All good players know that you should never miss a good double down or split opportunity. Doubling down is where you have the opportunity to ‘buy' one extra card by doubling the size of your original bet. Splitting is where your first two cards are of the same value and you have the opportunity to ‘split' them to create two separate hands. Again this is usually done by contributing an extra amount that is equal to that of your original bet. But why do some basic strategy tables tell you to double down with a total of 11 against a dealer's 10, while others tell you not to? And one basic strategy table will tell you to always split a pair of 8s and Aces, and the next will tell you not to when the dealer has a 10? What are the right decisions? Well, it depends on which one of three different rules your casino uses.
The three rules
Casinos can use one of three different rules that determine which of the player's bets are lost when the dealer achieves a blackjack. The ‘European No-Hole-Card' rule is sometimes called ‘All Bets Lose', and it means that if you have split or doubled, both your original wager, and the additional amount you have put out for the split or double will be lost if the dealer has a blackjack. This rule is used by many casinos outside of the US. The ‘Original Bets Only' rule (OBO) is a little more generous, and results in only the original being lost if the dealer has blackjack, and is adopted in most US casinos. This means that even if your split hand has busted, it will not lose if the dealer has blackjack. The ‘Original and Busted Bets Only' rule (OBBO) is almost the same as OBO except that all busted hands will lose, even if the dealer achieves a blackjack. So if you have split and you have not busted on your second hand then you will get to keep that bet if the dealer gets a blackjack.
Sep 01, 2020 For most people, particularly those who are newer to blackjack, it's almost always a good idea to double down when you are showing an 11. Typically, you will not be allowed to double down after splitting. While these situations may be somewhat obvious, there are several other times when one should double down at the blackjack table; namely, these occur when the player has a soft hand and the dealer has a relatively weak hand (an up card between three and six). With a soft 17 or 18, you should always double down in one of these situations. The odds of your winning the hand when doubling down on an A/J are exactly the same as when you double down on a 4/7. Now lets talk about risk vs reward-which should be the basis of all gambling decisions. If you bet $10 and are dealt 4/7 and double down you are now risking $20 to win $20.
So what should I do?
Confused by all the rule variations above? Don't worry. You only need to identify which of these rules is used at your casino and then adapt the basic strategy accordingly. If your casino has the OBO or OBBO rules, you can use most of the basic strategies in books and on the internet. If your casino has the European No-Hole-Card rule, just remember that you should never double down on 11 versus dealer 10, split Aces against a dealer Ace or split 8's against a dealer 10 or Ace.
- basic strategy | blackjack | double down | European No-Hole-Card | original and busted bets only | original bets only | split
Double Down Blackjack Pics
Should You Double Down Your 11 Versus the Dealer's Ace?
- Published on Wednesday, 24 April 2013 17:29
- Written by Sam
- 0 Comments
Many visitors to my website find me by searching for the traditional basic strategy for blackjack. Everyone's familiar with basic strategy, as it effectively decreases the house edge to about 0.6% in Las Vegas. But many casinos outside of Vegas have blackjack rules that make the house edge even higher — even when you're playing perfect basic strategy. That makes something very clear to me. People who play only basic strategy are doomed to fail.
There are other visitors to my website who are using the Internet to find the answer to the question, 'How can I win at the Casino?' or they are searching with terms that indicate that they want to be a professional gambler.
I can tell you right now that if you plan on being a professional gambler, you better have a lot of money. Volcano slot machine.
On the other hand, if you want to put a little bit of money in your pocket, enjoy some casino perks, and have a great time on your visit to the casino, you need to buy my book and read it first.
People are sometimes confused on when they should double down on an 11. So, back to the question at hand.
Should you double down your 11 versus the dealer's Ace?
The simple answer is 'Always!'
Even against an Ace?
Yes.
After thousands of hands against every card in the deck, I found that you will be from 1.23% – 2.02% better off by doubling down on your 11 on every hand.
But what about the Ace?
