Losing at Blackjack generally leaves most players fuming. Take a look at the Advanced Blackjack Strategy below in order to build on the basics in the fundamental strategy page and start hitting, standing, doubling and splitting at one of our Best Blackjack Casinos today!
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CasinoTop10’s Blackjack experts are of the opinion that simply relying on your intuition whilst playing blackjack is definitely not worth the time and energy involved in playing the game. It can ultimately leave you undoubtedly disappointed. Nevertheless, there’s a fantastic solution to this that could potentially keep your inner demons at bay. Not to mention, it can leave you in the running to potentially win a handsome amount of cash. The secret is simply using Basic Blackjack Strategy.
Blackjack Betting Systems – Are they worth using?
Betting Systems can be applied to various casino games, one of which is the famous table game; Blackjack. If you find yourself drawn to a structured way of betting, you should give betting strategies a shot! Learn about the different types of Betting Systems by taking a look at CasinoTop10’s Money Management and Betting Systems Page. Remember that although using a blackjack betting system whilst playing the table game might sound like a good idea, not all that glitters is gold as implementing such a strategy carries its risks. You as a blackjack player should definitely keep in mind that there’s always a risk of losing more than you gain when using betting systems. Especially if the betting system you’re using is a negative progressive one. Hence, we urge you to use a positive progressive betting system instead! Moreover, if you opt to use one of these, you should have a rather large bankroll in order to be able to compensate for any losses whilst playing the game.
Card Counting
Counting Cards is a great way to gain an edge over the house; however, it’s definitely not for players who have only just begun to play blackjack. It involves keeping a running count on all the cards which have been drawn and given out by the dealer in order to determine whether the next hand of cards given out will be of value or not. Whilst many Blackjack Guides out there will tell you that it’s very quick and easy to learn, CasinoTop10’s expert blackjack players certainly differ on the matter. Hence, we’ve gone ahead and written up a marvellous card counting strategy guide which will aid you in learning the strategy. However, we have to mention that if you don’t want to deal with the complicated mathematics of card counting, dice games may be more fun to you so check out our online craps strategy guide to become a master at this game.
Taking Insurance – Should you take a chance on it?
Despite the fact that most blackjack strategy guides you’ll find out there will tell you to completely ignore insurance, in some instances taking out insurance it can definitely prove to be beneficial. For instance, if you find yourself playing a Blackjack game in which a single deck of cards is used, you can benefit from taking out insurance. This inherently has nothing to do with whether or not you have a good or bad hand, but more to do with if you know something covert about the remaining cards. The chart below highlights the single deck opportunities for profitable insurance betting for blackjack players who consider themselves to be card counters.
| No. of Hands Seen | No. of 10s |
| 2 | 0 |
| 3 | 0 |
| 4 | 1 |
Composition-Sensitive Hands
Although most Blackjack buffs will agree that basic Blackjack strategy will definitely help you play the game well, the problem with it is that the chart does not differentiate between ‘multi-card’ holdings and ‘two-card’ starting hands! For example, a typical basic blackjack strategy chart would suggest that if you have a 16 against an Ace, you should ‘hit’ rather than ‘stand’. This is due to the fact that the odds of winning will be approximately 24 times out of a total of 100 times (this also applies to pushes as half wins half losses) , whereas 17 out of a 100, if you choose to stand instead. Nonetheless, there are a couple of hand situations which appear to be very borderline when it comes down to which manoeuver you should use. So, in retrospect the best thing to do is play the hand depending on the cards which were ‘killed’ (removed from the deck) to make up the hand. For instance, take the two hands below into consideration.
Cards
Whilst the player’s hand (Hand 1) consists of a Queen and a 6, the dealer’s hand consists of a face-up card, which displays ‘10’, and a hole card. In this case, if you choose to ‘hit’, you’d probably win 23 ½ times. However, provided that you decide to look the other way and ‘stand’ instead, you’ll still be able to win 23 out of 100. So in essence, whether you hit or stand shouldn’t make much of a difference. What you should notice in this case is that, if these cards were available they’d probably make you go ‘bust’. However, since they have already been removed from the deck and handed out to players, your chances of going ‘bust’ are slimmer. This is why the probability of you winning provided you had to ‘hit’ is 0.5 times higher than if you were to stand.
The ‘Rule of 45’
Even though it’s quite possible for you to acquire a 10/6, much of the time you’ll find that you will acquire a 16 which is ‘built up’ by 3 or more cards. Sometimes you’ll find yourself in the troublesome situation where you’re against a 10 and even if you manage to hit on your ‘16’ hand and obtain an additional count of 2, you’ll probably still lose in the end. In this case, what you’re after is a 4 or even a 5 card in order to gain a score which is equal to ‘21’ or close to. Yet, if your hand of 16 already has any 4s or 5s, then you’ve killed one/two of the key cards you need to gain a higher score. Thus, your chances of doing a bit better are quite slim in this case. Hence, in this case it would be far better to stand than to hit. If you’d like to use the ‘Rule of 45’, you should note that this only applies when a dealer’s hand contains a face up ’10’ card. So, in essence this rule should not be applied to when the dealer has any other high-up cards that are not 10s.
