This post is syndicated by the Las Vegas Advisor for the 888 casino group. Anthony Curtis comments on the 888 article introduced and linked to on this page.
AC says:
Blackjack is the subject, but the advice in this article applies to all gambling games. When there’s one correct play and you’ve been told what it is, you’re costing yourself money every time you do something else. This comes up in video poker all the time, when players reason their way out of making the correct play. I can’t count all the times I’ve been asked for the correct play and given the answer, only for the player to wave it off and do something else. Amazing! You may desire an explanation that you can get your head around, but you don’t need one. One of my favorite stories is blackjack expert Ken Uston being asked for a reason that a certain play should be made. Uston answered simply, “Because the computer says so.” You’ll recognize some of the blackjack plays in the article that you’ve probably wondered about. You don’t need the explanations, but author John Grochowski obliges anyway.
This article was written by John Grochowski in association with 888Casino.
BLACKJACK PLAYS THAT FEEL WRONG CAN BE SO RIGHT
Learning basic strategy at blackjack is one thing. Internalizing it so it becomes second nature can be quite another.
The problem is that some blackjack strategy plays seem to defy common sense regardless of whether you’re playing online blackjack or in a live casino. As one player asked at a seminar I gave, “How can a play be so right when it feels so wrong?”
How can hitting hard 16 be the right play when there’s such a large chance of busting? How can splitting 8s against a dealer’s 10 be the right play when you could wind up with two 18s losing to a 20? How can doubling down on 11 when the dealer has a 10 face up be the right play when you can’t hit if you draw a low card and the dealer could be sitting with 20?
It’s enough to give you a queasy feeling even while you make the best play.
But they are the right plays. All casino games are grounded in math. Basic strategy takes into account all possible outcomes and calculates the play that, on average, yields the best chance to win.