Now that you’ve got the basic strategy card, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “I have a card. I’ll just follow the card, and I’ll win big!” Let’s take a look at some of the common beginner mistakes that even players with the basic strategy card often make so that you won’t make them as well. In no particular order, let’s begin.

Always Hitting on 16 or Less and Standing on 17 through 21

These are the dealer’s rules, but when I was a kid and learned to play online blackjack, I thought these were the only rules. So I would constantly hit when I had a hand below 16 and stand when I hit 17. Needless to say, it didn’t work out too well. I lost many hands and many pennies over the years. Then I grew up and started to take the game seriously. I was tired of losing and wanted to learn the proper rules and the correct strategy for winning blackjack. The problem with the dealer’s strategy is that when I busted and the dealer busted, I still lost. Basic strategy fi xed that problem.

Surrendering Too Many Hands

If you don’t play, you can’t win. In Chapter 4 you learned that there are only a few hands that you should surrender. The totals you should surrender with are 15 facing a dealer’s 10 and 16 facing a dealer’s 9, 10, or Ace.

Standing on Soft 18 when the Dealer Shows a 9, 10, or Ace

I have a friend who is convinced that this is the best deviation from basic strategy. He believes that since 18 is a pretty good hand, why should he hit and end up busting or settling with a low total (using the Ace for one point)? But if you remember the basic strategy and the abundance of 10-point cards in the deck, then 18 isn’t enough to beat the dealer with a possible 19, 20, or 21. Even though, overall, you may lose more hands when you have a soft 18 facing a dealer’s 9, 10, or Ace, you have slightly better odds when you hit rather than stand.

Standing on a Pair of 8s when the Dealer Shows a 10

When you see a pair of 8s, you should immediately think “Split!” A pair of 8s without splitting simply gives you one of the worst hands you can have—a total of 16. With the dealer showing a 10, your only hope is to split and hope that the dealer doesn’t have another 10 or Ace as the hole card. Over time, you will lose more than twice as much money holding a 16 against a 10 as opposed to holding an 8 (plus a potential 10) versus the dealer’s 10.

Standing with Soft 17

It’s not always correct to stand on 17—especially not a soft 17. Remember, with a soft 17, you can always hit and never bust when you simply draw one card. So if you have soft totals of 13 through 17, you should always hit—no matter what cards the dealer shows.

Hitting 12 through 16 when the Dealer Shows a 2 through 6

Blackjack is a competitive game. You play against the dealer. Your objective is to beat the dealer only. So when you look at a hand that is between 12 and 16, with the dealer showing weak cards of 2 through 6, you don’t necessarily have to hit to win the hand. If the dealer were showing a stronger up-card of 7, 8, or higher, it would be reasonable to hit in order to beat his potential 17, 18, or higher. But when the dealer has a weak up-card, like a 2 through 6, you have to take into account those busting cards that you learned in Chapter 4. The dealer has a higher probability of busting with a weaker up-card. If you choose to hit, you also take the risk of busting. The only exception to this rule would be if you hold a 12 and the dealer shows a 2 or 3 up-card. Then the odds are about even, and you should take the opportunity to hit.

Not Splitting Aces

This is such a huge mistake to make. Because of the high percentage of 10-point cards in the deck, you should always split your Aces and hope to draw 10-point cards on each Ace! Almost every online casino will only allow one card to be drawn on an Ace after splitting. This means you’re taking a chance when you split that you will draw a lower-value card, like a 2 through 5. The 10-point cards still outnumber these lower-value cards and make it always worthwhile to split Aces.

Taking Insurance

Insurance gets you nowhere. You’ll never see a professional blackjack player take insurance, even when she is holding a great hand, like a 19 or 20 against a dealer’s Ace. The possibility is there to lose that great hand as well as lose to the dealer’s blackjack. Insurance may prevent that particular loss, but the problem is that it will cost you more money over time if you choose insurance and the dealer doesn’t have blackjack—which is much more likely. Forget about insurance.

Splitting 10s

10 + 10 = 20. That’s pretty much all you need to know. If you need a reason why not to throw away the second-best hand in the game to try and draw the best hand, think of the number of Aces in the deck and the probability that you will draw one or two with the next two cards out of the shoe. Very unlikely—never split your 10s.

Not Hitting Because You Have a Large Number of Cards Already

Beginner players often worry as they draw more cards that the probability to bust is higher. For example, if you start with a hand of a 2, 4 and then draw a 3, then a 5, and then another 2 for a total of 16, you may assume that the next card must be a 10 or an Ace with which you will bust against a dealer’s high card of 10. No matter the number of cards or the probability of high cards remaining in the deck, you still have a weak 16 versus the dealer’s 10, and basic strategy teaches that you need to hit if you want to improve and win the hand.

Linda Jefferson is a professional online casinos player. Linda has been featured in various radio and TV shows. Throughout his career Linda Jefferson has amounted a ton of cash and has managed to get banned from major casinos in Vegas and around the world.

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