General Info

Blackjack is a very popular game that probably originated somewhere in France in 16th Century as "Vingt-et-un" which translates as "Twenty And One".

The English name "Blackjack" came from an early bet that paid 10 to 1 if the player got the Jack of Spades and the Ace of Spades (i.e. a Black spade), both black cards, as the first two cards. The main objective is to get as close to 21 without going over 21 ("Bust") while still beating the dealer's hand.

By the early 1800’s, Blackjack was being played in casinos across America. Mathematicians became interested in the game and began trying to elucidate probabilities and strategy. Books on the game were published, which upset casino owners. They changed the essential rules of the game in attempt to make the game more difficult, but this brought a wave of protest which returned the game to its original rules.

Rules

The game begins with the player placing a bet in the centre of the betting circle in front of their seat at the table. The dealer will then deal two cards, face up, to player and two to himself, one face up and one face down called the “hole card”. In Blackjack, the object of the game is to reach a total card value as close to 21 as possible. This is done by adding together the value of each card - Kings, Queens and Jacks are worth 10 each, numbered cards are worth face value and Aces can have a value of either 1 or 11. If the player's first two cards are not a combination of an Ace and a 10 value card equaling 21 (Blackjack) which means an immediate win, then the player may choose to “hit” and take on more cards or decide to “stand” and stop adding cards to their hand. After each hit, the dealer asks the player if he would like to hit again, or stand. This may continue until the player chooses to stand, reaches blackjack or busts by exceeding 21. If the player's total hand value exceeds 21, the player busts, losing the game. If the dealer exceeds 21, the player automatically wins. If neither the dealer nor player reaches 21, then whoever has the highest total wins.

Hands containing an ace valued at 11 are considered to be “soft” hands (i.e. A, 6 is a soft 17) while hands containing an ace valued at 1 are considered “hard” hands (i.e. A, 6, Q is a hard 17).
Upon dealing of your original two cards, you have the option to “double” your initial wager. Once you have chosen to do this you will be dealt a third card and no more. Your hand will only consist of the 3 cards.
If you are dealt two cards with identical value you can then “split” them (i.e. 8,8 or 10,Q). You would now be playing 2 separate hands, each starting with one of the two split cards. You will now be dealt a second card to one of the hands. After this hand is played out the second hand will be dealt a second card and continued until that hand is played out. All regular rules apply to each hand with the ability to double down. You may only split your hand once and a new wager equal to the initial wager will be placed for each split hand. When splitting aces, the player will only receive one card on each hand. If you split two tens or two aces and get two cards 21's, it is considered to be a simple 21 and not a blackjack and it is paid 1:1.

In European and Australian casinos, the dealer will not receive a second card until all players on the table have completed playing their hands. This is described as “European No Hole Card rule”.

The dealer follows a set of rules that determine when he must hit, stand, double down, split pairs, or surrender. Rules vary between the different casinos, but generally accepted variations are as follows:
1. The dealer must draw on a 16 and below.
2. “The dealer stands on all 17's”, meaning that the dealer must continue to hit on his turn and then stand after having reached a total of 17 or higher. An Ace in the dealer's hand is always counted as 11 if possible without the dealer going over 21. For example (Ace, 8) would be 19 and the dealer would stop drawing cards. (Ace, 5) is only 16, so the dealer would hit. He will continue to draw cards until the hand's value is 17 or more. (Ace, 5, 7) is only 13 so he hits again. (Ace, 5, 7, 5) makes 18 so he would stop (“Stand”) at that point.
Second rule is “The dealer hits on soft 17's”, which means that the dealer must continue to hit if his second card is an Ace even if the combination of the Ace and number card total 17 or high. The Ace is therefore counted as having a value of one. For example hands such as (Ace, 6), (Ace, 5, Ace), and (Ace, 2, 4) are all examples of soft 17. The dealer hits these hands and stands on soft 18 or higher, or hard 17 or higher. When this rule is used, the house advantage against the players is slightly increased.
3. A “two-card blackjack” always beats three or more card hands which equal 21.
4. Dealer's blackjack versus player's blackjack is a tie called a “push”.
5. If dealer's card is a 10 or any other card valued at 10 (J, Q, K), the player will be given the option to place an insurance wager (this wager will equal one half of the original bet and will be placed on the insurance line) and the dealer will check for an ace in his hole card. If the dealer has blackjack the player will get paid 2 to 1 on the insurance bet with the original bet being lost. This evens out and acts similar to a push. If the dealer does not have blackjack the insurance bet is lost immediately.
6. If the player gets a blackjack the payout is 3:2, all other winning combinations are paid 1:1.

