How Blackjack Mathematics Can Help You Become A Better Player

Ever wondered how the great blackjack players do it? This is surely one of the most exciting games out there, exactly because of blackjack mathematics, deep strategies that can help you pull off amazing plays. Want to learn more? Read on for our tips for improving your game.

Becoming a great implementer of blackjack mathematics will not happen overnight. But if you are dedicated and open to learning, you can find out a lot of tricks to help you improve your game. Our best blackjack tips can be found below. Use the navigation table to fast forward to exactly the information you need. If you are an absolute beginner, we recommend reading our whole article on best blackjack strategies to improve your chances at winning. If you want to dive even further into gambling advice, check out the best books on online gambling.

• Harnessing the Math Behind Blackjack
• Memorizing the Chart: The Way to Learn Blackjack Probability
• Is counting cards a viable strategy?

Harnessing the Math Behind Blackjack

Even if you are a complete newcomer to the popular casino table game, you have surely heard of the concept of math behind blackjack. Films like 21 and Rain Man have harnessed the juicy topic of card counting to make their plots extremely entertaining. Contrary to much movie magic, the math behind these films is real. To be good at blackjack, you must at least know basic strategy, which is not the same as card counting. But hold tight – we will get into the differences between all the best blackjack strategies in a moment.

Let’s start simply. At every turn of blackjack, the player has the option to either:

• Hit: receive another card from the dealer
• Stand: receive no card from the dealer
• Double down: double your first bet
• Split: create two separate hands (can do if you have a pair of same cards)

Rather than betting based on your gut – like you might do in roulette – what a blackjack player decides to do when the dealer comes to them is dependent entirely on strategy. Playing perfect basic strategy improves your odds of winning, even with the house edge, which is present in every single casino game to varying degrees. That being said: Playing perfect strategic games does not mean you will always win, since there is the element of chance. Likewise, even if you do not play perfectly, learning some basic strategy will improve your game – and it’s fun, to boot.

Understanding 6-5 vs. 3-2 payoffs, multi-deck vs. single deck and more

One of the trickiest things to navigate when first playing blackjack are game and payoff variations. In every casino, slightly different rules might be used. Some casinos even have different tables with multi-deck or single-deck games, or different payoffs. You can get lost in learning all of the ins-and-outs of these different games, and if you want to become a professional player, you should study in greater detail. However, for a more casual player or a beginner, it is important not to get overwhelmed.

The most important blackjack mathematics facts are these:

• A 3-2 payoff is always better for the player.
• A 6-5 payoff adds significantly to the house edge, and is therefore detrimental to the player.
• Considering the above, both multi-deck and single-deck games can be “good” or “bad.” Payoff is generally more important than the number of decks you play with, even those multi-deck hands boast more chances to get certain helpful cards.

So, when you are starting out, do not get too caught up in these differences. It’s best to first focus on memorizing the basic strategy chart. Once you have this down pat, you can always adjust your game to other rules. To learn the chart is to begin to understand the math behind blackjack.

Memorizing the Chart: The Way to Learn Blackjack Probability

At the start of a round of blackjack, the dealer will deal each player two cards and themselves one down-facing card and one up-facing card. This is the moment where basic strategy begins. If you have memorized the basic strategy chart, you can look at your two cards and the dealer’s up-facing card to quickly assess the best course of action.

This chart is designed based on blackjack probability, mathematical calculations to determine which results are most likely based on the initial set of cards dealt. The question is how likely you are, with a given hand, to stay close to or under 21, or to “go bust” by going over 21.

Based on this chart, you can see that if you have a pair of Aces, you should split the hand, but with a pair of 10s, you should stand and keep the hand, since you are already very close to the number of 21 and likely to do well with this hand as is. Having one Ace also gives a lot of possibilities, which is why many hands with Aces could be doubled down on. This is all based on blackjack probability, so if you stick to basic strategy, you are statistically more likely to win hands overall.

Is counting cards a viable strategy?

One of the most common phrases that comes up in discussions around blackjack mathematics is “counting cards.” That may be due to the popularity of its depiction in various films and television series. It is also one way to play blackjack. Many people wonder if counting cards is illegal. Being able to count cards on your own technically is not, but using a device to do so for you would be considered an unfair advantage. Likewise, trading cards with other players or cheating could get you into a lot of trouble, but counting cards is not technically cheating.

Still, you could be asked to leave if you are suspected of counting cards. Whether legal or not, casinos do not like their house edge taken away from them. They do have the right to remove or ban players, and coming back to a casino you are banned from is the thing that could get you into legal problems down the line.

From Rain Man to 21, how realistic is blackjack in films?

Though many people will be familiar with card counting and blackjack playing in general from popular movies, unsurprisingly, many films do not depict the game accurately. In Rain Man for example, Dustin Hoffman took inspiration from autistic savant, Kim Peek. Though Kim Peek had many extraordinary skills, he never counted cards because he considered it unethical. Furthermore, the film has an overly optimistic view of how easily a gambler could win counting cards at a blackjack table in a casino.

The reality is that it is a complex process and usually requires a team of players. One player counting cards on a multi-deck game successfully all night is highly unlikely. Furthermore, that player probably would be asked to leave by the casino, which would have an understanding that card counting was taking place. Winning a $80,000 jackpot in a night, as Dustin Hoffman’s character does, just would not happen – even for a savant!

Though the film 21 was based on the real-life story of the MIT Blackjack Team, many changes were made in order to adapt the story. The real team was active in the 1980s, for example, in a time before cellphones were widely used. The way that the team got busted by casinos for card counting was also different than what is depicted in the film, which is more dramatic and dangerous. In reality, it took some years for them to be caught with security technology.