Go Perya | How to Improve Your Live Blackjack Skills with Blackjack Strategy

Playing blackjack is simple in online casinos since gamblers only need to know what hitting, standing, doubling down, and splitting mean. However, learning how to win at blackjack requires gamblers to master Basic Strategy first to know when to hit, stand, and double down. After mastering Basic Strategy, gamblers can then learn more advanced strategies, including Card Counting and Deviations to throw off the dealer or win more real money when playing live blackjack.

Blackjack strategies from Basic Strategy to advanced strategies and tips

Without learning Basic Strategy, gamblers will basically be guessing whether they should hit or stand based only on what they’re holding, instead of knowing exactly what to do in specific situations.

Blackjack Basic Strategy

Basic Strategy is, as the name suggests, the very basics of blackjack strategy and serves as the foundation of all blackjack strategies. Card counting is one example of an advanced strategy that many gamblers playing to win real money use and learning it requires mastering Basic Strategy to ensure they hit, double down, and split when they need to win big.

Hitting – Hitting is a play where players ask for more cards until they get blackjack, bust, or stand.
Standing – Standing is a play where players do not ask for any additional cards and the dealer moves on to the next player. The Dealer automatically stands if they have a total of 17 or higher.
Doubling down – Doubling down is a play where players double their bet mid-hand and receive one extra card then automatically standing.
Splitting – Splitting is an option to turn a hand of two cards into two separate cards to have an extra chance to beat the dealer.
Surrendering – Surrendering is an option to surrender half a player’s bet if they don’t like their hand or if the Dealer already checked for Blackjack.

Besides knowing what hitting, standing, doubling down, splitting, and surrendering are, it’s also important for gamblers to know the card values in blackjack to ensure they don’t bust and can either get blackjack or close to 21.

Understanding Blackjack Card Values

The first step in mastering Basic Strategy is learning and remembering the cards’ values. Each card will have a value assigned to it, with several cards having the same value and one having more than one value, depending on the situation. The Blackjack cards’ values are the following:

Aces = 1 or 11
2 to 10 = their numerical values
Face cards (Jack, Queen, and King) = 10

Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart

Mastering Basic Strategy can be difficult since it covers all the possible situations in a blackjack table, so there’s a lot to keep in mind when trying to master it. We have several charts that cover hard hands and soft hands and when to split and surrender. We also provided a legend to help readers understand the table easier.

Legend
H	Hit
S	Stand
DD	Double Down
DD/H	Double Down if allowed, Hit if not
DD/S	Double Down if allowed, Stand if not
DAS	Double Down After Split
SPLT	Split
DSPLT	Don’t Split
SPLT DAS	Split if Double Down is Allowed
SUR	Surrender
D SUR	Don’t Surrender

Hard Hands Chart

Player Totals	Dealer Upcard
Hard Hands	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Ace
17	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
16 – 13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
11	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H
10	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	H	H
9	H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	H	H	H	H	H
8 – 4	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H

Soft Hands Chart

Player Totals	Dealer Upcard
Soft Hands	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Ace
17	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
16 – 13	S	S	S	S	DD/S	S	S	S	S	H
A & 7	DD/S	DD/S	DD/S	DD/S	DD/S	S	S	H	H	H
A & 6	H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	H	H	H	H	H
A & 5, A & 4	H	H	DD/H	DD/H	DD/H	H	H	H	H	H
A & 3, A & 2	H	H	H	DD/H	DD/H	H	H	H	H	H

Splitting Pairs Chart

Player Totals	Dealer Upcard
Player’s Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Ace
Two Aces	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	S	SSPLT	S	SPLT
Two 10s	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	SPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT
Two 9s	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	DSPLT	SPLT	SPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT
Two 8s	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	H
Two 7s	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT
Two 6s	SPLT DAS	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	SPLT	DSPLT
Two 5s	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	SPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT
Two 4s	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	SPLT DAS	SPLT DAS	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT
Two 3s	SPLT DAS	SPLT DAS	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT
Two 2s	SPLT DAS	SPLT DAS	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	SPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT	DSPLT

Surrender Chart

	Dealer Upcard
Player’s Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Ace
16	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	SUR	SUR	SUR
15	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	D SUR	DSUR	SUR	DSUR
14	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR	DSUR

Mastering Blackjack Moves

Some gamblers might find it difficult to memorize the chart, so we also have statements that gamblers can try to memorize instead to know when to hit, stand, double down, split, surrender, and take insurance.

When to Hit

Your hand is a Hard 13-16 when dealer has 7, 8, 9, 10, or Ace
Your hand is a Hard 12 when the dealer has 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, or Ace
Your hand is a Hard 11 or lower
Your hand’s total is 10 or 11
Your hand is a Soft 18 when the dealer has 9, 10, or Ace
Your hand is a Soft 17 or lower

When to Stand

Your hand is a Hard 17
Your hand is a Hard 13-16 when the dealer has 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6
Your hand is a Hard 12 when the dealer has 4, 5, or 6
Your hand is a Soft 20 or Soft 19
Your hand is a Soft 18 when the dealer has 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8