House advantage (approximate, may vary with different rules)

Without basic strategy 7% average.
With basic strategy about 0.5% or less.
Card counting can reverse the advantage up to 1% to the player.

Surrender

This option is not very common in casinos. Surrender offers you as a player the choice to fold your hand, at the cost of half of the original bet. You must make that decision prior to taking any other action on the hand. For example, once you draw a third card, or split, or double down, surrender is no longer an option.
There are the two varieties of surrender, “early” and “late”, differ only in the way a dealer blackjack is handled. In an early surrender game, a player may choose to surrender before the dealer checks his cards for a blackjack, offering a cheap way out even if the dealer turns out to have a blackjack. Because this offers a healthy advantage to the player, this version (early surrender) is rarely offered. The much more common variation is late surrender, where the dealer checks for blackjack first, and then only if he does not have blackjack will allow players to surrender their hands.
Surrender is a nice rule to have available for players who use it wisely. Unfortunately, many players surrender far too many hands.  To see how bad a hand must be to properly be surrendered, consider the following: To lose less with surrender, you must be only 25% likely to win the hand (ignoring pushes). That is, if you lose 75% of the time, and win only 25% of the time, your net loss is about 50% of your bets, equal to the amount you'll lose guaranteed by surrendering. So, learn to use the surrender option, but make sure you know when it is appropriate.

Blackjack Variants

Atlantic City Blackjack: Atlantic City games are played with 6 decks and the House must hit on 16 and stand all 17's. Double-down allowed on soft hands. Pairs may be split only once. Player may double-down after splitting pairs. Surrender is not allowed.

Las Vegas Blackjack: Las Vegas games are played with two decks and the House must hit on hands less than soft 17 (17 involving an Ace) and must stand on hands of 17 or greater.

European Blackjack: European Blackjack games are played with 4, 6 or 8 decks. Dealer stands on soft 17. Player may only double on hard totals of 9-11. Player may double after a split. Player loses total bet, including after doubling or splitting, if dealer has blackjack (“no-peek”).

Blackjack Switch: Blackjack switch is a blackjack variant. Dealer hits on soft 17. Cards are dealt face up. This game allows the player to trade cards between two hands. The player must make two bets of equal size and is allowed to switch the second card dealt to each hand. Of course nothing comes free, if the dealer gets 22, it is treated as a push and blackjacks pay even money. The rules of the game are based on standard blackjack rules, but:
a) the player must make two equal bets,
b) the player can switch the second card dealt to each hand.
For example, Iif one hand is (5, 10) and the other is (10, 6) the player may switch 10 and 6 to have (5,6) and (10,10), which is a much better set for the player.
Eight or six decks are used. Player can double on any two cards. Player can double after a split. Player may resplit up to four hands. Player loses the whole bet against a dealer's blackjack, but can also switch to blackjack.
The house edge is under 0.2%.

