|
Real
Casinos> Gambling Articles > How to Make a Living at Blackjack - Part 2
How to Make a Living at Blackjack - Part 2
Now that you know HOW to play the game of Blackjack to your
best advantage, you need to know WHEN to double your bet, and WHEN to split
those pairs. The DOUBLE and the SPLIT are the very best
bets the House will ever offer you. It
is the only time in any casino that you can honestly double your bet
after you’ve seen your hand. This
advantage, if you know how to use it, gives you an EDGE over the house! It is amazing that casinos still accept these
bets. Of course, they’re counting on you
to do it at the wrong time, which is what amateurs do: they split a pair of
SIXES when the dealer shows a ten, use up everyone’s hit-cards, and giddily
give up twice their money while the pit boss looks on happily. You’re not going to do that, because you’ll
have these easy to follow rules in your head.
After you’ve been dealt your first two cards, 99% of the
casinos in Las Vegas and other parts of this country allow you the option of doubling your bet. Some casinos even let you double AFTER you’ve
split a hand, meaning you can QUADRUPLE your bet! These casinos are the best ones to play in
once you know how to keep track of cards, which I’ll show you how to do in the
next article, along with a list of the casinos in Las Vegas that allow that.
WHEN TO DOUBLE AND WHEN NOT TO DOUBLE:
First, you never double a “busting hand” (12 or more). No matter what. Second, until you know how to keep track of
cards, you never double any hand that is worth less than NINE. Even when you know how to track cards, it is
not a very good bet – it’s true that you can make money doubling a 7-point or
8-point hand, but if you aren’t keeping track of the cards you won’t know when
to do it, and if you are keeping track of the cards, you will be calling
attention to yourself and have the pit boss breathing down your neck while he
twiddles the blackball book in his hands.
So, ONLY double a 9-count hand or better.
No matter what card the dealer shows, you ALWAYS, always,
always, always double an ELEVEN. When
you are dealt two cards that equal eleven, I don’t want you to pause for one
second – elevens were MADE to be DOUBLED.
You won’t win each and every one of these bets, but you will win a large
percentage of them. If you only double
the eleven every once in a while, it doesn’t work. If you double it EVERY TIME, you WILL
WIN. This is a hard and fast rule, and
one that MAY NOT be broken!
Now, the TEN is easy to remember too. When you get two cards that equal TEN, you
double your bet UNLESS the dealer is showing a TEN-count card. You double it against an Ace, against a nine,
against everything but a ten. That’s
easy to remember, right?
You double the NINE any time the dealer shows a ‘busting’
card. Remember those? When the dealer shows a 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 it
means he’s going to bust, so double your money right away!
WHAT CARDS TO SPLIT AND WHEN:
The SPLIT rules are all hard and fast:
NEVER split a pair of TENS.
NEVER. Even when you are tracking
cards, you are never going to make this split.
NEVER. It is akin to hitting a 20
hoping to get an Ace. Everyone at your
table, including the dealer, will groan and get up, and leave you there alone
and embarrassed.
Until you know how to track the cards, you NEVER split a
small pair – you do not split TWOS, THREES, FOURS or FIVES and for God’s sake,
never split a pair of SIXES or SEVENS!
This rule will change when you know how to track cards, but even then, I
will ask that you be judicious as you won’t want to call attention to the fact
that you are tracking cards.
ALWAYS split your ACES and EIGHTS, no matter what the dealer
shows. You split your Aces for the same
reason that you double your ELEVEN, because it’s the best bet in the
house. And you split your EIGHTS because
16 is the worst hand in the house.
NINES are the only ones you’re going to have to memorize
then, aren’t they? And they’re easy to
remember too: Split your NINES whenever the dealer shows a
bust-card, that is a 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6.
It’s that easy.
So, let’s recap:
Always double 11.
Double your 10 against every card the dealer shows except a
10.
Double a 9 any time the dealer shows a ‘bust-card.’
Never double a “busting hand” (12 or better).
Always split Aces and 8’s.
Split 9’s when the dealer shows a ‘bust-card.’
NEVER split 10’s or small pairs.
These are very easy rules to remember, and when you know how
to keep track of the cards, your biggest bets are going to be on the table
right when those Blackjacks and 20’s and double-down hands are being dealt to
you. All I ask is that you keep the
whooping and hollering down to a small roar when you bust the House.
|
