Play Blackjack Like a ProPosted by Nick Niesen on October 26th, 2010 Blackjack is known as the king of all games simply because it is the most popular casino game in the world. In part due to its popularity as well as because of its deceivingly simple play, blackjack is also the most researched game in the casino world. The complexity of the game is due in large part to the variability of probabilities in different hands and even at different stages within a hand. That is to say, the odds of winning change with the composition of the deck. In a game of blackjack, the house advantage can be brought down to around 1 percent, provided the player follows certain rules. These set of rules are referred to, rather irreverently as ?Basic Strategy?, and it is this owing to these guidelines which gives blackjack the reputation of one of the most fair games played at casinos. Basic Strategy It is easier to learn basic strategy by following color-coded charts. Such charts are available in books as well as for free online. The charts are focused around the main actions that can be taken by a player. So there are charts for split pairs, for double down and there are hit or stand charts. In almost all charts, the action is colored red and this is the key to learning the basic strategy. Intermediate Strategy Advanced Strategy Another method is clump reading. The decks have a great degree of clumpiness at the start of the game. This is because it is difficult to shuffle the new card decks very greatly for randomness in just a brief minute or so. Hence long spells of like cards get dealt after the initial shuffle. This clumpiness decreases after several shuffles are made. The strategy is to get a seat next to the dealer?s left hand side. If the player can track the streak of cards (count the highs and lows) he can make changes to the basic strategy. Then he should try to get into the last position that is next to the dealer's right hand so as to be able to see all the other player?s cards. Blackjack is a game which requires a certain degree of self-education. It is relatively easy for beginners to learn the basic game strategy by employing the color coded charts. Unlike many other casino games, mastery of these basic strategies can go a very long way to improving one?s odds, whereas intermediate and advanced techniques provide only marginally better results. Like it? Share it!More by this author |