Caribbean 21: The game offers the player the ability to split any two initial cards and to hit and redouble after doubling. Of course nothing is ever free and the player loses all ties. Caribbean 21 is an eight-deck game. All cards are valued as in blackjack, except an ace is always one point. An ace and two “10-point cards” is called a “Caribbean 21” and is ranked higher than all other 21 point hands, including after splitting.Splitting is allowed on any two cards. The player may surrender at any time. If the player believes the dealer's hole card (face down) value is 10, the player may purchase insurance against dealer a Caribbean 21 at the price of half their initial bet. If the dealer does have a Caribbean 21, the insurance pays 9 to 1. If the player has bought insurance and the dealer does not have a Caribbean 21, the player loses his insurance. Late Insurance allows the player to delay the placement of an insurance bet until the end of the player's turn. Once a player hits surrender, the player will receive 50% of his current bet and 50% will go to the house.

Double exposure, also knows as "Dealer Disclosure" or "Face Up 21", is a blackjack variation in which both dealer cards are exposed. However there are other rule changes to compensate the dealer. Dealer hits or stands on soft 17. Dealer wins on all ties, except on a natural blackjack. Player blackjack pays even money. Player wins all Blackjack Ties. Dealer Wins all Ties except Blackjack Ties. Player may split only once.

Pontoon is the British version of blackjack. The dealer hits a soft 17. Pontoon is dealt with 2 decks of Cards. All the card values are the same as in blackjack. Dealer Wins all ties. Each player is dealt two cards face up, while both of the dealer’s cards are dealt face down.
After all players have received cards, the dealer will check his cards for a pontoon. If the dealer holds a pontoon, he will expose his cards and collect all wagers and cards. If the dealer does not hold a pontoon, play continues according to the following rules:
- Players may stand on any five-card hand, or on a total value that is greater or equal to 15.
- Players may hit at any time, including after doubling. Doubling is allowed on two to four cards, but only once per hand. That includes after splitting and once for each split hand.
- Players may split two cards of equal rank and may re-split once, up to a total of three hands. When the player splits, the first card dealt to each hand shall be automatic.
- If a hand busts, the player immediately loses.
After players have played their hands, the dealer exposes his two cards and will draw until their value totals 17 points or more, or results in a five card hand. The dealer then compares his hand to each player’s hand and pays winning pontoons and five card hands 2-1 while all other winning hands pay 1-1.

Spanish 21: Spanish 21 is a variation of blackjack with more liberal rules but played without tens in the deck. Dealer may hit or stand on a soft 17. Six or eight decks of cards are used. Each deck consisting of 48 cards, the regular 52 cards less the four tens. Taking the tens out of play is disadvantageous to the player as a deck of cards with more small cards favors the dealer. To compensate for this, the rules are enhanced to favor the player in some instances (including double after split, late surrender, resplitting aces), as follows:
A player 21 always beats a dealer 21.
A five card 21 pays 3 to 2.
A six card 21 pays 2 to 1.
A seven or more card 21 pays 3 to 1.
A 21 consisting of a 6, 7, and 8 of mixed suits pays 3 to 2.
A 21 consisting of a 6, 7, and 8 of matching suit pays 2 to 1.
A 21 consisting of a 6, 7, and 8 of spades pays 3 to 1.
A 21 consisting of three 7's of mixed suits pays 3:2.
A 21 consisting of three 7's of matching suits 2:1.
A 21 consisting of three 7's of spades pays 3:1.
However the bonuses are not paid if the player doubled.
Dealer usually hits a soft 17, stands on hard 17.
Player may double after splits.
Player may resplit up to three times, including aces.
Player may draw and double down to split aces.
Player may double on any number of cards.
Player may surrender half of total bet after doubling down (also known as “double down rescue”).
Late surrender is allowed. In other words the player may pull out of a hand by forfeiting half his bet, but only if the dealer does not have a blackjack.
Three suited 7's in addition to the dealer having any 7 face up pays $1000 for bets between $5 and $24, and pays $5000 for bets of $25 and over. In addition all other players get a bonus of $50. This rule does not apply after splitting.
The house advantage just under 1%

Super Fun 21. The game is usually played with one deck, but sometimes two. Dealer usually hits a soft 17.  Player may double after a split. Player may resplit to up to four hands, including aces. Player may hit and double down to split aces. Player may double on any number of cards. Player may take late surrender on any number of cards. Player may surrender half of total bet after doubling. A player hand totaling 20 or less, consisting of six cards or more, except after doubling, automatically wins. A player hand of 21 points, consisting of 5 cards or more, except after doubling, pays 2 to 1 instantly. A player blackjack always wins. A player blackjack in diamonds pays 2 to 1, all other blackjacks pay even money.

