Advanced Single Deck Online Blackjack Strategies for Hard Hands

May 6, 2014 by

Single Deck Blackjack StrategiesWhen you start to get more in-depth with your study of blackjack, you’ll have to give up the low-hanging fruit of basic strategy and get into the study of more nuanced and detailed scenarios. With single deck online blackjack strategies, there are a lot of places for you to do this, but one of the best places to start is how you deal with hard hands. Most people play their hands based on their total, but in games with just one deck, you can get even more detailed and play based on which specific cards are in your hand.

Getting Down to Details With Single Deck Online Blackjack Strategies

One of the trickiest hands to learn to play is a hard 12 against a weak dealer card of six or lower, and this is definitely the case in single deck games. While you’re generally going to want to stand with a hard 12 against a dealer who is showing a card between two and six, sometimes hitting is the best play. There are four ways to be dealt a hard 12: 10-2, 9-3, 8-4, and 7-5. If you have the 8-4 or 7-5 combination, then you should play normally by hitting against a two and standing against a three through six.

However, if you have the 10-2, then you’re going to always hit unless you’re against a five. Notice how just changing the cards in your hand drastically changes what the correct plays are. Along similar lines, if you have the 9-3 combination, then you should hit against a two or three, and you should stand against a four, five or six.

Another change you should make is when you have a hard 13. Normally you would always stand. However, if you get that hard 13 with the 10-3 combination, then this creates a scenario where it’s better to stand if you’re facing a two.

Pushing Small Edges

Playing these hard hands based on the cards you are dealt instead of your total will help you to pick the correct option when standing or hitting are very close together in value. With that having been said, remember that you are pushing small edges here, so these are strategies reserved for once you have mastered the basics.

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