Blackjack Casino Game Tutorial-4

Blackjack strategy
Basic strategy
Each blackjack game has a basic strategy, which is playing a hand of any total value against any dealers upcard which loses least money to the house in the long term.
The bulk of basic strategy is common to all blackjack games, with most rule variations calling for changes in only a few situations. For example, if the above game used the hit soft 17 rule, common in Las Vegas Strip casinos, only 5 cells of the table would need to be changed: double on 11 vs. A, surrender 15 or 17 vs. A, double on A,7 vs. 2, double on A,8 vs. 6. Also when playing basic strategy never take insurance or “even money.”
Estimates of the house edge for blackjack games quoted by casinos and gaming regulators are generally based on the assumption that the players follow basic strategy and do not systematically change their bet size. Most blackjack games have a house edge of between 0.5% and 1%, placing blackjack among the cheapest casino table games. Casino promotions such as complimentary matchplay vouchers or 2:1 blackjack payouts allow the player to acquire an advantage without deviating from basic strategy.
Composition-dependent strategy
Basic strategy is based upon a player’s point total and the dealer’s visible card. Players may be able to improve on this decision by considering the precise composition of their hand, not just the point total. For example, players should ordinarily stand when holding 12 against a dealer 4. However, in a single deck game, players should hit if their 12 consists of a 10 and a 2. The presence of a 10 in the player’s hand has two consequences:
It makes the player’s 12 a worse hand to stand on (since the only way to avoid losing is for the dealer to go bust, which is less likely if there are fewer 10s left in the shoe).
It makes hitting safer, since the only way of going bust is to draw a 10, and this is less likely with a 10 already in the hand.
However, even when basic and composition-dependent strategy lead to different actions, the difference in expected reward is small, and it becomes even smaller with more decks. Using a composition-dependent strategy rather than basic strategy in a single deck game reduces the house edge by 4 in 10,000, which falls to 3 in 100,000 for a six-deck game.
Side bets
Many blackjack tables offer a side bet on various outcomes including:
Player hand and dealer’s up card sum to 19, 20, or 21 (“Lucky Lucky”)
Player initial hand is a pair (“Perfect pairs”)
Player initial hand is suited, suited and connected, or a suited K-Q (“Royal match”)
Player initial hand plus dealer’s card makes a flush, straight, or three-of-a-kind poker hand (“21+3”)
Player initial hand totals 20 (“Lucky Ladies”)
Dealer upcard is in between the value of the players two cards (“In Bet”)
First card drawn to the dealer will result in a dealer bust (“Bust It!”)
One or both of the players cards is the same as the dealers card (“Match the Dealer”)
Player allowed to make optional second hand, and effectively receive the hand of 10,8, or 18 without drawings cards (“Instant 18”)
The side wager is typically placed in a designated area next to the box for the main wager. A player wishing to wager on a side bet is usually required to place a wager on blackjack. Some games require that the blackjack wager should equal or exceed any side bet wager. A non-controlling player of a blackjack hand is usually permitted to place a side bet regardless of whether the controlling player does so.