Funny acronyms

The acronyms that are often used in rec.gambling.blackjack are listed below.
Abbreviations:
BSE = Basic Strategy Edge
H17 = Hit soft 17 (dealer must hit)
S17 = Stand on any 17 (dealer must stand)
DOA = Double On Any first two cards
D10 = Double on 10 or 11 only
DAS = Double After Splitting is allowed
RSA = Re-Splitting Aces is allowed
ESR = Early Surrender
LSR = Late Surrender
O/U = Over/Under 13 side bets are allowed

Blackjack Glossary

Anchor - Last taken sit to the dealer's right.
Banker - In a card game, dealer or the players who books the action of the other bettors at the table.
Bankroll - The total amount of money you have the intention of gambling with.
Basic Strategy - In blackjack, the set of plays that you should make to maximize your advantage.
Blackjack - Total of 21 on your initial two-card hand.
Burn Cards - Remove cards from the top of the deck and place them in the discard tray after a shuffle and cut.
Break - Exceeding the hand total of 21.
Bust - same as Break, exceeding the hand total of 21.
Camouflage - Anything a skilled gambler does to conceal their activities from the casino. Camouflage can include mixing in playing and betting behavior that mimics typical gamblers, or using disguises, appearing to be drunk, or any number of other possible ploys intended to throw the casino's scrutiny off.
Card Counting - Recording (in memory) played cards (usually high cards) so as to establish a conditional probability advantage on the remaining cards against the dealer.
Card Sharp - A person who is an expert at cards.
Cut - To split the deck of cards before they are dealt.
Cut Card - Colored faceless plastic card used to cut the cards after the shuffle.
Deal - To give out the cards during a hand.
Discard Tray - A tray on the dealer’s right side that holds all the cards that have been played or discarded.
Draw - Call a card or adding a new card to your current hand.
Double Down (Doubling Down) - Double your initial bet following the initial two-card deal, but you can hit one card only. In blackjack, it is the players option to double their original bet in exchange for receiving only one more card. To do this the player turns over their first two cards and places an equal bet alongside the original bet.
Early Surrender - Surrender allowed before the dealer checks for blackjack.
Even Money - Cashing in your bet immediately at a 1:1 payout ratio when you are dealt a natural blackjack and the dealer's showing card is an Ace.
Face Cards - Jacks, Queens and Kings.
Face Down Game - Your first card is placed face up while the second one is placed face down.
Face Up Game - Both your cards are placed face up.
First Base - First taken seat to dealer's left - where the first card is dealt.
Hard Hand - A hand without an Ace, or with an Ace valued at 1 is said to be Hard in that it can only be given one value, unlike a "Soft" hand.
Heads Up or Heads On - A head to head play with the dealer - no other players are involved.
Hit (Also Draw) - Call a card or adding a new card to your current hand. The card received is also called a hit.
Hole Card - In blackjack, the facedown card that the dealer gets. In stud and hold ‘em poker, the facedown cards dealt to each player.
Insurance - Side bet up to half the initial bet against the dealer having a natural 21. Insurance is offered only when the dealers up card is an Ace. The insurance bet wins double if the dealer has a natural, but loses if the dealer does not.
Late Surrender - Surrender allowed only if the dealer does not have blackjack.
