Posts Tagged ‘Hard Hands’
Monday, August 23rd, 2010
Name one of the worst hands to be dealt in a game of blackjack.
If you named one of the stiff hands then you have chosen wisely.
Stiff Hands are some of the worst hands to be dealt, and not just statistically speaking or in terms of blackjack strategy. They are a bummer to moral too. You know as soon as you see those two cards tallying up to 12, 13, 14, 15 or 16 you just have this sinking feeling.
Those are, by the way, the stiff hands, hard 12 through 17.
And there is also a feeling that your blackjack strategy cannot help you when you are facing down a stiff hand.
Unfortunately you can look to being dealt a stiff hand around 43% of the time when you are playing. This percentage applies to both blackjack played in a brick and mortar casino and to blackjack online. Both games at their core are the same.
On that note you are lucky as your blackjack strategy will not vary regardless of where you are playing blackjack.
What makes blackjack strategy for stiff hands seem so ineffective is that you know that you still are the underdog and that your chances of losing are still pretty high. Blackjack players are used to turning to their blackjack strategies to make their odds at winning better. But that is not the sole purpose of blackjack strategy.
That other part of blackjack strategy is minimizing your losses, and it goes hand in hand with playing out stiff hands. It is true that even with a strategy tool are great as basic strategy that you are still the favorite to lose as unfortunate as that sounds.
Knowing that you are the underdog, what you want to do with your blackjack strategy is to minimize your losses. I know, this sounds easier said than done, but that is how players must look at it.
As a rule of thumb, and according to basic strategy, the best thing for you to do if you find yourself with a hard 13 through hard 17 is to stand if the dealer is showing a 2 through 6 and hit if the dealer is showing a 7 through Ace. Now, with a hard 12 you will want to hit if the dealer has a 2, 3 or 7 through Ace, and stand if he has a 4 through 6.
When your first two cards reveal a stiff hand, switch your mind to thinking that you must now minimize your losses. Once you have that in mind, next focus on how your blackjack strategy says to handle the stiff hand you have been dealt.
Tags: Basic Strategy, Blackjack, Blackjack basic strategy, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Hard Hand Strategy, Hard Hands, How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack, Stiff Hands
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Saturday, July 10th, 2010
While there are some things that are different between online blackjack and blackjack in a brick and mortar casino, there are still some things that are not any different. When it comes to online blackjack one of the similarities is stiff hands.
Just a quick recap a stiff hands are another name for certain hard hands. Those hard hands are hard 12 through hard 16. They are considered stiff hands because they are on the hard side to play with. These are typically underdog hands that are, truthfully, hard to win with. Your playing options are stiff, hence stiff hands.
How often are you likely to be dealt a stiff hand in online blackjack? You stand about a 43% of being dealt one of the stiff hands when you are playing online blackjack.
Now if you were playing blackjack in a brick and mortar casino you also stand about a 43% chance of being dealt a stiff hand.
So when you are playing online blackjack your playing strategy for stiff hands is not any different: abide by basic strategy.
Basic strategy not only is the key to the best statistical plays for every hand in blackjack, it is also the best strategy for online blackjack. The reason basic strategy is the best strategy tool for online is not only because it is the best play for every hand, it is essentially the only strong strategy tool since card counting is not possible in online blackjack.
Since card counting is not possible in online blackjack the best thing that you can do when you have a stiff hand is to play according to basic strategy. Since stiff hands are underdog hands regardless of whether you are playing online blackjack or not, basic strategy is your best bet.
Tags: Basic Strategy, Blackjack, Blackjack basic strategy, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Card counting, Game of Skill, Hard Hand Strategy, Hard Hands, How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack, Stiff Hand Strategy, Stiff Hands
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Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
Do you know what the best play in blackjack to make when you have a hard 15 or hard 16 versus a dealer’s 9, 10 or Ace? The answer might not be exactly what you think it is.
The instances in a game of blackjack that I am talking about are when you have a hard 15 versus a dealer’s 10 or a hard 16 against a dealer’s 9, 10 or Ace by the way.
Your first answer would be to stand. And in some blackjack games that would be the best statistical play to make. But in other blackjack games there is a better statistical play and it comes in two varieties: late and early surrender.
Late surrender is the more common of the two, but that is because it only hits the house edge for 0.08%. When it comes to late surrender, it is a play in which the player gives up half of his wager to exit the round only after the dealer has checked for blackjack. Players must decide to make a late surrender before they make any other plays; once a player decides to hit or stand the option to make a late surrender is gone.
The other type of surrender is early surrender. This differs from late surrender in that in an early surrender the player can give up half of their wager before the dealer checks for blackjack. Early surrender allows the player to get out of that particular round even if the dealer does have a natural blackjack. And because that aspect early surrender lowers the house edge by 0.6%. And that 0.6% hit is why early surrender is seen less often in blackjack games.
