How To Read A Blackjack Strategy Chart



The basic strategy detailed below is based on blackjack games played with 4 or more decks. Essentially, the basic strategy is a template which shows you the best course of action to take based on the cards dealt. The below chart: Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart. Reading the blackjack strategy chart isn’t at all complicated. Each chart displays your hand, as well as the dealer’s hand. Depending on what cards you receive, and what hands the dealer has, there is a recommended action for each situation. Part of it is thinking deeper about it. I was confused at first as well. For example, basic strategy says to double on an A,9 againat a dealer 6 but the deviation chart says 0. I wondered, “does that mean I should HIT or STAY? Well, I learned to. The Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart. The Blackjack basic strategy chart is one of the most essential things for any blackjack player. As the strategy recommends only the best decisions from a mathematical point of view, the blackjack strategy chart is the table that contains all the solutions recommended by blackjack basic strategy.This, or any chart for other set of rules, is the most. Basic blackjack strategy During the history of blackjack development players managed to reveal its secrets and use them in order to play more successfully and profitably. Lots of strategies and systems were created, and great variety of books was been written, but the Basic Blackjack Strategy was always the top priority for all kinds of players.

Table Of Contents

  • It can take years to master the game of blackjack and become a winning player
  • You can learn the basics of the game with this blackjack cheat sheet
  • Download the free pdf and use it when you play on the best Blackjack sites so you can better chances to win

Everyone say that playing blackjack is easy — but I disagree.

Blackjack is one of those games that can take years to learn, especially if you want to play well and use all the winning chances you have.

To be good at Blackjack you need to know the right strategy, learn how to play every possible combination of cards, and have a super-sharp memory.

Unless you use a Blackjack cheat card like the one I'm giving away in this article.

Oh, and you need to be lucky too - of course.

The players who get all the chances to win at Blackjack that the game allows, know exactly what hand to play and when they are supposed to Hit or Stand.

Good Blackjack players leave to chance nothing more than they are obliges to. Blackjack is a gambling game and it comes with a natural house edge — but anything more than that, is a mistake Blackjack players can't afford to make.

To be that good, you can either spend a lot of time studying the game and learning all about the best ways to play Blackjack…

…or you can become well-versed in the important aspects of the Blackjack basic strategy with an easy Blackjack cheat sheet for beginners.

The No-Cheat Sheed Approach to Beating Blackjack

If you choose the first approach, you are in for a lot of work that is going to pay out, eventually.

I respect your attitude and I want to help. So here's a list of good resources you should read before you download my printable Blackjack strategy card.

How to Play Blackjack for Beginners. See it as a dummies guide to Blackjack. Here you learn how to count points, understand the action, and move your first steps into the game.

How to Practice Blackjack Online. The best way to learn how to play (and put my Blackjack cheat sheet into practice) is to play for free and train. This article gives you the chance to do just that.

Best Free Blackjack Games to Play for Fun. Need more free games to test the PDF cheat card? This page has everything you need.

Single Deck Blackjack Strategy. Single Deck games are the Eldorado of Blackjack. This article tells you why and gives you some tips to get more winning chances than most other players.

Blackjack Side Bets Explained in Plain English. Lots of people get confused about the side bets in Blackjack — especially as those aren't covered in my cheatsheet. This article tells you which one to try and which ones to avoid.

Best Live Blackjack Casinos in 2019: Updated List. A collection of all the best sites to play Live Dealer Blackjack in 2019 with short reviews of what makes them special.

The No-Cheat Sheet Approach to Beating Blackjack

If you don't want to go through all those articles but you just want to play, I have a way to get you in a position to get better odds at Blackjack.

With my Blackjack Cheat Sheet you:

  • Always know how to play a hand
  • Get the best winning odds
  • CReach optimal play

YES. I am talking about a Blackjack Cheat Sheet pdf for dummies that can help you play like you are supposed to. Download it, print it, memorize it, and use to play your games.

It's often said that in gambling, the house always wins. Unfortunately, that's not a lie.

