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A Single-Deck Blackjack Strategy to Increase Blackjack Odds

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Strategies to Improve your Blackjack Odds

Blackjack is one of the most played card games at online casino tables or in physical casinos. As a result, there are opportunities for players to win and decrease the house advantage to improve the odds.

Making blackjack odds work in your favor requires much more than just the basic method of playing online blackjack. All players should strive to have mathematical understanding and strategies, and apply them to their gameplay to lower the house edge.

It’s crucial to be aware of players’ advantages and choose how to use them based on the likelihood of various outcomes, lowering the house advantage and improving players’ blackjack odds.

Rules for Single Deck blackjack

Whether playing with a single or multiple decks, Blackjack’s goal is to get as close as possible to 21, or exactly 21 (without going over). As a result, the game rules are straightforward: After the deck is shuffled (either manually or with a blackjack shuffle machine), each player and the dealer are dealt a pair of cards facing up, except that the dealer only receives one card facing up. After that, the players must either continue hitting or remain to stand until their total reaches 21 or less.

You can also double your bet while only drawing one card, as there are many more doubling-down options for single-deck blackjack than for multi-deck blackjack. 

Single-deck Blackjack Strategy

Even though we’ll only be looking at single deck blackjack odds strategies, it’s important to understand some key information first:

  • A single deck of 52 playing cards is used in the game.
  • While multi-deck blackjack has a house edge of between 0.46% and 0.65%, single-deck blackjack has a relatively lower house edge of 0.15%.
  • Most casinos’ single deck blackjack payout is 6:5, with a slight increase in the house edge.

We’ll look at some blackjack odds strategies based on when to hit or stand with hard hands, soft hands, or split. Since, in most cases, the dealer stands on a soft 17, we will base our strategy on that assumption, even though the hit or stand rule depends on the dealer’s action. 

“Hit or Stand for Hard Hands” 

Hard hands are the ones that do not have an ace card, and you could respond in the following ways when you see the dealer’s card: 

  • 5-7: Always hit, no matter the dealer’s card. 
  • 8: Always hit and double down against the dealer’s 5 or 6
  • 9: Always hit and double down against 2-6 
  • 10: Always hit and double down against everything except 10 or A 
  • 11: Always double 
  • 12: Always stand against 4–6; otherwise, hit 
  • 13: Always stand against 2–6. hit in all cases 
  • 14: Stand if the dealer totals 2–6; otherwise, hit 
  • 15: Same as 14. hit on seven aces 
  • 16: Stand against 2-6. Hit against all other totals 
  • 17-21: Always stand

“Hit or Stand for Soft Hands”

Furthermore, soft hands are the ones that dealt with an ace card, and you could respond in the following ways:

  • A-2: Double down 4-6, otherwise hit
  • A-3: Double down 4-6, otherwise hit
  • A-4: Double down 4-6, otherwise hit
  • A-5: Double down 4-6, otherwise hit
  • A-6: Double down 2-6, otherwise hit
  • A-7: Double down 3-6, stand against 2-8, hit on 9,10, and ace
  • A-8: Double down on 6; otherwise, stand against it 
  • A-9: Always stand
  • A-10: Always stand

Blackjack single-deck card counting

Card counting in blackjack can improve a player’s odds and lower the house edge. Simply pay attention to the following for each card dealt to you, the dealer, and other players to count cards.

  • Add one to your current total for each card from Cards 2 to 6.
  • For each card from 10 to A, deduct one from your total.
  • Do not increase your current count for each card from 7 to 9.

You can always increase your bets once the count increases by one (1), and your winnings increase as the count rises.

Blackjack odds can typically reach 42.22%. However, due to factors like the blackjack variant, the rules, and the strategies you employ, the odds are always subject to change. For example, the house edge rises when playing online blackjack without a plan.

Final Thoughts

It is always advisable to have a blackjack strategy on hand to improve your single deck blackjack odds. Blackjack is an awesome online casino game, and Vegas Aces online casino is home to different Blackjack variants for you to play and have a great time.

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FAQS blackjack odds

How can one-deck blackjack odds be improved?

You can use the strategy for single-deck blackjack in the article above if you want to improve your odds.

Is blackjack with a single deck still played today?

Yes, it is still played, albeit only in a few casinos. Nevertheless, single-deck blackjack is playable in online blackjack casinos.

Frequently Asked Questions

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