Blackjack, the card game that adds a dash of European style to American casinos is simple enough: At the start of each round you get two cards and so does the dealer, one of which is shown. Keep drawing cards until you hit a total value of 21 or quit just before you go over the limit and bust. It’s you against the dealer and whoever comes out on top gets the winnings. At first glance the game seems one of chance an intuition. After all, you can’t know what card is coming up next. However one of the reasons that Blackjack is so popular is that there is a strong element of skill involved. Rather than just trusting to blind luck you can play your cards wisely and hopeful leave the table with a fist full of dollars.
Perhaps the most important thing to bear in mind is that what matters is not just your card value but also the dealer’s shown card.  Winning is all about assessing your hand against the dealer’s potential hand. Because the dealer has to hit on sixteen or stand on seventeen you can use this to plan out your strategy. The higher the dealer’s shown card the stronger his hand is and the more trouble your are in.

Here is a quick list of possible cards showing in the dealer’s hand and what they mean for you:

Ace: Big trouble. This round is going to be the dealer’s unless you have spectacular luck.

10 or face card: Bad news for you. The dealer is in a strong position.

9 : Things aren’t looking good. The dealer has got the upper hand here.

7 or 8: Loosen up a bit, you can beat the dealer on this round if you play things right.

4 to 6: The dealer has got that sinking feeling. This hand looks like it will be yours.

2 to 3: Be careful. It could go either way, so play cautious.

Always draw a card if your total is less than 11 because there is no danger of you busting. As a general rule you should always stand if your hand is 17 or higher. If you are on 13 to 16 only draw a card if the dealer is showing 7 or better.
If you hand totals 12 you should take a hit unless the dealer is showing 4 to 6. In this case the dealer may very well bust so you should sit tight and wait for that to happen.

If you play your Blackjack right you can narrow the house odds down to almost even and with just a little luck, you can come out ahead.

When I first started showing interest a few years back in playing blackjack, a friend of mine gave me a list of tips and unofficial personal rules; where he got them from I have no idea, but I more or less stuck to them and they served me well, so I figured the time has come to share the wisdom a little.

Choose a low minimum bet table: 5% of your bankroll is around the max that you want to be betting per hand, so playing at a  table with a minimum that exceeds that percentage is asking for trouble. The danger is that with a high minimum table you run the risk of loosing your bankroll before without opportunities to regain lost revenue.

Never split 10s: it may be tempting to play the two hands, but 20 isn’t far off from 21, so be happy with what you have!

5s Never, 8s Always: a pair of 5s should never be split but a pair of 8s should be split in all circumstances except for when the dealer is showing a 10.

Always split Aces: getting a blackjack is, as they say, the name of the game, so splitting aces gives you two chances to do just that.

Stick on 17; no matter what your gut says, just stick with what you have. Bear in mind that the dealer has to stick on 17, plus if you think even for a second about the number of cards in the deck and how much they add up to you will soon realize that the chances of getting a 4 or less are much lower than the chances of getting a 5 or more – just don’t do it!

The fewer decks in use the better the odds are for the player; the biggest leap in the house advantage is between one and two decks, but it does rise, all be it less steeply, with every deck added. Therefore, in a choice between a single deck and multi deck game, always go for the single deck; in a choice between a 6 deck game and an 8 deck game, always go for the 6 deck.

Rules vary from table to table, so the more player-friendly rules a table plays by the better it is for you. Specific rules to look out for are, the surrender rule; double down after splitting pairs; multiple pair splitting; and ace re-splits.

Remember that you’re only opponent is the dealer, so don’t look at anyone else’s hand, it’s not your business and it will distract you from your game.

The rest of the advice I received was basic common sense and money management; don’t bet anything you’re not prepared to loose, set limits, don’t gamble when drunk, you know the type. Anyway, I hope these tips will be as useful to you as they were to me.