Organization

The books tend to discuss Blackjack Basic Strategy in the following order: Hard Hit/Stand, Soft Hit/Stand, Hard Doubles, Soft Doubles, Splits, Surrender. I think that this is precisely backwards. You should be thinking about these areas in the exact opposite order. In this chapter, I will discuss decisions in the order that you will be making them. Most Basic Strategy (BS) tables are published in one large table covering all decisions. This is convenient to use in a casino, but is not as easy to memorize. I will provide separate tables here. Combined tables are available in card form (Don Schlesinger’s Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Cards) or online at www.blackjackinfo.com/bjbse.php.

The tables differ somewhat according to the rules. However, using the wrong tables often has a very minor effect. I will provide the effects and you can decide whether memorizing all the different version of the tables makes sense to you.

Betting

Betting is the first decision that must be made and is easy with Basic Strategy. The house edge is against you by the same amount in every hand. So, there really is no betting strategy, and flat-betting, always betting the same amount, is usually the best idea. One exception: In the last couple of hands in a shoe game, the odds are sometimes worse. This is a result of the “cut-card effect.” However, it is not always obvious that you are playing the last hand before a shuffle.

Insurance

Insurance is the next decision, assuming that the dealer has an ace showing. Again this is a very easy decision in Basic Strategy. Don’t take insurance. About nine out of thirteen times (varying by the number of decks) you will be wrong, and a 2:1 payoff is not enough to make a profit with those odds. Note: “Even Money,” offered by most casinos, is exactly the same as insurance.

Later we will see that card counters know when the odds are in their favor for insurance.

 © 2009 Norman Wattenberger