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The TRUTH about Basic Strategy 2

by Boris

Virtually every book on Blackjack offers some sort of write-up on Basic Strategy; some more "accurate" than others. Yet, surprisingly, Basic is one of the most least-understood aspects of the game. To make for easier assimilation, I've broken the topic down into the categories list below. Click on any of the items to proceed.

• Basic Strategy - a Simple Definition
• Basic Strategy - Evolution
• Basic Strategy - Details & Assumptions
• Understanding Basic Strategy
• Drilling Basic Strategy
• Beyond Basic Strategy

Basic Strategy - a Simple Definition

The idea behind Basic Strategy is to provide the average player an [approximately-]optimum way to play the cards, taking into account the player's hand/total and the dealer's up-card.

You should know that Basic is a lose-less strategy; not necessarily a winning strategy. Its purpose is to drop the house edge as much as possible. Because of this, it is crucial that you not only memorize the Basic Strategy plays, but understand the logic behind those plays. Even if you plan to advance to other strategies (such as card-counting or clump-tracking), Basic Strategy is still important knowledge to possess, if for no other reason than to serve as a point of comparison.

Basic Strategy Evolution

What is accepted today as "Basic Strategy" has actually evolved based on the research and ideas of many contributors. The major contributors to this body of knowledge include: Baldwin, et al (circa 1953), Ed Thorp (circa 1962), Julian Braun and Peter Griffin (circa 1970's). Arnold Snyder detailed a "Composite Basic Strategy" to "blend" all the variations into one (albeit compromised) approach. This is detailed in his book Black-belt in Blackjack.

Basic Strategy Details and Assumptions

Details
Basic Strategy is influenced by a number little-known aspects of the game of Blackjack. For example, it can be easily shown that the dealer's SOLE advantage in Blackjack has to do with the fact that if BOTH the player and the dealer break, the player loses (because the player hand is retired immediately, regardless of whether the dealer breaks later). This seemingly insignificant rule gives the dealer an advantage of over 8%.

Learning to Hit/Stand, Double/Split and Surrender "correctly" (which is what Basic Strategy is all about) reduces that advantage to well under 1%. While Basic Strategy players may lose way more hands than they win, the volume of split-wins and double-wins make up for many of the otherwise lost hands.

It can be well argued that a player's over-all win-rate in a given playing session comes down to a handful of Double/Split plays; the remaining Hit/Standing decisions serve to maintain the win during non Double/Split situations.

Assumptions
Basic Strategy is born out of a number of assumptions; all of which have interesting implications in today's Blackjack games.

To begin with, you should understand that Basic Strategy was derived from computer-run simulations which utilized a "random" card shuffle. In actuality, the cards shuffles in today's Blackjack games are nowhere near random; even with the proliferation of Shuffle Machines. As the number of decks increase, so does the non-randomness of the cards resulting from the shuffle.

Basic Strategy assumes that the dealer always has a 10 in the hole. This is actually a fallacious assumption when you consider that only 30.8% of the cards are actually 10's. To assume the dealer always has a 10 in the hole is to be wrong 69.2% of the time. Can you say Oooops?
It is for this reason, many professional players consider Basic Strategy to be flawed when used against today's shoe games. It was this realization that led me to the development of Basic Strategy II.

Understanding Basic Strategy

To understand Basic Strategy it is best to break it down into its major components:

1. Hitting and Standing
   

2. Hard Doubling
   
3. Pair Splitting
   
4. Soft Doubling
   
5. "Advanced Plays"

Hitting and Standing
Because most of your Blackjack plays will be Hit or Stand decisions, it is crucial that understand the correct way to play these hands.; In general, there are 4 kinds of hands: (1) Pat hands - 17 - 21 (in which you always stand), hands totaling less than 9 (in which you always hit), potential double-hands (9, 10 & 11) and Stiff hands (12-16). It is from correctly playing hands in the 4th category that the biggest difference is made to your win-rate.

Note: In the following tables we have the following possibilities:

	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	X	A
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	Surr/H	Surr/H
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	Surr/H	Surr/H	Surr/H
17	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A-7	S	D	D	D	D	S	S	H	H	H

Pair Splitting
Pair splitting allows you to take one hand of questionable value and convert it to two hands (of lesser value), allowing you to in effect "start over", with a double-chance to make a score. After splitting pairs, it is not surprising to find that you win one hand and lose the other. It is better to push overall than to lose a hand (which might well happen if we don't split). Pair-splitting can be seen as an offensive, as well as a defensive, strategy. As with doubling down, splitting pairs can be done to maximize the player's win-rate, should the dealer be perceived to have a lousy (i.e. potentially-breaking) hand.

	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	X	A
2-2	H	H	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
3-3	H	H	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
6-6	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H	H
7-7	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H	H
8-8	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	Surr/H	Surr/H
9-9	P	P	P	P	P	S	P	P	S	S
A-A	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P

Doubling Down
The idea of doubling down is to get more money on the table when:

1. You have a potentially strong hand

2. You predict the dealer to have a breaking (or near-breaking) hand and want to get more money on the table (as is the case of most soft-double hands).

The Hard and Soft-double aspects of Basic Strategy are designed to maximize your win-rate, while keeping your losses to a minimum.

	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	X	A
A-2	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-3	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-4	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-5	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-6	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A-7	S	D	D	D	D	S	S	H	H	H
9	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H

 

Drilling Basic Strategy

Learning Basic Strategy is not a difficult process for people of average intelligence (your mileage may vary). You can study books, make up flash cards or use computer software designed to assist the drilling process. The Boris for Blackjack Software comes with a comprehensive drills facility, which amongst other things, allows you to master Basic Strategy.

Learning Basic is simply a matter of repetition. Using computer software gives you immediate feedback on your drill progress. Before moving on to more complex aspects of Blackjack, be sure that your knowledge of Basic Strategy is 100% (without having to resort to looking up the plays).

The more you drill Basic Strategy, the easier it will be to commit it to memory for immediate retrieval in your casino play. If you are slow, uncertain or flat-out wrong in your strategy decisions, that simply means you need more practice.

Beyond Basic Strategy

As discussed earlier, Basic Strategy is a "lose less" strategy. It designed to help the player cut losses to a minimum, not necessarily to win.

Here is a quote from Ron DiBenedetto, the author of Precision Blackjack, in his Seminar:

"Let's move on with a discussion on the problems associated with contemporary multiple deck blackjack conditions . . . First, the problem with "BASIC STRATEGY" ... Today's knowledgeable player must recognize that basic strategy was the first mathematical system devised for the game of blackjack. However, basic strategy was developed years ago by mathematicians and it was developed with a reliance upon card flow randomness. What makes matters worse is that basic strategy was also devised for only single deck play." (You can read more about this on Page Two of the Seminar.)

If you would like to win consistently at Blackjack, you need to tackle one of the many other strategies including card-count or clump-track strategies available. Many of the better or proven strategies are already pre-programmed into Boris' more advanced Editions. The Student Edition has 37 additional strategies and provisions to add your own personal strategy too. The Student is a good start for the casual, but serious player. For the more advanced or advancing player we recommend the PBJ or PRO Editions. These are the software programs many professional players use to test their theories and evolving personal strategies. Articles on the Boris for Blackjack Website will give you ideas of what kind of play (counting or clumping) best suits your abilities and temperament.

If you are a casual player, you will find Basic to be the perfect compromise between quality play and ease of learning to play accurate Blackjack.

 

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