When to Double Down

Your hand is a Hard 11
Your hand is a Hard 10 when the dealer has 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9
Your hand is a Hard 9 when the dealer has 3, 4, 5, or 6
Your hand is a Soft 19 when the dealer has 6
Your hand is a Soft 18 when the dealer has 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6
Your hand is a Soft 17 when the dealer has 3, 4, 5, or 6
Your hand is a Soft 15 or Soft 16 when the dealer has 4, 5, or 6
Your hand is a Soft 13 or Soft 14 when the dealer has 5 or 6

When to Split

You have two Aces
You have two 9s when the dealer has 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, or 9
You have two 8s
You have two 7s when the dealer has 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7
You have two 6s when the dealer has 2 and you can double down, 3, 4, 5, or 6
You have two 4s when the dealer has 5 or 6 and you can double down
You have two 3s or 2s when the dealer has 2 and you can double down, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7

When to Surrender

Your hand is a 16 when the dealer has 9, 10, or Ace
Your hand is a 15 when the dealer has a 10

When to Take Insurance

You should never take insurance. Betting on insurance involves betting half of their initial bet to get even money.

Card Counting in Blackjack

After mastering Basic Strategy, gamblers can then learn how to count cards using one of several card counting systems. Card counting is a strategy used by advanced gamblers to increase their chances of winning real money. This involves getting the running count by assigning values to cards and counting using the said values then dividing it by the number of decks used in the table to get the true count.

We have an article on how to count cards in blackjack.

Top Blackjack Strategy Tips

Mastering Basic Strategy can be hard for beginners, but they can practice using some of the blackjack tips below to get the hang of some Basic Strategy rules while winning some real money.

Use a Basic Strategy Chart

The biggest advantage of playing live blackjack in an online casino is that they can keep a copy of our Basic Strategy chart and a chart for counting cards and more advanced strategies to practice playing with strategies. Traditional casinos don’t allow gamblers to bring charts to get an advantage over the house, but online casinos won’t be able to tell whether a gambler’s using a chart or not.

Never Take Insurance

Taking insurance is almost always a bad idea, and you shouldn’t take it unless you’re counting cards and are deviating from your standard plays.

Split Aces and 8s Every Time

Splitting Aces and 8s is a rule in Basic Strategy and practicing while keeping this in mind is essential to turn it into a habit and avoid the mistake of not splitting. Splitting Aces helps give gamblers a chance of getting blackjack and splitting 8s can help gamblers get 18s at most instead of only having 16. Splitting 10s and 9s is a bad idea since there’s a significant chance that gamblers will end up with weaker hands afterward.

Always Stand on Hard 17 or Higher

A Hard 17 is undoubtedly a strong card and hitting will risk the gambler busting, and this goes the same with 18 and higher. Always stand on Hard 17 or higher to retain a strong hand and have a chance of winning against the dealer.

1-3-2-6 Betting Strategy

The 1-3-2-6 betting system is a system where gamblers will need to bet 1, 3, 2, and 6 units in a sequence. Whenever the player loses, they go back to the first step to limit losses. After successfully completing the sequence, the gambler can choose to quit.

Bet 1 unit until you win
Bet 3 units, go back to step 1 if you lose
Bet 2 units, go back to step 1 if you lose
Bet 6 units, go back to step 1 after or quit

Using this system is ideal when practicing Basic Strategy to improve a gambler’s chances of winning and progressing through the sequence easily.

Parlay

In Parlay, players bet their initial stake alongside the winnings of the first bet to steadily increase their winnings.

Bet 1 unit until you win
Bet your winnings and 1 unit, go back to step 1 if you lose
Bet your winnings and 1 unit, go back to step 1 if you lose
Quit until you’re satisfied or when you lose many times

The downside with this is that gamblers will lose big when they bet many times in a Parlay and get unlucky. It can be hard to rebuild one’s winnings when one suddenly loses after a good winning streak.

FAQs

Basic Strategy is the foundation of all successful blackjack strategies that seasoned gamblers use to win real money. This is comprised of a set of rules that help gamblers make correct decisions to win real money in different situations. This applies even when using different blackjack variations since the Basic Strategy chart also covers alternative rules on the basic bets.

The only way to improve one’s skills in blackjack is by constantly practicing Basic Strategy and then more advanced strategies after mastering Basic Strategy. Keep in mind that Basic Strategy won’t help with winning side bets present in some blackjack variations.

Basic Strategy is effective in ensuring that gamblers make the right decisions to help them win more often than not by playing perfect blackjack. It isn’t perfect and it’s still possible to lose while practicing Basic Strategy, so this isn’t a sure way to constantly win.

We have provided multiple charts with legends to help simplify memorizing the charts. Basically, the dealer’s upcard is located at the top of the chart and the player’s hand values are located on the left side of the chart. One example of reading the chart is written below: When a player has a Hard 13 and the dealer’s upcard is 2, the player stands.

Always hit on Hard 11 or lower and always stand on Hard 17, Soft 19, and Soft 20.

Conclusion

Mastering Basic Strategy is essential for gamblers to improve their chances of winning real money while playing blackjack, regardless of the blackjack variation. Once players master Basic Strategy, they can then move on to learn more advanced strategies to further improve their chances of winning real money.

Register at Go Perya today and start playing live online blackjack for real money using Basic Strategy. Once you’ve mastered it, try out other strategies, including card counting.

Go Perya | How to Improve Your Live Blackjack Skills with Blackjack Strategy