 
Why
Blackjack
by Guide Bill
Burton
Blackjack is the
most popular casino table game.
When played properly it has a house
edge of less than one percent, which
is the lowest house advantage of
any table game. The casinos set
the edge at two percent for assigning
comps but I have seen documents
showing the house sometimes has
a hold (profit) of more than ten
percent in some cases. How can that
be?
The reason is that
the game is not played properly
by many players. A player can give
up a huge advantage to the house
by playing hunches. Unlike craps
and roulette, in blackjack the decisions
you make at the table have an effect
on the house edge. In roulette the
house edge is 5.26%. There are 38
numbers on the wheel and each spin
is an independent event. In craps
there are only 36 combinations of
the dice. This never changes thus
each roll of the dice is an independent
event as well.
Blackjack however
is a game based on dependent events.
This means that as each card is
dealt the make up of the cards remaining
in the deck changes. Big cards left
in the deck favor the player and
small cards favor the dealer. The
advantage shifts back and forth
from player to dealer. This is the
basis behind card counting. A card
counter will bet more when he has
the advantage and less when it favors
the dealer. The subject of card
counting will be left for another
time. You don't have to learn card
counting to bring the house edge
down less than one percent.
Because blackjack
has a fixed set of rules which must
be followed by the dealer a mathematically
correct strategy can be derived
insure optimum play. This known
as basic strategy and was refined
by Julian Braun who worked for IBM
and ran millions of hands through
a main frame computer decades ago
before the advent of the personal
computer. Utilizing basic strategy
a player will decide how to play
his hand depending on the dealer
exposed (up) card. A player will
stand, hit, double or split his
cards to give him the best chance
of winning the hand.
The object of blackjack
is to beat the dealer not to try
to get close to twenty-one. Because
the player must act first it is
sometimes the player's advantage
to stand on a hand that has the
potential going over 21 when the
dealer also has card that can bust
him. If the player and the dealer
both bust the player loses the hand.
That is why it is important that
the player learn to play his hand
correctly to insure the best outcome
based on the mathematically correct
strategy.
Blackjack is a great
game with a low house advantage
that is fun to play. It is not difficult
to learn to play correctly. Many
casinos will even let you use a
basic strategy chart at the table
for reference but with a little
effort on your part you will soon
be able to make the correct decisions
without one.
This is the first
part of a series of articles in
which I will be detailing how to
learn to play blackjack correctly.
Next time I will detail the mechanic
of the game.
Until
next time, remember:
"Luck comes and goes...Knowledge
stays forever."
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