Blackjack Odds and Payoffs
Odds
Blackjack is a game of ability
more than of chance. Luck plays a role, but the outcome of a game
is frequently determined by the player's skill, regardless of luck.
Blackjack is possibly the only casino game in which the house has
not a clear advantage. As the dealer is forced to play by fixed rules,
while the player has the freedom to play as he or she wishes, a wise
player can consistently beat the house. Odds depend strongly on the
player's skill. Some players keep a mental record of the cards already
used, so that they can better guess what the next cards may be. This
tilts the odds in their favor and is called card counting. In most
casinos, if a player is suspected of counting cards, he or she is
usually asked to leave. In online Internet casinos card counting cannot
be prevented, so online casinos try to minimize its importance by
using shoes with many decks and reshuffling when a small number of
cards have been drawn (limited penetration). At 4 Jacks Casinos we
use a two-deck shoe with reshuffling after half the cards have been
drawn.
What is the best thing to do in
a given situation depends not only on the value of the player's hand,
but also on the dealer's, and is the object of many winning systems
developed for blackjack. As a rule of thumb, the odds of improving
a hand by requesting an additional card are the following:
|
Present
Hand Value
|
Probability
of improving (as %) by requesting additional card
|
|
12
|
69.23
|
|
13
|
61.54
|
|
14
|
53.85
|
|
15
|
48.15
|
|
16
|
38.46
|
|
17
|
30.76
|
|
18
|
23.07
|
|
19
|
15.38
|
|
20
|
7.69
|
Payoffs
Payoff is always even money (1 to 1),
except in case of a blackjack hand, which pays 3 to 2, and insurance,
which pays 2 to 1. These payoffs are standard for blackjack all around
the world.
|
