1. Wizard Of Odds Blackjack Strategy
2. 6 Deck Blackjack Odds

Odds are everywhere you look. Seriously. Odds are in a casino, your workplace, your day-to-day live and habits, your marriage and where in the world you live.

The classic payout on player Blackjack is 3 to 2. However, some casinos change the payout to increase the house edge. The payout on blackjack thus may vary from 1:1 to 6:5. As a Blackjack hand frequency is approximately 4.8% (see the table Two Card Hand Frequency), the payout of 1:1 will increase house edge by 2.3% and the payout of 6:5 - by 1.4%. The first rule (1:1) is only rarely found, while the second (6:5) can be found at some tables with a single deck blackjack. Keep this new figure in mind: The odds for a blackjack Dealer's bust are at least 33%. The bust probability is calculated by dividing the number of Dealer's busted hands to the total possible blackjack actions.

Don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself:

• Odds of being stuck by lightning – 1 in 5,000 or 1 in 700,000 in any given year. Odds of being audited by the IRS –.4% if you make less than $200,000 / year. Odds of being dealt a blackjack – About 4.83%.
• BLACKJACK ODDS: 12 AGAINST A DEALER 4 Another hand where your strategy is dependent upon the makeup of the cards is a starting total of 12 against a dealer’s 4 upcard in games with S17. Total-dependent basic strategy states to stand on 12.
• The game of blackjack has a house edge of 2-3%, if the player isn’t using a strategy. This means that over time, the house is likely to win by a profit margin of 2-3% of the money you bet.

• Odds of having twins (21st century) – 3 in 100 or 3%
• Odds of getting a divorce – 40 to 50%
• Odds of being stuck by lightning – 1 in 5,000 or 1 in 700,000 in any given year
• Odds of being audited by the IRS – .4% if you make less than $200,000 / year
• Odds of being dealt a blackjack – About 4.83%

Odds are just the likelihood that something will happen. As a blackjack player you deal with this all the time.

Lets look at a couple real examples to show you what I mean.

Here are the odds of you busting your hand, depending on what you were dealt:

• 21 – 100%
• 20 – 92%
• 19 – 85%
• 18 – 77%
• 17 – 69%
• 16 – 62%
• 15 – 58%
• 14 – 56%
• 13 – 39%
• 12 – 31%
• <11 – 0%

Odds of Being Dealt Specific Hands

Here are the probabilities for being dealt a specific hand:

• Blackjack – 4.8%
• Standing Hand (17-20) – 30%
• Decision Hand – (1-16) – 38.7%
• No Bust – 26.5%

Here are the odds for the final hands that the dealer will make:

• Natural 21 – 4.82%
• 21 (3+ cards) – 7.36%
• 20 – 17.58%
• 19 – 13.48%
• 18 – 13.81%
• 17 – 14.58%
• 16 – 28.36%

Dealer vs. Player Odds

Finally, here are the odds of the dealer busting based on their up card:

• 2 – 35.30%
• 3 – 37.56%
• 4 – 40.28%
• 5 – 42.89%
• 6 – 42.08%
• 7 – 25.99%
• 8 – 23.86%
• 9 – 23.34%
• J,Q,K – 21.43%
• A – 11.65%

Of these examples, this is the most useful. Notice what hands the dealer is most likely to bust with. The dealer will most often bust with 4, 5 or 6, followed by 2 and 3.

The odds above are static. There’s nothing you can do to change them. However, you can find ways to improve your odds so that you lose fewer hands and less money. And the less money you lose, the more you can keep to play more blackjack.

Here’s what you can do to improve your odds in blackjack:

• Use basic blackjack strategy. Without basic strategy you’re playing at an 8% disadvantage. With strategy, however, the odds increase significantly. You’ll be playing at only .5 to 1.5% disadvantage.
• Find the best games. The rules make all the difference. For example, if you play a 6:5 blackjack game you’re adding a 1.39% disadvantage. If the dealer hits soft 17 that’s another .18%. However, it’s possible to find games where the player is paid 3:2 for blackjacks and the dealer stands on soft 17. So find those games. Also be careful about which blackjack variation you play. The best games to play are blackjack, Spanish 21, Vegas Strip BJ and Blackjack Switch.
• Avoid side bets. Side bets look exciting, because for a nominal amount you could possibly win a huge jackpot — worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The problem is that the odds against winning can be anywhere from 2-40%.
• Avoid wives tales. There are a lot of bad strategies like never busting (never hit a 12+), mimicking the dealer and assume that the dealer has a 10 in the whole (with ace up). The problem with using any of these strategies is that they increase the house edge from 3 to 10 percent.

You can do other things, too, like count cards or read books (usually a mix of basic strategy, card counting and general how-to’s for casino blackjack). However, you’ll improve your odds at winning at blackjack just by following my suggestions above.

Understanding the Long Run – Sample Size and Variance

I wanted to finish up this article with a brief explanation of odds, and how they work over the long run. You see, I think a lot of people will see the numbers above and get confused when they don’t match their own stats. In other words, someone might go to the casino play 500 hands of blackjack, and wonder why they didn’t get 24 natural blackjacks, or the other way around, why they got 42.

The thing is, odds and statistics are all about the long run. Long run usually meaning sample size, or the total number of hands (or games) played.

What that means is that over a significant sample size, hundreds of thousands or even millions of hands, the number of times you’ll receive a blackjack is about 4.82%. The more hands you play the truer this will become.

