6 Common Blackjack Mistakes

If you can avoid these six common blackjack mistakes, you minimize the casino edge against you to almost nothing.

1. Hitting with a stiff hand when dealer’s upcard is low: In general, you should stand against of a dealer’s upcard of 2-6 whenever you have a stiff hand (12-16). There is an exception when you have a 12 and dealer’s upcard is a 2 or 3. In this case, you should hit. You should hit against a dealer’s upcard of 7 or higher whenever you have a stiff hand (12-16).

2. Standing with a soft hand: A soft hand consists of an ace and other cards. Whenever you hold an ace and 2 through 6, you should always hit. You should double down (if possible) when dealer’s upcard is a 5 or 6.

3. No splitting when you have two 8s: Splitting the 8s significantly reduces the casino edge on this difficult hand.

4. Splitting a pair of two face cards or 10s: Don’t split a pair of faces or 10s easily. You should be aware of most of your gain in blackjack comes from being dealt either 20 or 21.

5. Not doubling down: You should always double down when you hold 10 or 11, except when dealer’s upcard is an ace. You should hit when you have a 10 and dealer’s upcard is a 10.

6. Not taking advantage of a weak dealer’s upcard: Against small upcard (2-6), you tend to split or double down whenever you can.