Natural - In blackjack, a natural is a two-card hand of 21 points. In baccarat a natural is a two-card total of eight, or nine.
Pat - In blackjack, an unbusted hand worth at least 17 points. In draw poker, a hand that does not need any more hands.
Plug - A shuffling technique that is sometimes employed in card games like blackjack where the game is often dealt from a multi-deck shoe. When freshly shuffled cards are brought back into action a substantial portion of the cards are kept out of play by the insertion of a cut-card at the back of the deck or shoe. The placement of the cut card marks the place where play will be stopped and the cards are again shuffled. During the play, used cards are stacked in a discard tray. When the cut-card is reached, the game is stopped, and the remaining un-dealt cards are inserted somewhere into the middle of the cards that have already been stacked up in the discard tray. The cards so inserted are referred to as a "plug". Such action is called "plugging' the deck.
Point Count - (In card counting systems) The net value of the card count at the end of a hand.
Preferential Shuffling - Shuffling when the remaining cards are deemed favorable to the players.
Push (Also Tie or Stand-off) - Both player and dealer have the same hand total - player keeps bet.
Running Count - (In card counting systems) The count from the beginning of the deck or shoe. The running count is updated by the value of the point count after each hand.
Shiner - A reflecting device used to try and glimpse the dealer's hole card.
Shoe - Device, usually a wooden box, used for holding and dispensing the cards to be dealt.
Shuffle - At the start of each game when the dealer mixes up the order of the cards is said to shuffle the cards.
Shuffle Up - Premature shuffling by the dealer to discourage card counting.
Soft Hand - Hand containing an ace counted as 11.
Split Hand - Split the initial two-card hand into two and play them separately - allowed only when the two first cards are of equal value.
Spooking - The act of standing behind the dealer to peak at the hole card and then secretly convey the information to a partner player sitting at the table. An illegal form of cheating.
Standing Hand - In blackjack, meaning a hand which hard-totals to 17 or more, which is very likely to bust if one more card is called and therefore the player is expected to stand.
Stand-off (Also Tie or Push) - Both player and dealer have the same hand total - player keeps bet.
Stand or Stay - Not requiring any more cards, to refrain from taking another card.
Steaming - A blackjack term where a player has become frustrated with how badly the events of a session of play have turned out. "Steaming" in blackjack has practically the same meaning as "going on tilt" in poker. In either case the player has lost emotional control and is betting more aggressively and often recklessly in an attempt to turn things around.
Stiff Hand - Hand with little chance of winning. A hand that is not pat and that may bust if hit once. Stiffs include hard twelve through sixteen.
Surrender - Giving up your hand and lose only half the bet.
Tell Play - Observing the dealer's body language and expressions to determine his hand of cards.
Third Base - Last taken seat to the dealer's right.
Tie (Also Push or Stand-off) - Both player and dealer have the same hand total - player keeps bet.
True Count - (In card counting systems) The running count adjusted to account for the number of cards left in the deck or shoe to be played.
Upcard - The dealer's first dealt card, placed face up for all the players to see before they play their hands.

