Playing Blackjack with an Effective Strategy

Half of having a good blackjack strategy is knowing when to hit and stand obviously.

That being said, I have created a blackjack strategy card to simplify a lot of this side of the strategy.

This is a generic blackjack strategy card that is for any Vegas type online blackjack game that involves the dealer hitting on soft 17, which is the most often played at many online casinos.

I've color coded these to try to make it easier to recognize what I want myself to do when I'm in a particular position.

I made the hit green because you have to go and take a card. Red is to stop and not take a card. From there I basically just started to branching out from primary colors.

The reasons for the decision at any particular spot on the card is based off of the odds that the dealer will bust with the card they have up.

The odds of the dealer busting are based off many thousands of hands played over time. There is a legend for this blackjack card below in case you have questions about this.

Strategies within the game of blackjack

Doubling Down

Double down on hard 11 when the dealer's face card is 2 through 10.
Double down on hard 10 when the dealer's face card is 2 though 9.
Double down on hard 9 when the dealer's face card is 3 through 6.

Double down on soft A-2 and A-3 when the dealer's face card is a 5 or 6.
Double down on soft A-4 and A-5 when the dealer's face card is 4, 5 or 6.
Double down on soft A-6 and A-7 when the dealer's face card is 3, 4, 5 or 6.

Never double down on a hand that can bust with one card. The one that I have seen the most is doubling Hard 12 against a 5 or 6. Do not do this.

One thing to watch out for is that the double down button may be very close to the other buttons. Make sure that you do not click on the wrong button. I've been guilty of this several times when I'm rolling along.

Splitting

1. Always split Aces and 8's
2. Never Split 5's and 10's (10's include face cards)
3. Always Split 2's and 3's when the dealer shows 4, 5, 6, or 7
4. Always Split 6's when the dealer shows 3, 4, 5, or 6
5. Always Split 7's when the dealer shows 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7
6. Always Split 9's when the dealer shows 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 or 9 (NOT 7)

If you can double after you split, then you can add the following:

1. Split 2's and 3's if the dealer is showing a 2 or 3

2. Split 4's if the dealer is showing a 5 or 6

3. Split 6's if the dealer is showing a 2

Insurance

Never take insurance, ever ... except sometimes maybe. It is supposed to be a sucker bet. The odds that a dealer has at best of have a blackjack with an ace showing is 30%. If you call the insurance and the dealer has a blackjack, then you have pretty much pushed on the hand, which is most likely what you wanted.

The only time I could ever advocate it is if you are in the middle of a betting routine and you happen to have a particularly large bet out on the table. Only do this is you have a somewhat decent chance of still winning.

Remember that the dealer only has a 17% chance of busting with an ace showing. This means you need to have a relatively good chance of getting 19 or higher in order to consider this bet. If not, then you could be losing 1 1/2 times the amount you originally bet.

Surrendering

There are only a handful of times you should ever consider surrendering.  Here are the circumstances that you may want to consider surrendering:

1.  You have 16 (including 8,8) and the dealer shows a 9, 10, or Ace

2.  You have 15 and the dealer shows a 10 or Ace

3.  You have 17 and the dealer shows an Ace