Odds in Blackjack

Spare a Thought to the Odds in Blackjack to Turn the Tide in your Favor

If you want to come out as a winner in blackjack games, you should have deep understanding of the blackjack winning odds such as odds of hitting a 10 or getting a blackjack hand. In nearly all blackjack casino games, the first and foremost thing to remember is that, the dealer has an advantage of approximately 8% as the dealer happens to be the last player to act. This would mean that by the time the dealer’s turn comes, all other players might have finalized their choices and probably could bust.

If you employ the appropriate strategies, you could slash this advantage of the house to as low as 0.5% from its typical 8%. Did that sound too good to be true? However, the fact is that if you apply precise card counting methods, you can turn the odds to your favor to give yourself an upper hand in the game table.

Odds of Busting

It is very crucial to know about the probability of your hand going bust. Depending on the hand value the blackjack odds might vary. For instance, if you have a hand value of 21%, you run a 100% risk of getting busted, if you hit; so the ideal strategy would be to stand. Whereas, if you have hand value of 20% or 19%, busting odds would be 92% and 85%, respectively. If you have a hand value of 11% or less, you have no risk at all and as the value increase the risk factor also shoots up.

Odds on Two-Card Count incidence

In nearly every hand, the odds of being dealt a natural blackjack with 21 points are only a miniscule 4.8% and hands which total 16 are not just the most common hand at 38.7%, but also gives you an upper hand in decision making and calling the shots. The hard standing hands with a value of 17-20 has a 30% chance of being dealt with a black, whereas the decision hands with a value of 1-6 will stand a probability of 38.7% for being dealt with a natural hand. The odds of the no bust hands are pitched at 26.5%

Dealer up Card does influence the Player’s chances

A dealer has the highest possibility of busting with an up card of 5, where the player will enjoy the greatest advantage of 23.9% of being dealt with a blackjack hand. On the other hand, if the dealer has an up card valued at 9 or more, the player falls in the risk zone with greater chances of going bust.

If the dealer shows a card of 2 or 3, his bust probability would be 35.30% and 37.56%. In these circumstances, the player will have an advantage of 9.8% and 13.4% respectively. The player is at maximum advantage when the dealer’s up card is 5 or 6 with an advantage percentage of 23.2% and 23.9% respectively. When the dealer shows a card with 8 or 9, the player is at the greatest risk of going bust. If the dealer’s up card is J, K or Q then the chances of going bust for the dealer would be 21.43%. In case the dealer’s up card is an Ace, the chances of the dealer’s busting is 11.56%

Eliminate the right cards from the Deck

If the player tries to eliminate 5 from a deck, it would enhance his blackjack odds. The removal of Ace from the deck would mean tilting the odds in favor of the dealer. Players should try to remove low point cards from 2-5 to improve their odds in blackjack.