| House Advantage in Blackjack |
| by Henry Tamburin,
published on Tuesday, May 21 2002 |
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The house derives it's advantage in blackjack simply because the player has to draw first and if he busts, the player automatically losses regardless if the dealer subsequently busts in the same round. This is the casino's sole advantage in blackjack and if everything were equal the house edge in blackjack would be 8% (the dealer and player each have a 28% probability of busting therefore 28 times 28 or about 8% of the time both hands would bust and the dealer would win).
But fortunately for us, not all is equal when you play blackjack. Players have certain advantages that are not available to the dealer. What are they? For one the player gets a 3 to 2 bonus payoff on a blackjack whereas the dealer only gets paid at 1 to 1 on a blackjack (advantage to player). Also, a player can double his wager in favorable situations (like being dealt a two card 11) whereas the dealer can not double down (advantage to player). Players can also split pairs whereas dealers cannot (advantage to player). Also, players can stand on say, 16, whereas a dealer must always hit a 16 (advantage to player).
Obviously, the bonus payout on a blackjack hand is a gimme and the player doesn't have to do anything except get dealt a blackjack hand (which by the way will occur once in about every 21 hands). This bonus 3 to 2 bonus for the player cuts about 2.25% off of the initial 8% edge leaving the house with a 5.7% edge. (Note: Do not play blackjack in any casino that pays 6 to 5 or even money for a blackjack).
By knowing the proper hitting and standing playing strategy, a player can whittle another 3.25% from the house's edge, leaving the house with about a 2.5% edge. Remember that players can stand or hit as they wish unlike the dealer who must always stand on 17-21 and hit 16 or less.
If you learn the right strategies for doubling down you can whittle another 1.5% off of the house edge and by knowing when to pair splitting or when not to, you can take off another 0.5%. This leaves the house with about a 0.5% advantage.
CUMULATIVE HOUSE EDGE
Initial House Edge
| 8%
| 3 to 2 bonus for BJ
| 5.7%
| Correct Standing/Hitting
| 2.5%
| Correct Doubling
| 1%
| Correct Pair Splitting
| 0.5%
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Hopefully you see how crucial standing, doubling, and splitting are toward your goal of minimizing the house edge. In fact, most of the time you should be doubling and pair splitting when the dealer has a small card. The reason is that the dealer will bust about 40% of the time when he shows a small card thus increasing your chance of winning the double down or split hands.
So how much will it save the player by learning the correct standing/ doubling/splitting strategies? Let's assume a typical player plays about 500 hours of blackjack per year with an average bet of $10. Let's also assume the player average 100 hands per hour. That means the player would have made $500,000 worth of bets during the year (100 hands per hour times 500 hours times $10 average bet). A player who mimics the dealer but gets 3 to 2 on blackjack hands would face a 5.7% house edge and stand to lose 5.7% of the $500,000 or $28,500 (that's his theoretical loss - he could lose more or less but on average the player stands to lose $28,500 over the year). On the other hand, the basic strategist who knows the correct standing/doubling/splitting strategies is only facing a 0.5% house edge and his theoretical loss is only $2,500. Thus the basic strategy player over the year stands to gain $26,000 over the "mimic the dealer" player.
Even though losing "only" $2,500 is better then losing $28,500, it's still losing. Can a player do better? Yes, by playing in games with more favorable rules, especially single and double deck games, and by getting rated for comps.
For example, you can cut the $2,500 potential loss in half to $1,250 by only playing in multiple deck games with these favorable rules: s17, DAS, LS, and RSA. Want to whittle your theoretical loss by another $300? Then play in two deck games with these rules: s17 and DAS. Finally you can cut the theoretical loss to only $750 by playing a single deck game with h17 and RSA.
If you want to decrease your theoretical even more you'll have to do two things. One is have your play rated and then ask for comps. The value of the comps you will get over the year will decrease your overall cost of playing (in some cases you'll show a net gain because you'll get more in comps then your actual casino losses). Secondly, learn how to count cards and become an advantage player. Advantage players wipe out the house edge and over the long run enjoys a positive theoretical (i.e. the advantage player will win more money then lose over time).
I hope you get my point. For starters learn the basic playing strategy and then go ahead and try card counting (it really is not that difficult to master). This is how you can overcome the house edge in blackjack and lose less or win more when you play. |
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