How to Beat the House Edge in Blackjack
Blackjack is a card game that pits the player against the dealer. It is a popular casino table game and is supposed to have the lowest house edge of all casino games. It is also a game that can be beaten, if the player uses proper strategy. There are many books and websites that purport to teach players how to beat the house in Blackjack, but most of them are misguided at best and bogus at worst. The truth is that the casino has sound mathematical reasons for winning most hands of Blackjack, but these are hidden from the average player by the game’s complexity and by the playing conditions.
When a player receives his or her two cards, he or she may choose to “hit” and ask for more cards, or “stand” and keep the current hand. The dealer then reveals his or her face-down card, and the hand is resolved according to predetermined rules. If the player’s hand is higher than the dealer’s, the player wins and is paid an amount equal to the original wager; if the dealer’s hand has a value higher than 21 (a “bust”), the player loses; and if the dealer and player tie, it is a push or standoff, with the original bet still on the table.
One of the defining features of Blackjack is that it is the only casino game in which a player can truly beat the house, but it is a rare skill to master. In fact, the game’s popularity has slowed as other casino games such as sports betting and baccarat have gained in prominence. Nevertheless, for those with the right mix of skill and discipline, blackjack remains an exciting and rewarding game to play.
The most basic blackjack strategy is to hit when your hand value is 12-16 and the dealer’s face-up card is 7 or higher, and to stand when your hand value is 17 or higher. A good rule of thumb is to always split aces and 8s, and never split 10s. In addition, when doubling down is allowed, it is generally preferable to double against a dealer’s 7, rather than against a 2, 3, or 4; and to stand against a 6, as opposed to hitting it.
A number of different strategies have been developed for blackjack, but most are complicated and require special training to implement properly. A simpler and more effective approach is to use a computer analysis of the game’s probability to deduce an optimal strategy for each situation. This article will discuss the use of a blackjack simulator written in the R statistical language to accomplish this task. The code for this simulation and the resulting table of optimal strategies is available on Github. This article will also discuss the pitfalls of blackjack simulations and why so few actually work as advertised. Then we will introduce a newer, more robust, free and open-source software tool that is designed to facilitate the development of new blackjack strategies.