Blackjack - How To Win
Blackjack is the most popular casino game, and for good reason. The rules are pretty simple: You are dealt two cards, and the goal is to get a total of 21 or closer to 21 than the dealer. If you exceed 21 you lose. If you get 21 or closer to 21 than the dealer, you win.
That's how you win at blackjack.
Since that's the end of the column, let me tell you about my dogs Cicero, Skipper, Emerson, and Newton, and about the bushes I just planted in my backyard. Cicero is a male...
Just kidding.
Blackjack is also the most popular game because you're not playing against the kind of varmints from Montana who carry guns and fleas that you face playing poker in the casinos. It's just you against the dealer. In fact, since all the players are playing against the dealer, sitting at a blackjack table can be a very convivial affair.
Third, it's not like poker, in which a hand can take a few minutes to play, and in which the player who drops out may have to wait around bored for the next hand to begin. In blackjack, you can literally play a hand in a minute or less.
Finally, most casinos set the rules liberally, and the odds against the player are the least of all casino games. That means you can win a lot.
Its ease, playing against the dealer, quick turnover of hands, and promise of winnings make it the most popular game.
So, how to win? First, don't put yourself at a disadvantage. Don't drink and expect to be able to play intelligently. Be friendly with the dealer and other players, but not to the extent that you don't concentrate on your hand.
Second, beware of cheating dealers, especially the professional card cheats called "mechanics." If you have any inkling you are being swindled, leave the table.
Third, don't try "systems" that sound rationale but lack fundamental basis. Because players find blackjack such an attractive and apparently simple game, many have come up with "systems" to win. Most are worthless. This includes the "double up" system popular with roulette players, in which you double your bet every time you lose, and reduce your bet to the minimum every time you win. This in fact can be shown to be a guaranteed losing strategy.
Next, if you're new to the game, practice a lot at home with your friends before you head off to the casinos. This will provide you with a good intuitive feel for the odds of blackjack. For example, it will become obvious to you quickly that if you are dealt two 8's, for a lousy total of 16, you should split the hand. You then get a chance of getting 10-value cards for a good total of 18. You'll also learn to stand if the dealer has a 4, 5, or 6 showing and you have a 14 or 15 or above - let her get the 10-value card and bust. You may even begin to keep track of the number of Aces that have been played, telling you that your odds of getting blackjack are reduced.
In gaining this experience you are learning a basically sound strategy for playing blackjack. As I hinted, however, you may soon want to become more sophisticated. You may begin to think that maybe the "basic strategy" that you have devised could be refined by some mathematical wizards who keep track of, or "count," the cards that have been played. You, my ten-value friend, have stumbled onto the discovery made by mathematicians: The basic point of blackjack is that as the deck is played, cards are removed, changing the odds of getting subsequent types of hands.
So, if you get the blackjack bug, and really want to win serious money, become a card counter.
Now back to my dogs, none of whom carry guns or fleas.
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