Blackjack Odds

Understanding Blackjack Odds - Blackjack Odds

In order for you to understand winning blackjack, you must understand the blackjack odds. It is advisable to read blackjack books to get necessary information. It is important for you to understand the house's edge and how this edge helps them to win. Another important thing to know is the blackjack odds of hitting certain numbers and the blackjack odds of being dealt a natural blackjack.

Blackjack Odds for the Dealer and Casino

Most casinos have an advantage of at least 8%. This advantage comes from the fact that the dealer is the last one to act on their cards. Since the other players have made all of their decisions, the advantage of a player busting puts the dealer at an advantage.

If you use the basic blackjack strategy, you can lower the edge of the casino to 0.5%. If you know how to use techniques for card counting, you can generally turn the edge around to yourself. Since the blackjack odds are generally in your favor then, the casinos don't usually allow players who use card counting techniques.

Blackjack Odds for Busting when you Hit

Knowing the blackjack odds for busting when you hit is very important no matter what the total of your cards are. The following are the blackjack odds of busting for each hand total.

If your hand totals:

  • 11 or under, you have a 0% chance of busting.
  • 12, you have a 31% chance of busting.
  • 13, you have a 39% chance of busting.
  • 14, you have a 56% chance of busting.
  • 15, you have a 58% chance of busting
  • 16, you have a 62% chance of busting
  • 17, you have a 69% chance of busting
  • 18, you have a 77% chance of busting
  • 19, you have a 95% chance of busting
  • 20, you have a 92% chance of busting.
  • 21, obviously you have a 100% chance of busting.

Blackjack Odds with the Two Card Count Frequencies

The following are your chances of being dealt certain hand totals in your initial two cards. Of course, the main goal is to be dealt a natural 21.

Your odds of being dealt a hand totaling:

  • 1-16 is 28.7%
  • 17-20 is 30%
  • Natural 21 is 4.8%
  • A no bust hand is 26.5%

Probabilities of the Dealers Final Hand

Just as you saw above, these are the chances of the dealer being dealt these hands.

The dealer's odds of being dealt a hand totaling:

  • 16 is 28.36%
  • 17 is 14.58%
  • 18 is 13.81%
  • 19 is 13.48%
  • 20 is 17.58%
  • 21 in a minimum of 3 cars is 7.36%
  • Natural 21 is 4.82%
  • Blackjack Odds Compared to the Dealer's Up Card

If the dealer's facing up card is:

  • Ace, the dealer's chance of busing is 11.65% and the players edge is negative 16%
  • Jack, Queen or King, the dealer's chance of busting is 21.43% and the player's edge is negative 16.9%
  • 9, the dealer's chance of busting is 23.34% and the player's edge is negative 4.3%
  • 8, the dealer's chance of busting is 23.86% and the player's edge is 5.4%
  • 7, the dealer's chance of busting is 25.99% and the player's edge is 14.3%
  • 6, the dealer's chance of busting is 42.08% and the player's edge is 23.9%
  • 5, the dealer's chance of busting is 42.89% and the player's edge is 23.2%
  • 4, the dealer's chance of busting is 40.28% and the player's edge is 18%
  • 3, the dealer's chance of busting is 37.56% and the player's edge is 13.4%
  • 2, the dealer's chance of busting is 35.3% and the player's edge is 9.8%

Blackjack Sites

There are a lot of internesting resources about blackjack. I'd like to recommend Blackjack Doc and Ace 10. Both provide useful information: rules, tips, where to play, etc.