The Playing Strategy

Basic Strategy

After some time, mathematicians employed computers to generate a “basic strategy” of playing blackjack. According to the concept of the basic strategy, we make decisions according to the first drawn pair of cards and a faced-up card of the dealer. The strategy is not exceedingly difficult to learn or remember, and at the same time it reduces the casino's advantage nearly to 0. It depends on the number of decks and particular rules of the game in a given casino. This strategy is simply the best way to play every possible situation, without any knowledge of the distribution of the rest of the cards in the deck.

The following basic strategy tables are for single decks when the dealer stands on all 17's.

The following basic strategy tables are for multiple decks when the dealer stands on all 17's.

The following basic strategy tables are for four of more decks when the dealer hits on soft 17.

The following basic strategy tables are appropriate for Atlantic City Blackjack and Las Vegas Blackjack.

Next strategy table is appropriate for European Blackjack.

Next strategy table is appropriate for Blackjack Switch.

Next strategy tables are appropriate for Spanish 21.

The last one strategy table is appropriate for Super Fun 21.

The Martingale System

This system is generally played with an even money game such as the Red/Black bet in Roulette or the Pass/Don't Pass in Craps. This system is old, simple and very good for the inexperienced players. It is based on the probability of losing infinite times in a row and is usually applied to “even money” bets. The idea is that by doubling your bet after a loss, you would always win enough to cover all past losses plus one unit. So, start betting with one unit, if you win take the winnings but leave the original bet. If you loose you must double the bet until you win. The Martingale system requires a large bankroll, has a very low return and is a very risky one because of the maximum bet limits imposed by the casinos. So, if you run out of money or reach the house limit, you can lose a lot with no chance to recover your losses.

The Martingale +1 System

According to this system, each time you lose you double the bet and add the value of the first, lowest bet (1, 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, 127, etc.). When you win, you bet the lowest bet until you lose, like in the case of Martingale (winning three times in a row: 1, 1, 1). This system guarantees gaining one lowest bet ($1) each on each spin of the wheel or card dealing, even if you lose more often than win (of course doubling the bet is limited by the amount of money you have).

The Paroli System

This system is in a way the opposite of the Martingale system. You start with one bet and you increase your bet when you win rather than when you lose. However, you will need to plan a betting procedure whereby you know how far you will let the bet build before you take it down to the initial starting bet and how much to raise after each win. This obviously depends on the type of game played and the odds of the bet. The advantage of this system is that you do not require a large bankroll. It lets the profit run and cuts short the losses.

The Ormond System

The Ormond System is a variation of the Martingale system, too. Assumes you will win before you reach the house limit and can bankroll the losing run. Bet an initial amount (“N”). For each win, on the next bet “N” again. For each lose bet N*x+N where “x” is the number of losing bets. Thus if you finally win, you will recover all bet money, plus N for every loss. The progression on a $5 table looks good (5, 15, 35, 75, 155, 315, etc). System requires a large bankroll, too.

The Parlay System

Positive progression system, similar to the Paroli System. This system has the effect of  “pyramiding” your profit. Pyramiding is a parlay wager whereby the original wager plus its winnings are played on successive wagers. For example: you bet $1. If you win, bet $2. If you lose then go back to $1 bet. The advantage of this system is that when you lose three times in a row it costs you only $3.

The 1-3-2-6 System

It is a variety of Parley system. The name of this system says it all. Your initial bet is 1 unit, the second 3 units, the third 2 units and the fourth 6 units.
Let's assume that each unit is $10 and the odds are 1:1 - even money. The first bet is $10. You can place a bet on the Banker every time. When winning, $10 is added to the $20 on the table making the second bet $30. When winning again on the second bet, there would be $60 on the table. Of this you take down $40 and the third bet is now $20. If the third bet wins, you will have $40 on the table to which you add $20 making a total of $60 for the fourth bet. If the fourth bet wins, there would be a total of $120 on the table, all of which is net profit. Now all the bet is taken down and you start the system all over again at $10. Also, each time you lose, at any level, you start all over again at $10. If you lose the first bet, your loss is $10. The second level loss is $20 (because you added another $10). At the third level, a loss will give you a net profit of $20 (because you have taken down $40). At the fourth level, a loss leaves you breaking even (because you put back $20 out of the $40 taken down).
The attraction of this system is that you risk $20 at a chance of making $120 net profit. This means you can lose six times at the worst level (second bet), and with one win (a set of four wins in a row) get your money back.
This system will work only in the short term. The casino's always win in the long run... don't doubt it.

The 1-4-5 System

This system guarantees very high winnings when you win three times in a row. If you bet $1 and you win, you bet $4, and when you win again, you bet $5. Then you go back to the lowest bet ($1) until you lose. When you lose at any stage, you also go back to $1. If you lose at the first stage, you lose $1, at the second stage - you lose $3, but if you manage to get to the third stage, when you lose you neither lose nor gain any money, and when you win you gain as much as $10.

The D'Alembert System

This is a mixture of Martingale and Insurance systems. Bets are raised one unit after each losing bet and lowered one unit after each winning bet. For example, you bet $1 and you lose. Then you bet $2, and when you lose again you bet $3, then $4, $5, and so on. When you win at $5, you lower the bet to $4, when you win again you lower it to $3, and so on. Players who use this system claim that, on average, it guarantees higher winnings than losses.

