The 5 Most Misplayed Hands in Blackjack
5 - Your Pair of 9’s Against a Dealer’s 9
It seems logical to split nines when the dealer has a small card but most players have a hard time understanding why they should split nines against a dealer nine. If you have an 18 and the dealer has a nine upcard you’re going to win 8 out of 20 hands.
If instead you split those nines each of those nines are going to win nine-and-a-half hands on average for every 20 hands… so you’re going to win one and a half more times when you split your own nines against the dealer nine rather than standing.
ALWAYS SPLIT YOUR 9’S AGAINST A DEALER 9.
4 - Your 12 Against a Dealer’s 3
There’s a rule in blackjack when you have a stiff hand and the dealer has a weak up card in general you shouldn’t hit you should stand. But in the case of a 12 against the three you really have to take a look at the percentages.
If you look at your 12 there are only four cards that could bust you and that’s the 10, the Jack, the Queen, and the King. There are a total of five cards that will get you into the to 21 safe zone. So there are more cards that will get you into a safe 17 to 21 than will bust you.
The other reason why you should hit your 12 against the three is that with so many outs, the three is not such a weak card for a dealer as you would expect.
ALWAYS HIT YOUR 12 AGAINST A DEALER 3.
3 - Your Hard 16 Against a Dealer’s 10
Face it, this is the worst hand you can get and you’re in a losing situation no matter what you do. But your most cost-effective play is to surrender. When you surrender your hard 16 you’re going to lose 50 percent of your bet. But if you don’t surrender then the other playing options give you probability of osing that’s slightly greater than 50 percent.
ALWAYS SURRENDER HARD 16 AGAINST A DEALER’S 10.
Unless, your 16 consists of three or more cards (for example suppose you’re dealt a 7, a 5, and a 4).
Since you’ve got small cards in your hand, those are removed from the deck and that fact shifts the odds slightly from hitting to standing.
2 - Your Soft 18 Against the Dealer’s 9 or 10
Most players believe that when they have an 18 that’s a strong hand and they shouldn’t mess with it.
Well think about this if the casino gave you an 18 on every one of your hands for the rest of your life you would die a loser. In Blackjack an 18 as just not good enough. So when you have a soft 18 that’s an eighteen with an ace counted as an 11 you have an out and that out is to hit.
If we look at some percentages
f you stand on that soft 18 against the dealers 9 you’re going to win 8 out of 20 hands.
If instead you hit the soft 18, until you either get the soft 19, hard 17, or you bust you’re going win 9 out of 20 hands.
ALWAYS HIT SOFT 18 AGAINST A DEALER’S 9 OR 10
1 - Your Pair of 8s Pair Against a Dealer’s 10
As a player, you feel you’re already in a losing situation with your 8’s and you’re afraid to split because you’ll end up with two losing hands instead of one.
Sitting on 16 against 10 will result in a win only 23% percent of the time
When you split the eights you’re starting a hand with an 8 and your chance of winning when you start with an 8 against the dealers 10 is 38%. So you’re increasing your chances of winning from 23% up to 38% percent.
ALWAYS SPLIT YOUR 8’S AGAINST A DEALER’S 10
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