The three rules
Casinos can use one of three different rules that determine which of the player's bets are lost when the dealer achieves a blackjack. The ‘European No-Hole-Card' rule is sometimes called ‘All Bets Lose', and it means that if you have split or doubled, both your original wager, and the additional amount you have put out for the split or double will be lost if the dealer has a blackjack. This rule is used by many casinos outside of the US. The ‘Original Bets Only' rule (OBO) is a little more generous, and results in only the original being lost if the dealer has blackjack, and is adopted in most US casinos. This means that even if your split hand has busted, it will not lose if the dealer has blackjack. The ‘Original and Busted Bets Only' rule (OBBO) is almost the same as OBO except that all busted hands will lose, even if the dealer achieves a blackjack. So if you have split and you have not busted on your second hand then you will get to keep that bet if the dealer gets a blackjack.
Sep 01, 2020 For most people, particularly those who are newer to blackjack, it's almost always a good idea to double down when you are showing an 11. Typically, you will not be allowed to double down after splitting. While these situations may be somewhat obvious, there are several other times when one should double down at the blackjack table; namely, these occur when the player has a soft hand and the dealer has a relatively weak hand (an up card between three and six). With a soft 17 or 18, you should always double down in one of these situations. The odds of your winning the hand when doubling down on an A/J are exactly the same as when you double down on a 4/7. Now lets talk about risk vs reward-which should be the basis of all gambling decisions. If you bet $10 and are dealt 4/7 and double down you are now risking $20 to win $20.
So what should I do?
Confused by all the rule variations above? Don't worry. You only need to identify which of these rules is used at your casino and then adapt the basic strategy accordingly. If your casino has the OBO or OBBO rules, you can use most of the basic strategies in books and on the internet. If your casino has the European No-Hole-Card rule, just remember that you should never double down on 11 versus dealer 10, split Aces against a dealer Ace or split 8's against a dealer 10 or Ace.
- basic strategy | blackjack | double down | European No-Hole-Card | original and busted bets only | original bets only | split
Double Down Blackjack Pics
Should You Double Down Your 11 Versus the Dealer's Ace?
- Published on Wednesday, 24 April 2013 17:29
- Written by Sam
- 0 Comments
Many visitors to my website find me by searching for the traditional basic strategy for blackjack. Everyone's familiar with basic strategy, as it effectively decreases the house edge to about 0.6% in Las Vegas. But many casinos outside of Vegas have blackjack rules that make the house edge even higher — even when you're playing perfect basic strategy. That makes something very clear to me. People who play only basic strategy are doomed to fail.
There are other visitors to my website who are using the Internet to find the answer to the question, 'How can I win at the Casino?' or they are searching with terms that indicate that they want to be a professional gambler.
I can tell you right now that if you plan on being a professional gambler, you better have a lot of money. Volcano slot machine.
On the other hand, if you want to put a little bit of money in your pocket, enjoy some casino perks, and have a great time on your visit to the casino, you need to buy my book and read it first.
People are sometimes confused on when they should double down on an 11. So, back to the question at hand.
Should you double down your 11 versus the dealer's Ace?
The simple answer is 'Always!'
Even against an Ace?
Yes.
After thousands of hands against every card in the deck, I found that you will be from 1.23% – 2.02% better off by doubling down on your 11 on every hand.
But what about the Ace?
Let's get to the facts. When the Dealer is showing an Ace as his up card, he will have a pat hand 61.78% of the time. And 30.74% of the time that will be a Blackjack, but you will have a Blackjack 6.40% of the time when an 'Ace' is showing — so that cuts it down to 55.38% for a pat hand.
When Should I Double Down In Blackjack Games
But now, back to the up card of Ace.
If you double-down against the Ace instead of just playing out the hand in the normal fashion, you will gain a staggering amount of 6.56% over just the normal play.
This is one of the many 'tricks' I have learned by tediously documenting my own real world play for the past 30 years and analyzing the results. Just one one of the many insights I cover in my book.
You can achieve success at blackjack with the methods found in Ask Dr. BlackJack. You can read this book and master my modified strategy in a single day.
What Is Double Down Blackjack
I'll personally autograph your copy of the book. Also included is my laminated blackjack chart of my own modified basic strategy that you can take to the casino with you and use at the table. Get the book, the card, and the autograph and be a better blackjack player.
