Advanced Blackjack Strategy - Become a Blackjack Pro

Card Counting

Card counting isn’t as difficult as some might suggest. It is based on the fact that some decks in blackjack aren’t shuffled after every round. In fact, if the hands are dealt from the shoe, it means decks aren’t shuffled. It follows that the composition of the deck changes based on the cards that are dealt and are no longer in play.

As a card counter, your job is to keep track of the dealt cards by assigning them values. Aces and tens are assigned -1, while 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 are +1. Finally, 7, 8, and 9 count as 0. The goal is to increase your betting size when the count is positive by the positive value. So, if your count is +5 and your betting unit is $10, you must bet $50. Whenever the count is negative, you need to keep the betting unit at just $10.

Remember that card counting is frowned upon and can get you in trouble. It’s not illegal, but you can be banned in online casinos or asked to leave in land-based gambling properties.

Dealer Tells

Every card game has a “tell,” something another person might unconsciously do to suggest which cards they have or what they want to do without showing you their cards. In blackjack, dealers might, too, have these nonverbal cues, which could be considered a hint of what their cards are. A tell might be as simple as scratching their face or looking to the left or right.

We as humans often do these things unconsciously and repeat these movements, so if you’re playing with a human dealer, this is something to consider. It’s imperative to pay attention to these tells when the dealer looks at their hole card.

Insurance Bets

In some blackjack types, players can make an insurance bet if the dealer has an ace. In this case, they can get their money back if the dealer hits the blackjack, as insurance wagers have a 2:1 payout.

Making an insurance bet can help you reduce the house edge in blackjack, but only if you combine it with other strategies discussed in this article. They can’t help you out that much if you’re not applying other advanced strategies.

Manhattan Betting System or 2-1-2 Betting

The Manhattan Betting System, also called the 2-1-2 betting system, is a positive progression betting strategy similar to that of Martingale, and it can be applied to online blackjack.

It starts by betting the two units of your default betting denomination. For example, if your unit is $10, you need to start by betting $20. If you win, you don’t increase your bet right away but bet $10 instead. If you win again, you start increasing to $20, $30, $40, and more.

As soon as the dealer wins, you need to return to the start, bet two units ($20 in this case) and start the 2-1-2 progression once again.

Rule of 45

The Rule of 45 is a very specific play in blackjack and is applicable only in one situation. Imagine having 10/6, and the dealer has a 10-value card up.

If you’re looking at the basic strategy chart, it all points out to hit, and there’s a good reason for that.

But what if you’re dealt 8/5, and the dealer has a 10, and you hit to get a 3?

You need to stand, as you have a valuable 5 out of the play. In fact, the Rule of 45 suggests that whenever you have a three-card 16 that includes a 4 or a 5, you need to stand, but only if the dealer has a 10.

Ace Sequencing

Ace sequencing is a type of shuffle tracking, and it’s a technique that’s simple on paper but very difficult to perform in real life, as you have to be a true blackjack master with a photographic memory to pull it off.

Essentially, ace sequencing means tracking all aces in the deck, even when it’s shuffled. By learning the probabilities of the ace being dealt, you can adjust your betting amount and gain an edge over the dealer.

But how does one remember the aces?

Essentially, the player needs to memorize up to three cards discarded in the tray after the ace, as the chances are the dealer won’t shuffle the deck as much to separate all these cards from the ace. When you receive the cards you memorized, you can expect the ace to be played soon.