The ‘Doctor Pepper Rule’
Another situation in which you might find yourself confused is when you’re dealt a hand with a total count of 12 and the dealer has a 4. In this particular situation, your odds of winning if you stand are 40 out of 100 times and 39 ¾ if you hit. However, the problem is that you can end up with a count of 12 by being dealt one of 4 hand options. These are 10/2, 9/3, 8/4 and 7/5. You’ll notice that there is a profound difference between a 12 which is made up of a 10 and a 2 and a hand which is made up of a 7 and a 5. Whilst holding a 7/5 hand, you’ll be able to catch a 10 which would bust you. The bottom line to the doctor pepper rule is that you should essentially hit a 10/2 hand against a 4 up, but stand with any other kind of hard 12.
Advanced Blackjack Strategy Tips
As a battle-scarred blackjack player you’re in possession of crucial experience which clearly differentiates you from less skilled players who haven’t been playing the semi-circular table game for long. CasinoTop10’s Advanced Blackjack Strategy Tips aims to give you as a blackjack veteran a few wise words of advice which will surely help you better how well you play. Nonetheless, even if you do consider yourself to be a newbie at blackjack, you should still take a look at our tips below provided that you’ve learnt how to use the Basic Blackjack Strategy.
1) Sit in a seat which proves to be advantageous to you
You should always try to aim to sit in the Anchor seat, which is the last seat at a blackjack table, in order to see what cards have already been drawn by the dealer and given out to the rest of the players in order to determine the probability of receiving a low card or a high card.
2) Use more than one Betting System
If you’ve used betting strategies before whilst playing blackjack, you’re probably aware that incorporating one into your gameplay, even if the betting system is a positive progressive system, doesn’t necessarily work in guaranteeing you to win big. However, if you know the differences between negative and positive betting strategies well enough, you might be able to benefit from meshing two together whilst you’re playing an online blackjack game. Try it out by using our Blackjack Trainer to test out if it actually work’s for you, after all the proof is in the pudding!
3) Pay attention to the odds
Even if you’re a blackjack veteran and know the basic blackjack strategy by heart, you’ll definitely come across situations in which you’ll be left huffing and puffing or even pounding at the table. Hence, it’s best to have a look at your odds of winning and losing by having a look at CasinoTop10’s table below.
| Player’s vs. Dealer’s Hand | Player’s Odds | % |
| 20 vs. 8 | 8:1 | 88.9 |
| 20 vs. 6 | 11:2 | 84.6 |
| 20 vs.4 | 5:1 | 83.3 |
| 20 vs.2 | 9:2 | 81.8 |
| 19 vs. 7 | 4:1 | 80.0 |
| 16 vs. 10 | 17:5 | 77.3 |
| 16 vs. Ace | 16:5 | 76.2 |
| 16 vs. 9 | 15.5:5 | 75.6 |
| 15 vs. 10 | 15.5:5 | 75.6 |
| 19 vs.3 | 5:2 | 71.4 |
| 17 vs.9 | 5:2 | 71.4 |
| 15 vs.8 | 5:2 | 71.4 |
| 18 vs.7 | 12:5 | 70.6 |
| 17 vs.10 | 12:5 | 70.6 |
| 16 vs.7 | 12:5 | 70.6 |
| 13 vs.2 | 11:5 | 68.8 |
| 11 vs.6 | 2:1 | 66.7 |
| 19 vs.2 | 2:1 | 64.3 |
| 13 vs.2 | 9:5 | 64.3 |
| 10 vs.6 | 9:5 | 64.3 |
| 18 vs.5 | 8:5 | 61.5 |
| 12 vs.3 | 8:5 | 61.5 |
| 11 vs.2 | 8:5 | 61.5 |
| 18 vs.9 | 3:2 | 60.0 |
| 15 vs.4 | 3:2 | 60.0 |
| 12 vs.4 | 3:2 | 60.0 |
| 10 vs.2 | 3:2 | 60.0 |
| 9 vs.6 | 7:5 | 58.3 |
| 18 vs.10 | 7:5 | 58.3 |
| 17 vs.2 | 7:5 | 58.3 |
| 16 vs.5 | 7:5 | 58.3 |
| 12 vs.5 | 7:5 | 57.1 |
| Ace/7 vs. 10 | 7:5 | 55.6 |
| 18 vs. 2 | 4:3 | 55.6 |
| 18 vs.Ace | 5:4 | 54.5 |
| Ace/7 vs. 9 | 5:4 | 54.5 |
| 18 vs. 8 | 6:5 | 54.5 |
| 11 vs. 10 | 6:5 | 54.5 |
| 10 vs.9 | 6:5 | 54.5 |
| 19 vs. 10 | 7:6 | 53.8 |
| 9 vs.3 | 8:7 | 53.3 |
| Ace/3 vs. 5 | 8:7 | 53.3 |
| Ace/2 vs. 5 | 8:7 | 53.3 |
| Ace/6 vs. 7 | 10:9 | 52.6 |
| 9 vs.9 | 10:9 | 52.6 |
| 17 vs. 5 | 11:10 | 52.4 |
| Ace/5 vs.2 | 21:20 | 51.2 |
| Ace/5 vs.3 | 1:1 | 50.0 |
Advanced Blackjack Strategy – CasinoTop10’s Verdict
If you’re playing Blackjack online, you better be quick on the trigger in order to acquire the handsome sum of money in the pot. When it actually comes down to playing the game, half the battle is actually learning about the strategies involved, whilst the other part is executing it successfully. When you’ve learnt about the basic strategy and the advanced blackjack strategy, you should try out what you’ve learnt by using our Blackjack Trainer or taking a look at our Live Blackjack game. Once you finally feel content with how you’re playing, you can look at our Best Blackjack Apps page or you can go ahead and sign up to one of CasinoTop10’s ‘Best Blackjack Casinos’ above.