Although this is true for the majority of players - especially for those who do not know how to play the house effectively - there are ways to increase your chances.

Nobody expects a beginner to win, and you must use this lack of expectations to your advantage.

My Blackjack Cheat Sheet card helps you play Blackjack like players who have been playing the game for years and get more chances.

Never-Ending Blackjack Action Online!

Practice free blackjack against the CPU and then sit to play exciting games with the best live dealers* in the world.

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Although we call this a Cheat Sheet,it is really cheating? Of course not.

Cheating at the Casino is not allowed. And stupid.

What you find here is a Blackjack strategy that helps you to play better.

How To Read A Blackjack Strategy Chart Printable

Think of it like playing a video game with a guide, or going on a guided tour when you go on vacation.

That's not cheating - that's just sensible precautions. Sure, you think, but isn't blackjack a game, and wouldn't a winning strategy be against the spirit of that game?

If you're thinking that, then, my friend, you are nobler than most players. The world might need more people like you - but you need to change your approach if you want to have your best chances to win at Blackjack.

First, though, let's take you through some basics of deck Blackjack terminology and Blackjack strategy, as you'll need to know what these words and phrases mean in order to decipher what our Cheat Sheet tells you.

Soft hand: This is when there is an ace in your hand, meaning there is no chance of you busting after the draw. The ace can be 1 or 11, but your hand must not total more than 21. Here are those soft combinations:

  • A2 - 13 (13 or 3)
  • A3 - 14 (14 or 4)
  • A4 - 15 (15 or 5)
  • A5 - 16 (16 or 6)
  • A6 - 17 (17 or 7)
  • A7 - 18 (18 or 8)
  • A8 - 19 (19 or 9) - almost always stand
  • A9 - 20 (20 or 10) - always stand!
  • An ace with 10 or a face card is an unbeatable blackjack.

Hard hand: The combined total of any two cards not containing an ace. Here are the possible hard hands:

  • 9-7 (hard 16)
  • 8-6 (hard 14)
  • 10-7 (hard 17)

It's riskier to draw with a hard hand, as there is more chance of busting.

Hit: drawing another card.
Stand: when your hand is good enough.
Double down: this is when you, or another player, increase the wager.

This Cheat Sheet alone won't make you a winner.

This Cheat Sheet helps you to understand the basics and shows you how to play a hand well. It tells you when to take a positive risk and when to hold back.

It's the Yoda you need to become Blackjack's Luke Skywalker.

To win at blackjack, download the cheat sheet, you must.

Can you use the Blackjack Cheat Sheet at the table?

You can keep the easy Blackjack Cheat Sheet open in your browser while a game of online Blackjack is running.

Use it as a reference to understand what decisions you are supposed to make when you play a hand of Blackjack.

After a while, once you get good enough to play on your own, you won't need it anymore. Until that happens, use it while you play. It'll help you learn to make the calls and do the right moves.

Never-Ending Blackjack Action Online!

Practice free blackjack against the CPU and then sit to play exciting games with the best live dealers* in the world.

Play Now

*: The live dealer games are not available in the United States.

The promotion presented on this page was available at the time of writing. With some Casino promotions changing on daily basis, we suggest you to check on the site if it still available. Also, please do not forget to read the terms and conditions in full before you accept a bonus.

Blackjack strategy charts draw a line in the sand. On one side you have the gamblers, you know, the players that don’t use basic strategy charts. On the other side you have varying degrees of advantage players; players that choose to use them to reduce the house edge.

Which side are you on?

Even if you don’t want to become a professional, card counting blackjack player, I highly recommend taking the side that uses strategy charts. You’ll learn the basic strategy necessary to reduce the house to nearly a coin flip.

And I recommend that you start by reading this page. If you do a Google search for blackjack charts, you’ll notice that most sites just post the charts and a key that covers what the abbreviations mean.

Helpful? Sure…

However, I think that you’d get a lot more out of your strategy charts if you knew more about them. Things like why you should use them, how to read and memorize them. Those are the types of things I’m going to cover in more detail below.

What are strategy charts?

