Winning is about getting as close to 21 as possible – As players, we tend to get fixated by the magic ’21’. It’s always great to scoop a blackjack, but you don’t need to be getting 21, or even 20, in order to win. You only need to be beating the dealer’s total. A lot of the time, the dealer will be getting 17 or 18 – or going bust. Should the dealer draw a 9 or 10 card, you’ll probably need a strong hand in order to beat them. However, middling cards are dangerous for dealers, and result in them going bust 40-42% of the time. It might be that a relatively low hand (15 or 16) will be enough for victory. Focus on the dealer’s hand and make your decisions accordingly. You necessarily have to be aiming for 20 or 21.
Only play alongside good players – Blackjack is a game that pits you against the dealer. The other players don’t come into it. Of course, if a player hits when the odds are against them, and uses up a card that would have turned out to be helpful to you, you’ll be inclined to be annoyed that their shoddy play cost you victory. The way to approach this is to remember that they could just as easily have used up a card that would have been fatal to your own chances – it tends to be the ‘bad breaks’ that we remember, while we’re quick to forget about the good luck that we scoop up along the way. In the long run, the other players won’t affect whether you beat the dealer or not, so whether they’re good or bad should be of no interest to you.
Single decks are more player-friendly than multiple decks – Technically, this is true. That’s essentially down to the extra 3:2 payout that players receive when they score a blackjack. Every time the house adds a deck to the cards, the likelihood of a player drawing a blackjack falls slightly. The difference is small, but by the time you get to eight decks, it amounts to a 0.5% edge for the house. Theoretically, then, a single deck game is the best option for players. Unfortunately, casinos are wise to this, and often put up single deck games in a bid to con punters. The ‘con’ is that the casino changes a few of the other rules in order to eradicate the advantage of the single deck. The 3:2 payout for blackjacks is often the first thing to go, and is generally downgraded to 6:5 or, possibly, 1:1. Casinos may also allow the dealer to hit on a soft 17 (a hand where an ace is one of the cards – eg, A6).
As long as the casino isn’t increasing its advantage elsewhere, a single deck is good – this rarely happens, though.
The lower the dealer’s first card, the worse their chances of victory are – There’s something to this, but the truth is a little more complex than might at first appear. Undoubtedly, the great cards to draw are those with high numbers, particularly 9s and 10s, and the versatile Ace. One more card will often convert these to a winning hand. The Ace has the additional advantage that it gives greater flexibility when it comes to drawing a third card without going over 21. And it’s this risk of going bust that can muddy the waters when it comes to the lower cards. The worst cards to get aren’t the 2 or 3, but the 5 or 6. That’s because these middle cards are unlikely to be converted into strong winning hands. At the same time, though, they’re sufficiently high that there’s a good chance of going bust while trying to push up the hand to 17. The dealer goes bust 42% of the time when starting with a 5 or 6, but only 35% of the time when playing with a 2. The 2 may not produce a strong hand in itself, but you can almost certainly pursue another card or two trying to turn it into a good one. That’s why a 2 often beats a 5 or 6.
Only Geniuses can Card Count – While some of the more sophisticated systems require a strong mathematical brain, many are relatively simple. The famous Hi-Lo system, for instance, requires you to do little more than add and subtract one from a running count. This system won’t be easy to put into practice, but you don’t need to be a genius to execute it – you just need to practise again and again. The more comfortable you are with figures, the easier you’ll find it to master card counting. However, only basic arithmetic skills are needed for the simplest systems.
Card Counting wins day in and day out – Films like Rain Man might have created the idea that being able to count cards means that wins roll in time after time. However, card counting is a long hard slog, and it only increases your win rate by a few percent, at most. And even the best systems offer no guidance for long periods. Every now and again, there’ll be a clear trend suggested by the count, and card counters will be able to raise their bets in the anticipation of profits. The majority of the time, though, card counters will be no more effective than those practising basic strategy
Card Counting is against the law – Not true at all. Card counters are simply using additional skill to increase their chances of success. You can only stay at a casino if the casino owners and staff allow you to remain there. They’re fully within their rights to bar you from their premises, and almost certainly will if they sense that you’re a card counter. However, no legal action can be taken against you simply for counting cards.
Don’t play unless you can afford your table – This one is partially true, but it is essentially approaching the problem in the wrong way. There should be a choice of tables, many with different limits. Look at the money that you have, and then choose a table with limits that are appropriate for your funds. If you don’t have enough money to last at one table, simply look for one with lower limits. You should never be stretching yourself to make it at a table. On the other hand, there shouldn’t generally be a need to deny yourself a session, assuming a cheaper table is available.