Blackjack Strategy And Blackjack System

No matter what casino game people play, they normally want to come up with some kind of a strategy. One of the things that makes blackjack strategy so interesting is the fact that every single hand has different odds than the last.

Blackjack is also a game that involves skill as well as luck where as games like roulette have static odds and you're relying mostly on luck. In the bottom half of this page I shall be discussing various online blackjack systems you can use and then at the bottom we will take a look at strategies you can use in a land based casino.

To begin with it would be best if we look at two blackjack strategy cards. These are cards that you follow as you play to see what the best move would be. The top card is for a single deck game and the second is for a multi deck game.

For both of the cards, the vertical column on the left hand side represents your card value. The top horizontal row represents the value of the dealer's card that you can see. 

Single Deck Blackjack Strategy Card

H = Hit   S = Stand   D = Double   P = Split   H/SU = Surrender if possible, if not Hit

S/SU = Surrender if able to, if not Stand

Multi Deck Blackjack Strategy Card

H = Hit   S = Stand   D = Double Down   SP = Split   H/SU = Surrender if possible, if not Hit

How Do You Use These Cards?

Using blackjack strategy cards is very easy. It's a simple case of looking at the value of your first two cards and then finding that particular row on the card. Then you look at the value of the dealer's card and then follow that column down on the card until you row and the dealer column meet.

Let's me give you an example to make sure you understand this, let's say the total of your cards was 16 and the dealer's total was 7. Following the card above, you would HIT.

Now here is a quick disclosure on the cards above, while they do give you your best odds over the long term, they don't overcome the house edge, that's practically impossible. The only way to do this is to count cards which I shall discuss lower down (keep in mind that you can't count cards with online blackjack).

Another thing worth taking note of is that when you play blackjack online you don't have any decks at all. This is because the cards are randomly generated rather than drawn from a shoe which contains the decks of cards in a land based casino. For this reason we would recommend that you use the top card (single deck) when playing online.

Blackjack System

While the cards above are a good guidance on to what your actions should be, they don't help you much with regards to how much you should bet for each hand. Most players will either bet the same amount for every hand or they will use some kind of a blackjack system. These are the most common blackjack systems that people use.

The Martingale System - This is when you start out by betting £1 on the first hand and if you lose, you double your bets on the next hand. You repeat this process until you get a win.

Labouchere Blackjack Strategy - This is a less risky method than the Martingale because the amounts that you need to bet are less. You start out with a sequence of numbers and use an elimination process.

D'Alembert Blackjack System - This is a simple system where you increase your bets by 1 unit after a loss and then decrease them after a win. The problem with this system is that the profits are small and you can dig yourself into a hole.

Fibonacci Blackjack Strategy - This is based on a mathematical sequence of numbers that wasn't originally intended for gambling. Despite this it's used on games like blackjack and roulette so it's worth a mention. It's safer to use than the Martingale and you only need to potentially win half as many hands as you lose to still be in profit.

Bad Blackjack Strategies - We had to give a mention to bad strategies that you should stay away from. Mimic the dealer, never go bust and the insurance bet are covered on this page.

Card Counting

Card counting is a term that you may have heard of and it's a technique that if applied properly, can actually put the odds of a game in your favour. The first important thing to understand is that you can only count cards in a land based casino, not online. Card counting is explained in detail on the blackjack card counting page.