using the house rules he must always hit with a hand of 16 or less and stand with a hand of 17 or more (some casinos allow the dealer to hit on a soft 17). One of the dealer's cards is face-up for all players to see. These are the predicted percentages of a dealer busting.

Dealers face-up card is:	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Ace
Percentage chance of busting:	35	37	40	42	42	26	24	23	23	17

As we can see, the dealer has more of chance busting if his face up card is either a 6 or under. Based on these statistics the following blackjack strategy was developed:

Surrendering strategy

This option is not popular and is not offered in many casinos. You surrender when you have a hand that has a very poor chance of winning. When surrendering you stop playing and lose half of your bet.

When playing multiple deck blackjack games you should only surrender when:

You have a hard 15 and the dealer is showing a 10
You have a hard 16 and the dealer is showing a 9, 10 or Ace.

When playing two deck Blackjack games you should only surrender when:
You have a hard 15 and the dealer is showing a 10
You have a hard 16 and the dealer is showing a 10
You have a pair of 7's and the dealer is showing a 10

Card Counting

Card counting is very straightforward. All it involves is simple adding and subtracting of numbers. The idea is to determine whether or not the cards in the deck(s) favor the player or the dealer. Card counting requires skill and a lot of practice together with knowledge of the basic strategy. To use card counting to it's fullest, you must be able to count fast while being very unsuspicious.

What exactly is counted? A deck, which still has a high content of 10 valued cards in it, generally favors the player. On the other hand, a game with a lot of low value cards generally favors the dealer.

Therefore in a game with

A lot of high valued cards you would increase your bet
A lot of low valued cards you would decrease your bet

Why are 10 valued cards so important for the player?
On a poor hand (12 - 16) you have the option of not drawing when the deck is stacked with 10's, but the dealer must draw with anything 16 and below.
On a hand totaling 9, 10, or 11 you have the choice to double down. A great idea on a deck stacked with 10's. There is of course no advantage for the dealer.
You are paid 3 - 2 for a blackjack. The dealer "just wins". You have higher chances of getting a blackjack on a deck stacked with 10's.

After understanding the general idea of card counting it is left to learn how to do so. There are many different methods, which help you determine if a deck is stacked with 10's. We bring a few of them below.

The high low point count system

It is a basic card counting system, which is very easy to learn and therefore recommended for beginners. Being easy to learn does however not mean it is easy to use. Be sure to practice before you play so you don't get caught.

With the High-Low Point Count System every card is given a certain value such as follows:

Card value	Count
2,3,4,5,6	+1
7,8,9	0
10, Ace	-1

Using this schedule, all you have to do now is add up a +1, 0, or -1 for every card dealt during the game.

Example:

Player 1 is dealt 2 and 10
Player 2 is dealt Ace and 9
Player 3 is dealt 6 and 8
Dealer shows a 10

Your calculation will be (+1 -1) for Player 1, (- 1 + 0) for Player 2, (+1 + 0) for Player 3 and -1 for the Dealer. Adding them up brings you to a total count of -1.

Drawing your conclusion

When your total count is around 0 or lower, like in our example, you should only place the minimum bet. However, when the count rises to +2 or even higher the deck is in your favor. This is the time to raise your bet.

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