But surrender should only be used in blackjack if you have a hard 15 against a dealer’s 10 or a hard 16 against a dealer’s 9, 10 or Ace. Those are the four best times to surrender since a blackjack player’s chances of winning are the lowest then.
If you can find a game that allows for late surrender go for it, and if you can find a game of blackjack that allows for early surrender—even better!
Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack betting strategy, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack Rules, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Early Surrender, Hard Hand Strategy, Hard Hands, Late Surrender, Online Blackjack, Surrender, Surrender Strategy
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Friday, July 2nd, 2010
A natural blackjack is not the only thing that a player is hoping for when they sit down. Each player is hoping that if they cannot be dealt a natural blackjack that they will receive a 20. Or a 19. Or an 18. Or at least a 17—come one, Dealer, at least a 17!
And for the most part the average blackjack player is quite satisfied with a hard 17, be it one that they were dealt or one that they have hit to. Either way they feel like they have crossed That Line so that they feel safe.
A hard 17 gives players the feeling that they have a pretty decent shot of beating the dealer. That is why if you are playing in a brick and mortar casino and you watch the other players at the blackjack table you can see them release a little breath at having at least that hard 17. And if you are playing online blackjack watch yourself—and I will wager that you will feel more relaxed when you have that hard 17 on your screen.
However, that hard 17 can be a little on the deceiving side. It feels safe because it is the minimum hand to have that you just cannot hit. You know that if you hit that you will bust. So because it is a fairly high hand and you should not hit it, it feels like you have a shot of winning.
But let me ask you this—half of the time you should not hit a hard 16. So why does a hard 17 feel safer than a hard 16? Is it because you stand on it no matter what and you only stand on a 16 half of the time? Keep this thought in mind.
Here is the truth about our beloved hard 17: you will lose more money in the long run and there is nothing you can do about it.
You cannot hit a hard 17 so there is nothing you can do strategy-wise about not losing more over time. However there is a little bit of a silver lining in this.
When you have that hard 17 in your hand and the dealer is showing a 6. The dealer has a 42% chance of busting with that 6, which makes your chances of winning with that 17 greater.
I am not saying that a hard 17 is a bad hand to want. You should just keep in your best odds for your hard 17 are against a hard 6. And you had better stand then. Because you really have no choice—hit a hard 17 and you should just hand your money over. Stand and cross your fingers—strategy-wise you have done your best.
Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack player, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Hard 17, Hard Hand Strategy, Hard Hands, How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack
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Thursday, June 17th, 2010
The only time that this myth would come up is when you are dealt a natural blackjack or a 20 and the dealer has an Ace showing. In fact, the only time you are offered insurance in blackjack is when the dealer has an Ace showing.
The belief on this blackjack myth might sound reasonable, but it is in fact not practical. Here are the reasons these myth-believing blackjack players will insure their blackjacks and 20s:
- If you insure your blackjack you will get an even money payout no matter what even if the dealer has a blackjack.
- If you insure your 20 and the dealer does have blackjack you will wind up with the equivalent of an even money payout because you will lose that round’s wager, but will collect on the insurance bet.
The belief in this myth is that you are protecting your hand. The problem is that when you are protecting it you are costing yourself more money.
When you insure your blackjack you are losing out on your potential profits. By ensuring a blackjack you are taking a payout of 1-1 and giving up your 3-2 payout. Breaking that 3-2 down looks like this: 1.04-1. And 1.04 is greater than 1-1. Taking insurance, ergo even money, on a blackjack is costing you 4% of your potential profit. So while insurance might feel safer, it is more expensive in the long run to your profit.
As for insuring your 20, that is just not practical. What is a hard twenty made of? It is made up of two 10s. It is one of those pairs that you do not split. Think of this: you are holding two of the cards the dealer needs. This lessens the dealer’s chances of having a blackjack, and it lessens your chances of collecting on your insurance bet because you need him to have a 10. So put all of your chances on yourself and do not take insurance.
Part of your blackjack strategy is playing smart. Not all the tips you hear on the casino floor and in online blackjack forums are good ones. Take some time and think about the blackjack tips you find, maybe even do a little bit of research one them, before putting all your belief behind them. You might even try them out in a free-play mode of an online casino to see how they work.
Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack betting strategy, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack Payout, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Even Money, Hard 20, Hard Hands, How to Bet in Blackjack, How to play Blackjack, Insurance, Online Blackjack
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Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
For blackjack players who play according to basic strategy, I know, this myth does not make any sense.
And players believe this regardless of whether they are playing online blackjack or blackjack in a brick and mortar casino. Some are absolutely steadfast in this myth.
