A free Blackjack game that teaches blackjack strategy while you play. High score list, bonus round, contest, and more.
- Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games around and we have all had the age-old conundrum – do you hit or do you stand? Making that big call can take some time, but with the help of a blackjack strategy, you can cut that down and improve your likelihood of success.
- Perhaps 20% of the time you'll sort of 'bluff' and stand on a bad hand. If you do this, your opponent may assume that you have a 'Made hand'. He will almost certainly hit until he reaches 17 or more. He might even decide to HIT a hard 17 thinking you might have an even better hand! If you are SECOND to act, you will practically ALWAYS hit.
Rules Of the Game | ||||
Gameplay & Strategy: The Hit or Stand game works much like any other blackjack game, but your score is determined by your ability to make correct moves on each hand. After the cards are dealt, you have the option to Hit, Stand, Double, or Split. Because this game is a trainer, it is up to you to add the cards and know whether you are allowed to split or double. An illegal move will be counted incorrect. If your move is legal, it will be determined to be correct or incorrect based on the strategy tables provided on the rules and strategy page. While blackjack strategy does change from casino to casino, most casinos fall under one of two categories: Las Vegas rules or Atlantic City rules. A correct move from either the A.C. or Vegas strategy tables will be accepted as correct. | Easy or Difficult: The game has two modes of play: easy and difficult. In both modes you will be dealt 20 hands, and your final score will be the percentage of correct moves you made. In difficult mode, the hands will by more challenging, and you will only have four seconds to make each decision. Bonus Round: A player who scores a 100% after the 20 hands will qualify to the bonus round. In the bonus round, you will be given one minute to make as many correct moves as possible. For each correct move you will be awarded one bonus point. For more info visit the rules and strategy page or post a question on the Hit or Stand message board. | |||
Blackjack Words of Caution | ||||
Blackjack Odds: Playing Hit or Stand will improve your blackjack strategy, and increase your chances of winning money. However, unless you count cards, the odds of blackjack are against you, even if you are a perfect player. By chance, the outcome may sway in your favor from time to time; but the rule is: the more you gamble the more money you lose. Gambling Addiction: Gambling is addictive, really. If you find yourself spending an unreasonable amount of time in casinos, or if you find that gambling is having a negative impact on you life and finances, seek help. There should be nothing embarrassing about it. Visit the Gambler's Anonymous website to learn more. | Counting Cards: While counting cards can put the odds of blackjack in your favor, it requires a huge time commitment. It is difficult to learn, and very time consuming to play. You can learn about counting cards from books on our blackjack book list and from websites on our links page. Please remember that many blackjack books and websites are trying to sell you something. They have incentives to convince you of the ease and profitability of card counting. Also note that online casinos shuffle the deck after each deal, so it is impossible to count cards when playing blackjack online. Gambling can be fun and harmless, if you expect to lose. View your losses as the ticket price for a night of entertainment. | |||
By Henry Tamburin
No other hand makes blackjack players feel queasy than the dreaded 16. Players hate to hit the hand because they are afraid to bust. So many chicken out and stand no matter what the dealer shows. Others opt for the surrender option if it’s available figuring losing half a bet is better then losing it all. If your 16 comes as a pair of 8’s most players are reluctant to split if the dealer shows a 9, 10, or ace because they are afraid of losing two bets instead of one. Then there is the 16 made up with an Ace counted as 11 (i.e., soft 16). So what’s a player to do when he gets a 16?
First, let’s focus on a hard 16. That’s a hand that does not contain an Ace or if it does the Ace counts as one. Some examples of a hard 16 would be 10-6 or 5-7-4 or 7-8-Ace.
Hit Or Stand Blackjack Training
The correct basic playing strategy for hard 16 is to stand when the dealer shows a small card (2 through 6) and hit when the dealer shows a high card (7, 8, 9, 10, or Ace). Following this playing strategy will not guarantee that you will win every time but that you are more likely to lose less in the long run.. Let me explain.
Suppose you are dealt a 10-6 and the dealer shows a 7 upcard.
If you hit you win on average 30% of the time and lose 70%.
Blackjack Hit Or Stand Chart
If you stand you will on average win 26% and lose 74%.
Blackjack Hit Or Stand Strategy
Note that you improve your chances of winning the hand by 4% if you hit rather than stand. But the dealer is still an overwhelming favorite to beat you because he will win 70% of the hands to your 30%. But is it better to win 26% of the time by standing or 30% of the time by hitting? You should hit because it will increase your chance of winning by 4%, not much, but every percentage will help you in the long run when you play blackjack.
So the bottom line with a hard 16 is this. Even by following the basic strategy you will lose more hands than you win but in the long run you will loss less than following a seat-of-the-pants strategy. Losing less on hands where you are the underdog is just as important as winning more when you are the favorite.
What if your 16 consists of three or more cards like 5-7-4? Normally the basic strategy ignores the composition of the hand. However, if you have a hard 16 hand consisting of three or more cards, then you should stand when the dealer has a 10 showing. The reason is that you have consumed a few of the small cards that you need if you were to draw. This tips the odds in favor of standing.
Some casinos allow players to surrender. This means you give up the opportunity to play out your hand and automatically lose half your bet. Even when surrender is offered, most players don’t like “giving up” without a fight. So they rarely surrender. That’s unfortunate because surrendering a hard 16 when the dealer shows a 9, 10, or Ace will save you more money in the long run than hitting. In fact surrender is always the best option when your chance of winning a hand is less than 25%. Take the hand of hard 16 against a 10. If we hit our chance of winning is 23.4%. This means the dealer’s chance of beating us is 76.6%. If we played a hundred hard 16’s against the dealer 10 with those probabilities, we would end up winning about $23 and losing $77 for a net loss of $54 on average. By surrendering on every hand our net loss would be $50. Get the point? You are better off losing $50 then $54 which is why surrendering a hard 16 against a 10 is the better play because you will save $4.
If you happen to be dealt a soft 16 (like Ace-5), you should never surrender and you should never stand. Your first option is to double but only if the dealer shows a weak 4, 5 or 6 upcard. If not, then hit.
Finally, we have the pair of 8’s. The correct basic strategy play is to always split the 8’s no matter what the dealer shows. Even though you will lose money on both 8’s when you split, the combined loss in the long run will be less than the amount you will lose by playing the one hand as a 16. Splitting 8’s against a dealer 10 by the way is also a slightly better play then surrendering.
Blackjack Hit Or Stand
No question that 16 is a lousy blackjack hand. Unfortunately, it’s one of the most frequent hands you are going to be dealt in blackjack. But, by following the above playing strategy you will be optimizing your chances of winning more, and losing less, in the long run. It’s the smart way to play blackjack.
Hit Or Stand Blackjack Game
Henry Tamburin has been a respected casino gambling writer for the past 50 years. He is the author of the Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Guide and was editor of the Blackjack Insider newsletter. You can read his latest articles on blackjack, video poker, and his personal playing experiences at https://www.888casino.com/blog/writers/henry-tamburin