How to play blackjack for beginners
Blackjack is one of the most exciting card games, which features a huge amount of statistical information that must be taken into account when choosing a strategy. Below are the most interesting starting combinations of cards that are most often found in six-deck blackjack.
Hand combinations - Blackjack tips for beginners
The initial cards dealt by the croupier can have 34 different combinations. They, in turn, are classified according to the following criteria:
Soft (combinations of ace and cards from 2 to 10, as well as pairs of cards from aces to 10);
Hard (from 5 to 19).
Each of the hands receives a pair due to some probability. The fact is that the decks contain mainly cards that give 10 points. These are all pictures and dozens. Therefore, pairs of ten-point cards are formed much more often than others. The probability of getting such a combination is 9.2%, which is considered a very good chance. When such a pair falls out, the chances of winning sharply approach 100%.
Now let's find out:
There is an 8.1% chance of getting a pair containing twelve or thirteen.
Pairs with a sum equal to fourteen or fifteen come across in 7% of cases.
The second hand, which has an amount equal to sixteen points, appears in 6% of cases. Such starting hands fall out in 20% of all games and need a special approach to make the right decision.
The only hand that is guaranteed to win is blackjack. The chances of it falling out are approximately 4.7%;
Least of all, all variants of soft hands fall out. Their chances are between 1% and 1.1%.
The main advantages of the initial cards
After studying the chances of a particular combination falling out immediately after the distribution, it is necessary to learn how to evaluate the real chances of winning depending on the pair that fell out. It should be borne in mind that in blackjack not all combinations are approximately the same. Some of them are considered profitable, while others are not. Therefore, it is better to find out which of them fall into which category.
Natural 21 blackjack
Profitable cards are those that make up the actual "blackjack". These cards are the most paid, and their chance can reach 150%. The combination itself brings the player a win with a coefficient of 1.5. The next are the cards that make up a combination equal to twenty. This requires a combination of two tens or an ace with a nine. Such options are possible in 60% of cases.
A hard hand that has a combination equal to eleven or nineteen allows you to win in 23% of the games. The cards that fall into the unfavourable category follow. If soft hands and low pairs from 2 to 8 are formed, then this is an undesirable alignment. But it is even worse if hard combinations are formed, the sum of which is in the range from twelve to sixteen.
Be sure to remember that when such pairs fall out, the casino gets an advantage ranging from 30% to 40%.
How to correctly calculate the value of the initial pair
It is very interesting to evaluate the profitability of starting combinations. This also takes into account the chances of their loss. It goes without saying that the player can get the biggest win if he has the most important combination (blackjack). In addition, combinations of ace and nine, a pair of tens, a pair of aces, an ace and eight, two fives and two nines, as well as a hand that has a total of ten, nineteen or eleven points will have the same coefficient.
Hard hands with combinations equal to 12-16, 5, 7, 6 and soft hands with combinations from thirteen to seventeen and pairs of cards from deuces to eights will never bring any winnings. Hard hands with a total of seventeen or eighteen will not always bring winnings, because usually in such cases the casino has more chances to win.
Amanda Shimmer is the Chief Editor at CasinosInCanada and an experienced casino expert who ensures all guides, reviews, and industry investigations remain accurate, transparent, and helpful for players.
FAQ
Jokers mean nothing unless you are playing a special game of blackjack.
It uses decks of 52 cards.
Only brilliant mathematicians can count cards, the win through counting is really small.
The game uses six standard decks of 52 cards.
Blackjack pays automatically plus you get a 3:2 blackjack payout bonus which means you win 1.5 times more.
There are two ways to win at blackjack: Score more points than the dealer, but not more than 21. Make the dealer score more than 21 points. When the gambler scored up to 21 points inclusive, and the croupier went over, the client wins and vice versa. With the same number of points (without blackjack), a draw is recognised, the bet is returned to the player.
Surrender means to give up - in this game it means a refusal to play, more precisely, to continue the game.
It has the value of 10 points.
The player has the right to bet that the dealer will go over with a 10-point card, if the dealer has 12-16 points on the first two cards, the winning of the bet is paid 2:1.
Hard like a hard hand. Soft Double - [soft double] - soft doubling, in Blackjack the term Soft Double refers to a situation where a player with a soft hand - Soft Hand - doubles his original bet.