Blackjack strategy charts are paper or digital guides that tell you how to play your hand based on the game you’re playing, your hand and the dealer’s hand. You can find them online with a simple Google search. Brick and mortar casinos give them away, too. In either case they’re free — or should be.

These will give you the basic strategy you need to reduce the house edge from 6-9 percent, to as low as .5 percent, depending on how well you know and use them.

Not only will strategy charts reduce the house edge, but they’re the foundation to card counting techniques, too. To be a good card counter you’ll want to have these (basic) plays down pat. All of your more advanced plays and decisions will be based on them.

How To Read A Blackjack Strategy Chart

Why should you use strategy charts?

How To Read A Blackjack Strategy Chart

The simplest answer is that you reduce the casinos’ edge to nearly nothing. So instead of losing .40-.50 minimum per hand (live), you reduce your losses down to .2-.3 per hand.

Another way to look at is that you remove most of the luck factor from the game. Instead of crossing your fingers hoping for the dealer to bust, you can use basic strategy to take control and increase the odds of that happening.

They’re free, too. Although it might take a little bit of effort to learn them, and at times they might be inconvenient, you’re going to increase the likelihood that you walk out of the casino with cash in hand. And worse case scenario, is that over the long run you’ll be about breakeven. How many people in the casino can say that about the games they’re playing?

Why do casinos give them to you? How come they let you use them?

I don’t know the exact reason why casinos are willing to give out basic strategy charts, let alone give you permission to use them at the tables. I can make a couple of guess though.

  • Basic strategy won’t put the house edge in your favor. In the long run the casinos will still make money, and that’s all they care about.
  • Most people don’t use strategy charts that well or to the fullest extent. So not everyone is able to reduce the house edge so low. The margin of error is still 1-2 percent, giving the house a 2-4 percent edge. Again, in the long run the casinos make money.
  • Those two points in mind, I would think that strategy charts keep players in the chairs longer, perhaps thinking that they’ve finally got control of the situation.

Ultimately, the casinos are still going to make money. Otherwise they wouldn’t give them out.

What do the abbreviations mean?

Free printable blackjack strategy chart

This is what the abbreviations mean:

  • H = Hit
  • S = Stand
  • D = Double if allowed, otherwise hit.
  • Ds = Double if allowed, otherwise stand.
  • P = Split
  • Ph = Split if double after split is allowed, otherwise hit.
  • Rh = Surrender if allowed, otherwise hit.
  • Rs = Surrender if allowed, otherwise stand.
  • Rp = Surrender if allowed, otherwise split.

These abbreviations may be different depending on the chart you use. They should be listed on the chart, though.

How do you read the chart?

The cards are very simple to read.

On the left side of the chart will be your hand. Look at your hand and ask if it’s hard, soft or a pair. Then look down the left side of the chart to find it.

On the top of the chart is the dealer’s up card. Find that on the chart.

How To Read A Blackjack Strategy Chart Explained

What you’ll want to do next is move your finger from left to right, starting from the hand you have, and starting with the dealer’s up card, move your finger from top to bottom. You’ll stop where the 2 lines intersect. This will give you an abbreviation, which will be the move you need to make.

How do I memorize strategy charts?

Memorizing a strategy chart can take a lot of time. In fact, I would guess that’s why so many people balk at the idea of learning card counting. Card counting sounds sexy in theory, but there’s a lot of work and time involved.

Experts recommend that you use flash cards to learn strategy. I’m not an expert, but I think that’s a great idea, too. I would create a flash card for every hand (or group of hands) that you can be dealt, along with a specific dealer up card. The (correct) action would be on the backside.

By the time you’re done you’ll have nearly 250 flash cards to go through. One method is to go through them all. However, I think I would focus on just soft, hard or paired hands, or, focus on one type of hand period. For example, memorize all the plays for when you have a soft 17, or, all the plays for when the dealer is showing a 2.

How To Read A Blackjack Strategy Charts

However you decide to go about it, it’ll take you some time to get each decision right. Just stay consistent with it, spending maybe 30-90 minutes on it everyday and you’ll get there.