Everyone who’s serious about gambling has a strategy. From the slot machines, to the craps table to the roulette wheel- everyone has a system that they think will trump the house edge. These strategies are very rarely successful, because these games have been designed to rely solely on chance and to stymy the chance of using strategy and planning. All except for Blackjack!
And Poker, but for the sake of argument, we’ll just talk about Blackjack.
With proper strategy, the house edge in Blackjack is shaved down to a miniscule amount and gives you plenty of opportunities to get back some money if you play your cards right. But, if your goal is to keep you returns high, there are a couple of hands you need to keep an eye out to maximise the effectiveness of your playing. Note, this is intended to supplement the Blackjack basic strategy, not replace it.
1. Blackjack
Starting out with probably the least controversial choice ever. If you have 21, you’ve basically already won so just kick back and collect your chips. They don’t crop up that often, the odds of being dealt a blackjack are a little under 5% (in a single deck, anyway) so when you get one, you can feel pretty confident that you’re going to win the hand.
2. Twenty
Not quite as good as 21 (one less, in fact), but if you have twenty that’s also going to be enough for a win. This one does bear talking about though because it’s important you stand on a twenty regardless of what the combination is. This is assuming you aren’t card-counting (to be fair, if you are, this advice might not be that helpful), but if you have two tens you might be tempted to split. We’d advise you didn’t because 20 has a great chance of winning the hand and it’s a bit too risky to hope your newly split hand will beat the dealer.
3. Two Aces
But what a difference an Ace makes! If you have two aces, this is the perfect hand to split on. If you split two aces you’ll get an 11 to start both on and anything north of 5 will have you in a competitive position against the dealer. Unlike the twenty, you don’t have the same problem of already having a strong hand since two aces is only 12 and the odds are in your favour of getting a strong hand out of it.
4.Eleven
Pitchforks down, guys, this one’s all about the double down. Basically, if you have a middle-ish number, say 9, 10 or 11, and double down, you’re committing to take just one more card and call it quits at that. If you’ve got an 11, you can’t go bust and you’ve got a solid chance of getting a hand that’s going to beat the dealer (plus, with a higher stake wagered, you’ll get a much better return too).
Armed with this improved knowledge, why not head on over to Paddy Power Casino and see if you can’t put it into practice!