Blackjack Odds
When you play blackjack you should always remember about odds. Basically it is crucial to be able to count your chances of hitting needed card (or busting). If you know your odds you are able to make correct decisions. Otherwise you just gamble without using any strategy. In this case your chances of becoming successful blackjack player are quite tiny.
There are numerous blackjack odds charts. Surely it is extremely difficult to memorize all of them. At the same time you should know most important ones. The simple example showing the importance of odds is the following. You play blackjack, there are 3 other guys at the table. You have been dealt 84 thus you have 12. At the same time nobody received T, J, Q or K. Every other player has got very similar cards. You need to make the decision. How should you react? What are the odds of hitting 10 and busting? Typical gambler would not think about odds. He would just hit and ask for the next card. He doesn’t care that odds of hitting 10 are quite high now. In contrast experienced blackjack player who counts blackjack odds would likely stand with his 12 hoping that it will be enough to win. So, this example shows that blackjack odds are the thing that you should never ignore.
Blackjack online casino odds differ regarding of a casino. The house advantage varies dramatically but typically it is around 8%. This advantage is reached by positioning: a dealer always is the last player to act. This means that all players have to play blindly. They can lose busting even before a dealer comes into play. This positioning gives a good advantage to a casino.
As you might already know following winning blackjack strategy is the guaranteed way of decreasing house edge. You can decrease casino edge from 8% to 1% or even 0.5%.
Most blackjack strategies are related to hitting or staying. Basically you need to know when to ask for the next card and when to stop. And there is the extremely useful blackjack odd chart which is called odds of busting with a hit. Try to memorize it
Value of your hand | Odds of busting if you hit |
21 (e.g. 7+4+T) | 100% |
20 (e.g. T+T) | 92% |
19 (e.g. T+9) | 85% |
18 (e.g. 7+7+4) | 77% |
17 (e.g. K+7) | 69% |
16 (e.g. 5+5+5+A) | 62% |
15 (e.g. 8+7) | 58% |
14 (e.g. 4+5+5) | 56% |
13 (e.g. T+3) | 39% |
12 (e.g. 4+6+2) | 31% |
11 or Less | 0% |
Another important blackjack odds chart is called 2-card count frequency. This chart shows odds of receiving certain pocket hand. There are several types of pocket hands: natural 21 (blackjack), hard standing (17-20), decision hands (1-16) and no bust hand (your hand is 11 or less). As you can see on this chart, most times you will be dealt with decision hands.
2-card count | Odds |
Natural 21 | 4.8% |
Hard Standing | 30 % |
Decision Hands | 38.7% |
No Bust | 26.5% |
There are also different important charts that can help experienced blackjack player. But as it was mentioned it is not easy to learn odds and charts. Thus you need to remember basic algorithm, simple rules you should always follow.