The reason why odds don’t match up in smaller sessions, say over 500 hands, is because of variance. There’s a technical term and definition for variance, but I’ll just give you my version; variance is the ups and downs you experience on your way to the long term (expected) results.

Mike Caro, a poker player and author, puts it this way:

A measure of the spread of statistical distribution about its mean or centre.

That means in a short time frame, it’s possible to experience more drastic odds. You might win or lose more than you’re supposed to. It also explains why people can go into a casino, not use basic strategy and win 3x as much as what they walked in with. The cards ran in their favor — they experienced a positive streak of variance.

So that’s the gist of it. So the next time you walk into the casino and have a wild swing one way or another, you know that that’s not normal, and that in the long run you’ll be closer to break-even so long as you stick to basic strategy — the plan with the best odds.

Blackjack is a very popular card game, widely played in the casinos. It is largely a fair game because blackjack offers the best odds of winning for gamblers when compared to other casino games like slots and roulette.

Blackjack has an element of skill to it. Players play against the dealer. Several people can play the game at one time and instead of trying to beat each other, they are actually trying to beat the dealer. The player, whose hand comes closest to 21, without exceeding the figure, wins the game.

House Edge in Blackjack

House Edge, in blackjack, is the statistical advantage the casino has over the player. In any round of a blackjack game, at the table, the dealer is representative of the house or casino. As he acts last in a hand, he is able to see the other players’ cards and identify the probable actions they will take or the potential mistakes they will commit. This way, he has an advantage over other players.

Blackjack, compared to other casino games, has a lower house edge, which is just 0.5%. The percentage is true for when players are using the basic blackjack strategy. For pro gamblers who are using and executing the more advanced blackjack strategies, the house edge can even go down to 0. Similarly, if the player is unable to implement a strategy or take the right decision at the right time, the house edge percentage can rise up to 2.

Wizard Of Odds Blackjack Strategy

What Are the Odds of Winning at Blackjack?

Blackjack has one of the best odds of winning, among many other casino games. In any round of a game of blackjack, the probability of an overall win is about 42.22%. The chances of a loss and a tie are 49.10% and 8.48% respectively. That being said, the odds of winning a single round of blackjack are quite unpredictable.

The odds of winning blackjack, when played over time, improve in favor of the player because he is able to implement strategies, apart from the basic one. Also, the variety becomes less making forcing the odds to even out eventually. That is why; blackjack is not only an entertaining game but a rewarding one for the long-term too.

Is Online Blackjack Rigged?

No, online blackjack is not rigged and is as fair as blackjack is in land-based casinos. However, the challenge is that different online casinos have different rules, which players need to be aware of before they start. Also, the odds of winning a game of blackjack in an online casino are much less. This is because, in the online version of the game, the cards are shuffled after each hand, eliminating the possibility of card counting.

There are some gambling sites that allow playing multi-deck games with a cut card. However, they also deal with about 50% of the cards before reshuffling. And even with a 50% cut, the edge with card counting is essentially very low.

Does Having a Solid Blackjack Strategy Increase My Winning Odds?

Yes, a solid blackjack basic strategy does help in increasing the winning odds of the blackjack player. The basic strategy is a set of rules, laying down the optimal way of playing each hand dealt with the given information. The strategy brings into account the process of card counting. It is a mathematically correct way of playing every hand and reducing the house edge to less than 1%.

However, the way modern blackjack is played, especially in online casinos, increasing the odds of winning consistently is a rare possibility. There are multiple decks, sometimes, more than 6 in a single round of the game. Also, the decks are reshuffled after every round, making card counting even more difficult. Even with all this, playing with the basic blackjack strategy in mind is the best way to go forward in the game.

Do Blackjack Dealers Count Cards?

Blackjack dealers do not count cards mainly because there is precisely no need to do so. They just need to deal the cards knowing well that the house edge is in their favor. With the casino already holding a profitable edge at every table, it is unnecessary for the dealer to cheat for the house. Also, they are paid an hourly wage, which does not depend on how much profit the casino makes. And of course, no casino would institutionalize and reward such behavior of a dealer because that would be risky and foolish at the same time.

Apart from this, there are other reasons why it is highly unlikely for the dealers to count cards. For instance, the process would be extremely hard for them to execute. Keeping a count and deciding when and how to act will require a lot of concentration along with the ability to take almost rapid-fire decisions.

Blackjack Side Bets Are Unfair

Blackjack side bets are additional bets placed during a standard round of the blackjack game. They involve the process of predicting which cards the players and at times, the dealer will receive. Blackjack side bets are mostly unfair because they significantly increase the house edge, unlike the main game.

6 Deck Blackjack Odds

The house edge gets larger because the returns do not reflect the odds of each of the bets coming in. Side betting does not involve any skill and is rather, simple luck of the draw. That is why; they are good for adding complexity to the game but should not be the main focus of any player’s gameplay as such.

The three most common types of side bets are Insurance, 21+3, and Perfect Pairs. 21+3 is when the player plays a poker hand with two cards and the dealer’s one up-card. This bet alone increases the casino’s advantage by at least 3%. Some of the other side bet games give casinos, odds advantage of up to 15% too.

As a whole, blackjack is interesting and by far, a fair casino game that can reward players, only if they acquire a thorough understanding of the strategies and implement them at the right time.