In truth they are only hurting their own blackjack odds.
Here is what happens in the mind of blackjack player who believes this myth—this is their reasoning. They are afraid of hitting and receiving a 10. They believe that the dealer’s hole card is a 10—another no-no in blackjack—and that if the dealer was dealt a 2 and a 10; and if they stand then the dealer will receive that 10 and bust.
They have this idea that if they hit they will only receive a 10. In their mind there is no other card that they could receive. So they will stand and hope the dealer gets the 10.
But here are the odds: standing on a hard 12 against a dealer’s 2 will cause you to lose 65% of the time while only winning 35% of the time.
On the other hand, if you hit like basic strategy tells you to, you will only lose 63% but you will win 37% of the time.
Yes, in the long run the odds are against the blackjack player in the long run. But look at the winning percentages: you will win 37% of the time if you hit. That is 2% more than if you were to stand. Granted 2% is not a lot, but I will take that 37% chance of winning rather than give it up.
Besides believing that you can only hit a hard 12 and receive a 10 in blackjack just seems, well, rather limiting. It also sounds a little like chopping off your nose to spite your face blackjack style.
Tags: Basic Strategy, Blackjack, Blackjack basic strategy, Blackjack Myths, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack Tips., Hard 12, Hard Hand Strategy, Hard Hands, How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack, play Blackjack
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Thursday, June 10th, 2010
It is never fun to be dealt a stiff hand in blackjack. You always feel like you have lost the round before it is even your turn to play. Or in the case of online blackjack, as soon as you see the cards you have been dealt.
You wind up basing your play off of whatever up card the dealer has. For hard hands 13 through 16 you stand if the dealer is showing a 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. And if he is showing a 7, 8, 9, 10 or Ace you hit. A hard 12 is the same except that you do hit when the dealer is showing a 2 or 3, so it is a little more flexible.
So if four of the five stiff hands are all played the same, which one is the worst one?
It would be the hard 16. Players have a 61% chance of busting with this hand. This is because when the dealer has a 7 or higher showing, the player’s best play is to hit. And there are only four cards that the player can receive that will not bust him: 2, 3, 4 and 5. That’s 4 out of 6 card types.
It naturally follows that the smaller the stiff hand the less of a chance there is of the player busting:
Hard 15: 59%
Hard 14: 56%
Hard 13: 52%
Hard 12: 48%
Notice that the hard 12’s chances of busting are less than 50%. This is because more than half of the card types that the blackjack player could receive will not cause him to bust.
The best you can do in blackjack is to play according to basic strategy and hope for the best. There really is not anything else that you can do. This is because you are too close to hit and not bust, but you are not high enough to really stand. Which is why every blackjack player hates being dealt stiff hands. At least in knowing the chances of busting, it can help a player feel a little better about hitting.
Tags: Basic Strategy, Blackjack, Blackjack basic strategy, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Hard 12, Hard 16, Hard Hand Strategy, Hard Hands, How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack, stiff hand, Stiff Hand Strategy
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Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
Stiff hands are miserable to get in blackjack. There is a feeling of losing before the round before the game really gets going. And in blackjack—be in online blackjack or blackjack in a brick and mortar casino—you are going to be dealt a stiff hand around 43% of the time.
But of all those stiff hands one is not as bad as the other hands. That stiff hand is a hard 12.
Thankfully a hard 12 offers us a little bit more room to work with than the other stiff hands we could be dealt in blackjack.
For starters let’s look at the plays recommended by basic strategy. For a hard 13 through hard 16 the basic strategy recommended plays are the same: if the dealer’s up card is a 2-6, stand and if the dealer’s up card is 7 through an Ace, hit.
But a hard 12 is different. Basic strategy recommends standing only on a dealer’s 4-6. If the dealer has a 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10 or Ace the recommended play is to hit. That alone gives the player some more room to work with this stiff hand in a game of blackjack.
On a side note, you can win 37% of the time when you hit a hard 12 against the dealer’s 2 or 3. Standing will only allow you to win 35% of the time. I do not know about you, but when it comes to a stiff hand, I will take that extra 2% any day.
So why is it recommended to hit a hard 12 against a 2 or 3? Mostly it has to do with the dealer’s chances of busting.
The dealer has the highest chances of busting when he has a 4, 5 or 6 showing. This is why you stand against those three so that you can leave the path to him busting open. All the other up cards have less than a 40% chance of busting. And since a hard 12 still offers a chance of not busting because of it being a lower hand total than the other stiff hands it allows us the chance of hitting against a dealer’s 2 or 3.
That being said do not think the round of blackjack is entirely lost when you are dealt a hard 12. Thankfully, the odds in blackjack give you a little room to work with.
