Blackjack - and variants thereof - has been played for hundreds of years. Evolving from the English game of twenty-one called Vingt-Un, blackjack has mysterious origins but most game historians believe it came from Spain as the author and passionate gambler, Miguel de Cervantes was an ardent blackjack player. Blackjack was adopted by Americans during the first world war and this is when the game became monetised. Gambling houses offered payouts on winning hands and the blackjack that we know and love today was born. Online blackjack captured the imaginations of players worldwide with the advent of online casinos in the nineties. Live blackjack was the natural evolution of the game and the Unibet live casino blackjack catalogue is home to over 170 blackjack tables.

Card Counting and Blackjack

No blackjack player can play blackjack without running into card counting.

Created by game mathematician Ed Thorp, in his book Beat the Dealer, this development was going to cause more than a few sleepless nights for countless Las Vegas pit bosses. With the card counting system, players can predict which cards remain in the shoe, and therefore can adjust bet sizes to suit a hot deck (a deck with favourable cards remaining) or a cold deck (a deck with unfavourable cards remaining).

So, card counting is basically free money, right? Well, not really.

While card counting changed the path of blackjack and caused serious upheaval in Las Vegas, this didn’t last for long. Cheating in casinos is clearly defined as influencing a game to change the final outcome. The card counting technique proposed by Thorp didn’t influence gaming outcomes, and is therefore legal in the eyes of a casino, although managers are within their rights to (politely) ask you to leave.

The truth is that casinos dropped the ball and weren’t ready for their blackjack tables to be upended so brilliantly in 1962. Although, the card counting conglomerate would only be successful for as long as the casinos were left in the dark. With a few adjustments, card counting soon became obsolete.

Because of the way cards are shuffled and the use of automatic shuffling machines means that card counting in blackjack is no longer a viable option and instead mainly serves as good practice for arithmetic.

Basic Strategy - How to Play Perfect Blackjack

To increase your RTP (return to player), you’re going to need a blackjack strategy. Blackjack basic strategy can be used so you know you’re making the right move when playing blackjack, no matter what hand you’ve got. By following a few basic rules, you no longer have to flail in the final seat, sweating that you’ve made the correct decision.

Here’s what you should do when playing blackjack:

Surrenders:

Surrender with a hand of 16 against a dealer's 9 through Ace. Otherwise, treat it as a hard total.
Surrender with a hand of 15 against a dealer's 10. Otherwise, treat it as a hard total.

Splits:

Always split aces.
Never split tens.
Split a pair of 9s against a dealer's 2 through 9, except for 7. Otherwise, stand.
Always split 8s.
Split a pair of 7s against a dealer's 2 through 7. Otherwise, hit.
Split a pair of 6s against a dealer's 2 through 6. Otherwise, hit.
Double down with a pair of 5s against a dealer's 2 through 9. Otherwise, hit.
Split a pair of 4s against a dealer's 5 and 6. Otherwise, hit.
Split a pair of 3s against a dealer's 2 through 7. Otherwise, hit.
Split a pair of 2s against a dealer's 2 through 7. Otherwise, hit.

Soft Totals:

With a soft total of 20 (Ace and 9), always stand.
With a soft total of 19 (Ace and 8), double down against a dealer's 6. Otherwise, stand.
With a soft total of 18 (Ace and 7), double down against a dealer's 2 through 6, and hit against 9 through Ace. Otherwise, stand.
With a soft total of 17 (Ace and 6), double down against a dealer's 3 through 6. Otherwise, hit.
With a soft total of 16 (Ace and 5), double down against a dealer's 4 through 6. Otherwise, hit.
With a soft total of 15 (Ace and 4), double down against a dealer's 4 through 6. Otherwise, hit.
With a soft total of 14 (Ace and 3), double down against a dealer's 5 through 6. Otherwise, hit.
With a soft total of 13 (Ace and 2), double down against a dealer's 5 through 6. Otherwise, hit.

Hard totals:

With a hard total of 17 and up, always stand.
With a hard total of 16, stand against a dealer's 2 through 6. Otherwise, hit.
With a hard total of 15, stand against a dealer's 2 through 6. Otherwise, hit.
With a hard total of 14, stand against a dealer's 2 through 6. Otherwise, hit.
With a hard total of 13, stand against a dealer's 2 through 6. Otherwise, hit.
With a hard total of 12, stand against a dealer's 4 through 6. Otherwise, hit.
Always double down with a hard total of 11.
Double down with a hard total of 10 against a dealer's 2 through 9. Otherwise, hit.
Double down with a hard total of 9 against a dealer's 3 through 6. Otherwise, hit.

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