Basic Blackjack Strategy Table

Blackjack is a fantastic card game with one great advantage for players. With the right tactics a player can eliminate the casino’s mathematical advantage. It is a shame that most players in this game rely on luck, chance, or intuition. We will not say they cannot come out ahead. But definitely not in the long term.

Those who play blackjack professionally do come out ahead. Just by perfectly mastering the basic game strategy, players achieve an average return of 99.5%. That’s because thanks to computer simulations there’s a proven method that’s simple and lets you correctly react to almost any game situation. Once you are able to follow it, you are in the clear.

The foundation of the basic strategy is the blackjack table. It tells you how to play at any given moment. And it works very simply. The far left column shows the values of the cards in your hand. That number will grow of course, since during the game you usually draw other cards. The table’s top row shows the value of the dealer’s card—that is, the card you can see. The table tells you what action to take for individual combinations of cards on the table.

H = Hit
D = Double
S = Stand
P = Split

While this table seems complicated at first, if you have played blackjack a few times, you will not have trouble understanding it and employing it in online blackjack. Master it, and you can move on to more advanced game strategies.