Tags: Basic Strategy, Blackjack, Blackjack basic strategy, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Hard 12, Hard Hand Strategy, Hard Hands, Online Blackjack
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Thursday, May 20th, 2010
All right, blackjack players, we have another blackjack variation on our hands. Or on our tables actually. So far this one seems to be limited to brick and mortar casinos, and has not made the jump to online blackjack…yet.
This new blackjack variation is called Blackjack Switch. And it sounds pretty much like it is.
In this variation players must lay down to bets of equal amounts. They then are dealt two hands of two cards each. The dealer then deals cards to himself and then checks to see if he has a natural blackjack. Once he has checked and he does not have one, then players are allowed to play out their hands.
Playing out your hands in Blackjack Switch is not quite ordinary. You first playing decision to make is whether or not to switch your cards. In this variation players can swap the second cards of each hand with each other.
This gives players a little relief in that if one of your hands is a hard hand, you could switch the second cards and possibly relieve yourself from having a stiff hand.
But what players need to keep in mind is that sometimes switching is not always needed. It takes careful thought on whether to make the swap or not.
Once a player decides whether to switch their second cards with each other, he then plays out his hands like any ordinary hands. You can still use basic strategy here. But there is not strategy for when to switch your cards and when not to. That is a judgment call on your part.
While I do not like variations as a rule, this one does not have side bets, which are usually the worst aspect of blackjack variations. But like any blackjack variations, there are downsides to this game.
For one thing you will run through your bankroll faster because you are playing two hands at once. And because there is no real strategy advantage to playing two hands at once, you are actually decreasing your blackjack odds because you are giving the house more opportunities to take your money.
On top of that, if you are dealt a natural blackjack you are only going to be paid even money. Sot that is another hit against your blackjack odds. You have already handed them the advantage by opening yourself up to losing money by playing more than one hand at a time. But now you have given up your 3-2 payout as well, which normally fives a nice boost to players.
Since this one does not have side bets, I would say to play it for a couple of rounds just to give it a try. But if you are wanting to make any money off of blackjack then you will want to stick to regular blackjack.
Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack Payout, Blackjack player, Blackjack Rules, Blackjack Switch, Blackjack Tips., Blackjack Variations, Casino Games, Hard Hands, How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack, play Blackjack
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Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
When playing blackjack, players tend to get very focused on being deal that 21. But it isn’t the only way to win in blackjack as we all know. Remember that the objective of blackjack is to beat the dealer without going over 21. This doesn’t mean that a natural 21 is the only way to beat the dealer—it’s just the most popular.
In blackjack, 70% of your offensive hands will be won with either a natural blackjack or its closest runner a 10/10. But what about the other 30% of offensive hands? They are made up of five hands: a 10/9, an Ace/9, an Ace/8, a hard 11 and a hard 10.
But in order to make the most of these winning hands they must be played the right way. And, yes, in blackjack these hands do have a right way of being played. So we’re going to take a look at them and what to do with them.
Ace/10
This is the much coveted natural blackjack. These two cards are the only ones that can make a natural blackjack, although the 10 could also be a face card. If you’re dealt these cards, congratulate yourself and collect your money.
10/10
This hand is often misplayed because the first thing that blackjack players see is that it’s a pair. But not every pair is made to be split. And this is one of them. It’s folly to split a 10/10 because you don’t have good chances of building two hands that are just as strong. So leave them unsplit.
10/9
This would be known as a hard 19, and after a hard 20 it is the next strongest hand to have. You can only be beat if the dealer has or hits to 20 or 21, or if he has a natural 21.
Ace/9
This is another hand that blackjack players will sometimes stumble on. And it’s because of the Ace. They see that this is a soft hand and assume that hitting is the right play to make. But this is actually a soft 20, and if you stand on it, it’s just as strong as a hard 20 in playing terms.
Ace/8
This hand is treated in a way that is similar to the Ace/9. Blackjack players will hit on it when they should be standing. It’s only a hard 19, but played as a 19 it is worth more than if it’s hit on.
Hard 11
With this hand the best play to make is to double down. This is a strong hand to start on and even though you are only receiving one more card, it still has a good chance of being high enough to beat the dealer and collect double the winning amount. The best time to double down on a hard 11 is when faced with a dealer’s 10 or anything less.
Hard 10
Like the hard 11, this hand is best played and most profitable when a blackjack player double downs on it. But the best times to double down on it is when faced with a dealer’s 9 or less.
Keep these hands and how they are played in your mind when you are at the computer playing blackjack online or are playing blackjack at the casino. It doesn’t matter which place you’re playing at because these hands’ worths and plays are the same for both casino blackjack and online blackjack.
Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Double Down, Double Down Strategy, Hard Hand Strategy, Hard Hands, Online Blackjack, Soft Hand Strategy, Soft Hands
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