Worst Hand In Blackjack
Posted By admin On 10/04/22When playing Blackjack, one may feel tempted to Double Down or Split their pair for. Accepting 6 to 5 Blackjack Pay Outs. Good blackjack tables pay 3 to 2 for blackjacks, and bad tables.
By Henry Tamburin
No other hand makes blackjack players feel queasy than the dreaded 16. Players hate to hit the hand because they are afraid tobust. So many chicken out and stand no matter what the dealer shows. Others opt for the surrender option if it’s available figuring losing half a bet is better then losing it all. If your 16comes as a pair of 8’s most players are reluctant to split if the dealer shows a 9, 10, or ace because they are afraid of losing two bets instead of one. Then there is the 16 made up with anAce counted as 11 (i.e., soft 16). So what’s a player to do when he gets a 16?
First, let’s focus on a hard 16. That’s a hand that does not contain an Ace or if it does the Ace counts as one. Some examples of a hard 16 would be 10-6 or 5-7-4 or 7-8-Ace.
The correct basic playing strategy for hard 16 is to stand when the dealer shows a small card (2 through 6) and hit when the dealer shows a high card (7, 8, 9, 10, or Ace). Following thisplaying strategy will not guarantee that you will win every time but that you are more likely to lose less in the long run.. Let me explain.
- Las Vegas is home to some of the best and worst blackjack in the country. This article covers the worst games. With that information, I estimate that a player theoretically loses $0.23 every hand on the side bet plus the house edge on the main wager. A $10 blackjack bet would have a.
- Blackjack tactics on bad hands If you do have a bad hand in blackjack then there are two main tactics: hit or hold. Landing a 15 or 16 is tricky because they’re likely not strong enough to beat the dealer unless they go bust. So many players bite the bullet and hit on 15, while others may decide to stay on 16.
Suppose you are dealt a 10-6 and the dealer shows a 7 upcard.
If you hit you win on average 30% of the time and lose 70%.
If you stand you will on average win 26% and lose 74%.
Note that you improve your chances of winning the hand by 4% if you hit rather than stand. But the dealer is still an overwhelming favorite to beat you because he will win 70% of the hands toyour 30%. But is it better to win 26% of the time by standing or 30% of the time by hitting? You should hit because it will increase your chance of winning by 4%, not much, but every percentagewill help you in the long run when you play blackjack.
So the bottom line with a hard 16 is this. Even by following the basic strategy, you will lose more hands than you win but in the long run, you will lose less than following a seat-of-the-pantsstrategy. Losing less on hands where you are the underdog is just as important as winning more when you are the favorite.
What if your 16 consists of three or more cards like 5-7-4? Normally the basic strategy ignores the composition of the hand. However, if you have a hard 16 hand consisting of three or morecards, then you should stand when the dealer has a 10 showing. The reason is that you have consumed a few of the small cards that you need if you were to draw. This tips the odds in favor ofstanding.
Some casinos allow players to surrender. This means you give up the opportunity to play out your hand and automatically lose half your bet. Even when surrender is offered, most players don’tlike “giving up” without a fight. So they rarely surrender. That’s unfortunate because surrendering a hard 16 when the dealer shows a 9, 10, or Ace will save you more money in the long run thanhitting. In fact, surrender is always the best option when your chance of winning a hand is less than 25%. Take the hand of hard 16 against a 10. If we hit our chance of winning is 23.4%. Thismeans the dealer’s chance of beating us is 76.6%. If we played a hundred hard 16’s against the dealer 10 with those probabilities, we would end up winning about $23 and losing $77 for a netloss of $54 on average. By surrendering on every hand our net loss would be $50. Get the point? You are better off losing $50 then $54 which is why surrendering a hard 16 against a 10 is thebetter play because you will save $4.
If you happen to be dealt a soft 16 (like Ace-5), you should never surrender and you should never stand. Your first option is to double but only if the dealer shows a weak 4, 5, or 6 upcard. Ifnot, then hit.
Finally, we have a pair of 8’s. The correct basic strategy play is to always split the 8’s no matter what the dealer shows. Even though you will lose money on both 8’s when you split, thecombined loss, in the long run, will be less than the amount you will lose by playing the one hand as a 16. Splitting 8’s against a dealer 10, by the way, is also a slightly better play thensurrendering.
No question that 16 is a lousy blackjack hand. Unfortunately, it’s one of the most frequent hands you are going to be dealt in blackjack. But, by following the above playing strategy you willbe optimizing your chances of winning more, and losing less, in the long run. It’s the smart way to play blackjack.
Henry Tamburin has been a respected casino gambling writer for the past 50 years. He is the author of the Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Guide and was editor of the BlackjackInsider newsletter. You can read his latest articles on blackjack, video poker, and his personal playing experiences at https://www.888casino.com/blog/writers/henry-tamburin
Even regular Blackjack players are prone to make some mistakes.
Blackjack is a casino game of both skills and luck, therefore, you shouldn’t rely on chance only and hope to win big in the game. You should use your skills as well and see how it goes when you use a strategy chart to help you make the right moves. Many blackjack players believe they can rely on hunches to make the right choice, but the truth is, they should learn the game and practice it while testing different strategies. If you really want to improve your blackjack game, you should avoid the following common mistakes made by blackjack players.
1. Not Using Basic Strategy
The biggest mistake you can make while playing blackjack for real money is to hit, stand, split or double down based on your hunches. Nowadays, you can find basic or optimal blackjack strategy in the books or on the Internet. You can even take it with you in land based casinos. Playing by intuition can increase the house edge of the game to over 5%, while if you play using basic strategy, the house edge can be reduced to only half a percent.
2. Using a Progressive Betting System
Making progressive bets will not increase your chances of winning. Whether or not your next hand will win or lose cannot be predicted and it is not dependant on what happened in the previous hand. The only factor that affects your chances of winning is the ratio of high and low cards in the deck that is still not played. Therefore, if you double your bet after each hand until you win or lose, chances are high that you will end up losing your entire money. Instead, if you notice that not many high cards have come out in the early rounds, it would be a good time to raise your bet.
3. Making Side Bets
While playing blackjack, players often have the opportunity to make side bets like Lucky Ladies bet in which you bet that your initial hand totals 20. The negative side of these bets is that they have high house edge. Such bets might cost a buck, but if you bet on every hand the money will keep adding up and you might end up spending your entire bankroll. Therefore, stay away from side bets.
4. Not Hitting on Soft 16.
One of the most common mistakes in blackjack is not hitting when you have a soft 16 or in other words, when you have an Ace which can be counted as either 1 or 11. If you hit on soft 16, you have nothing to lose. The dealer must draw cards up to a value of 17, so it makes no difference if you have soft 16 or a hand with a value under 17. After all you will beat the dealer if he busts. So hit on soft 16 or try to make a hand with a value of 17 or higher, but without going over 21.
5. Taking Insurance
The Worst Hand In Blackjack
Most casinos offer insurance bet which is a side bet and has no effect on the actual hand. Players can make an insurance bet if the dealer has an Ace and it pays 2:1. However, this is the worst type of bet you can make in blackjack. The reason behind this is that even though the dealer has an Ace, the chances of him drawing a second card that is Ten, Jack, King or a Queen is about 4:13. If he doesn’t have blackjack, you lose your bet and that is approximately 7.7% loss per insurance bet.
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