Blackjack Single Deck Strategy Explained
One of the most commonly committed mistakes made by novice blackjack players is that they learn a few basic strategies for the game and then apply that knowledge to every single variation of the game that they ever play. With little flexibility included in their approach, this directly means that they leave themselves vulnerable to failure because they refuse point blank, to deviate from their comfort zone.
For the sake of clarification: whenever you happen to encounter a blackjack strategy that is presented as if it happens to be a standardised one (and therefore, on a superficial level, applicable to ALL forms of the game), this actually means that the strategy in question is relevant to the most commonly practised form of the blackjack game.
Therefore, a standard strategy should never be taken at face value or followed to the absolute letter; to do so is to tread down the road to perdition and disappointment. Rather, it is much more advisable and indeed, logical, to take the standard strategy as a basic point of reference, and then alter and amend the plans where and when required.
With that in mind, how on earth will the player be able to know what particular shade of the basic strategy they should use? The answer is quite simple: they will have to make a judgement call based on the presence of two specific variables. These variables are as follows:
1) The rules specified for the game of blackjack they are currently participating in
2) The total number of deck of cards which are actively being used in the current game.
Therein lies another fatal mistake made by the novice blackjack player: they totally underestimate the significant and indeed pivotal role that the number of decks has in the process. Hopefully the following example will help to clarify the situation, and make it much easier for the novice player to determine the right way forward.
In our scenario, for the sake of argument, let us pretend that the player has been issued a pair of sevens whilst the dealer has a total of ten. In the event that the blackjack game happens to be one that has a multiple decks in usage, then the player would be advised to hit (draw another card).
However, if the match being played only featured a single deck of cards, then the best course of action for the player would be to simply stand (do nothing).
No doubt, that piece of advice will come as something of a shock to the reader, and I know that it certainly caught me off guard when I first encountered it. However, upon closer examination, there is a cold logic to this.
The reason that the player would hit if they had a pair of sevens in the event that they are playing with multiple decks of cards is that whilst they need a seven to beat the dealer, they would have a higher chance of drawing the card they need than if only a single deck was used.
Specifically, when playing with a single deck, you will only have the possibility of drawing 2 other sevens. If on the other hand you were relying on a six deck game of blackjack, then there would be a grand total of 22 other sevens to draw.
Generally speaking, there are three major alterations you should try and implement in regards to the basic blackjack strategy for single deck games. These are as follows:
If the dealer has a 10 and you have two 7’s, make sure that you stand rather than hit for another card. You’ll only hurt yourself otherwise.
If your hand totals 11, and your dealer has an Ace, you need to double right away!
If you happen to have a hand that totals 8, and where that number has been reached with a 5 and a 3 then you should double if the dealer has either a 5 or a 6.
Players who abide to the Black Basic Strategy will actually be able to enjoy a marginal increase of the odds in their favour, rather than the house.
We tested this system at Virgin Casino with superb results with extra profit earned from their £150 sign up bonus. We also tested this system at 7red Casino with good results with a $100 bonus.