The Labouchere System

This system is also called the “Cancellation” system. There are many variations. In its simplest form, you write down a series or a set of numbers. The series can be short or long and not necessarily sequential such as 1 2 3 4 5 6. Each number represents the amount in units or chips to bet. You bet the first and last of these numbers. In this example 1 and 6, which totals 7 units.
If you win, you cross out the two numbers and bet the next two “ends” (the outside numbers). In this instance 2 and 5. If you win again you bet on the next two remaining numbers 3 and 4, and if you win that too, you would have made a “coup” or completed one game. Then you start all over again. If you lose, then you add that one number to the end of the series. Say you lost your first bet of 7 units (1+6). Then you add number 7 to the end of the series to look like this: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and your next bet would be 8 units (1+7). If you won the first bet but lost the second 2 and 5, then the series of numbers would look like this: 2 3 4 5 7. If you work it out, you will see that when the series is completed or when you make a “coup”, there is always a profit. The negative side of this system is that you could end up betting large sums of money even if your initial bet is small.

Card Counting         

Card counting in Blackjack is a mathematical phenomenon based mainly on probability. The only counting talent needed is the ability to count by ones up to the number twelve. This also goes for a game where multiple decks are being used.
The principle behind card counting is that a deck of cards rich in tens and Aces is favorable to the player, a deck rich in small cards is favorable to the dealer. A deck rich in tens and Aces, is likely to bust the dealer more often. If a player pays attention and can discern the amount of types of cards in the deck, then he will be able to predict his odds of winning.

To gauge the richness of the deck in high cards or lack of them, the player needs to keep track of the cards that are already played and assign a point value to each card. By assigning a simple value such as +1 for high cards and -1 for low cards, a card counter can roughly determine the ratio of high cards to low cards remaining in the deck at anytime during play. When the deck contains more high cards and the odds are in his favor, he increases the amount he bets so he can win more. When the deck isn't favorable, he bets the minimum so he loses less. The count also affects his decisions on when to hit, stand, double and split. Note that virtually all online casinos shuffle the cards after each round. This prevents players from using their computer to keep a count, and get an edge on the house.

Unbalanced 10

The card counting system described below is an “Unbalanced 10” count that is 100% accurate for determining when to take insurance.

For single deck games:
1) Start the count at -4 when the deck is shuffled.
2) Count -2 for 10, J, Q, K
3) Count +1 for everything else (including aces)
4) Bet low when the count is negative, high when the count is positive (actually, simulations show that you can bet high for a count of -2 or above).
5) Take insurance when the count is positive.
6) Play basic strategy at all times.

For n-deck games:
1) Start the count at (-4*n).
2) all other rules are the same.

Blackjack Card Counting Summary

Consider this

Never take insurance unless you are counting cards.

Never split 10's. Never split the "F's": fours, fives and face cards.

Always split Aces and 8's, no matter what the dealer's showing card is.

Note that all online casinos shuffle the cards after each round.

If allowed, surrender (where a player may forfeit half his bet and decide not to play the original hand against the dealer) hard 15 against a dealer's 10, and 16 (but not 8's) against a dealer's 9, 10 or Ace.

Smart blackjack players always play in a casino that offers the best rules. To avoid hostile playing conditions in blackjack, look for the following combination of rules that are favorable to the player: a single deck game, dealer stands on a soft 17, double down allowed on any two cards, double down allowed after splitting pairs, multiple pair splitting allowed plus resplitting aces, surrender allowed.

Hit a soft 17 against a dealer's 10.
 
Most players will stand on soft 18, but you may find that in the long run you will be better off to hit a soft 18 if the dealer's up card is 9, 10 or Ace , stand on soft 18 if the dealer's up card is 2, 7 or 8, and double down if the dealer shows a 3, 4, 5 or 6
Always stand on soft 19 or higher.

Play for fun