Blackjack – the importance of basic strategy

Most gamblers know that, unlike online poker, all casino games bear negative mathematical expectation. That means that over the long-run, a player cannot beat the house no matter what he does. The variance specific to all casino games though, holds some value, hence the popularity that casinos do enjoy.

As far as the expected value goes, not all casino games are equal. Keno, for instance, hits players with a 60% house edge. Roulette, video poker and slots are a lot less punishing, but they’re still above the 2-3% house edge featured on blackjack. No wonder blackjack is the most popular game with casino high-rollers.

The good news is, this edge can be further reduced by tampering with different parts of the equation. By choosing a slow game, you’ll be able to reduce the hourly rate the house earns on you. By playing fewer hands per hour, you’ll lose less and if you speculate the variance well, you’ll be able to play longer and even make some money if lucky. This isn’t the most optimal way to combat the house edge though.

By learning basic strategy, you’ll reduce the house edge to 1-2%, which is not at all shabby on a game where the variance can work well in your favor. Basic strategy isn’t difficult to learn either. There are tables that tell you what to do with your partial hand against the dealer’s partially exposed hand, depending on what both of you have. Soft and hard hands are dealt with separately, and punctual advice on when to split and when not to is also included.

In order to further diminish the house edge and to possibly even turn it around, card-counting is needed. Basic card counting is not a difficult feat at all, although it won’t be efficient at all in a real casino. By assigning values (0, 1 and -1) to low cards, high cards and middle value ones you’ll be able to keep track of just how many high cards (10 and over) are left in the deck. The more such cards there are in the deck, the more the advantage will swing to the player’s side. This simplistic approach cannot work in a casino though because there are multiple decks used. Other, more intricate methods can be used though.

In online blackjack, card counting is out the window. There’s no way for a player to know the exact number of decks the RNG simulates, and there are no EV increasing factors like rakeback in online poker. Thus players will have to be content with the EV surplus provided by basic strategy and attempt to ride the variance the best way they can.