10 Common Mistakes Made By BlackJack Players

10 Common Mistakes by BlackJack Players

1. Follow the dealer's strategy and hit on 16 or less and stand on 17 through 21.Seems like a smart thing to do since the dealer always seems to win. The problem with this strategy is that it doesn't consider one very important point about the rules of the game, namely if you go over 21 (bust) and the dealer subsequently busts you still lose. This basic rule creates the casino's natural advantage over players in blackjack. Therefore following the dealer's playing strategy will not work.

2. Standing on soft 18 when the dealer shows a 9, 10, or ace.This makes sense to a lot of players. An 18 is a pretty good hand so why risk hitting and ending up with a worst total or even busting. The problem is that 18 isn't quite good enough when the dealer shows a 9, 10, or ace. In fact, whether you stand or hit, overall you are going to lose more times than win when you have a soft 18 and are facing the dealer's 9, 10, or ace. However, you will win slightly more hands when you take the hit therefore it is the better strategy.

3. Standing with a pair of 8's when the dealer shows a 10.No question that a 16 is a bad hand to have especially when the dealer shows a 10 upcard. Most players know they are doomed to lose and are reluctant to put out more money and split with the possibility of losing two hands. However, by splitting you will have two hands starting with a total of 8 which is a hell of a lot better than one hand starting with 16. In fact in the long run you will lose more than twice as much money with 16 vs 10 as opposed to 8 vs 10. You've got a way to cut your losses and that's to split the 8's.

4. Standing with soft 17.Most casual players mistakenly believe you should always stand on 17. That's true if you have a hard 17 but not true if it's a soft 17 (a soft 17 is a hand that contains an ace counted as 11). If you are dealt an ace, 6 (or ace, 2, 4) you should never stand. In fact, you should never stand on any soft hand that totals 13 through 17 no matter what the dealer shows. With a soft hand you can hit and never bust with one draw card because you can always count the ace as 1.

5. Hitting 12 though 16 when the dealer shows a 2 through 6.This is a case of a player not understanding the basics of how to win at blackjack. The player believes he has a weak hand and so he takes a hit. No consideration is given to what is the dealer's upcard. Although it's correct to hit a 12 through 16 when the dealer shows a strong upcard of 7 through ace, it's not correct to hit when the dealer shows a weak upcard of 2 through 6. The reason you should stand in the latter case is that when the dealer has a weak upcard his probability of busting goes up. As a player you do not want to risk busting when the dealer's chances of busting is high therefore you should stand on 12 through 16 hands when the dealer shows a 2 through 6 (with one exception - if you hold a 12 you should hit when the dealer shows a 2 or 3 upcard).

Common Mistakes 6-10 here........

   

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posted by ADMIN @ Friday, January 07, 2005