The great thing about blackjack today is the fact that players have numerous resources at their disposal for finding a suitable strategy. There are books, magazines, programs and of course the internet. But what’s really winning in all of these basic blackjack strategy forms is also the simplest thing, which is the strategy table. A blackjack strategy chart documents the right moves players need to make based on their score, dealer’s up card, and house rules.
Taking this into account, it would seem obvious that blackjack players should always take a chart with them in live casinos. After all, you can find charts in card format, which means they’re small enough to take anywhere.
However, there is one very important aspect of casino blackjack that you need to consider before fully relying on the chart.
Common Courtesy
In theory, even the latest blackjack player could take a strategy chart with him to the casino and always make the right moves. All the required information is right there and you just have to consider the total score and the dealer’s up card to find the right course of action. But there is a huge problem with applying this strategy: it takes too long!
Of course, it is perfectly legal to use the blackjack chart before making a decision. However, if you continually refer to the chart in every single hand, it slows down the game of blackjack enormously . The result will be that both the other players and the casino will get mad at the slow player.
Players get irritated because they don’t like the pace of a game being interrupted by someone taking 15 seconds for each decision. Casinos don’t like strategy tables being overused, because their profits rely on managing multiple hands in an hour to capitalize on them.
A valid alternative
The point of this article is not to completely dissuade the use of a strategy chart for blackjack in casinos. In fact, it would be ideal to use a chart from time to time in order to reduce the casino edge as much as possible. However, it is also advisable to learn some basic blackjack strategy before taking a seat at the tables.
In this way, you will be able to reduce the amount of time needed to make decisions, thanks to a better knowledge of the game. It is best to study the basic strategy once or twice a day, in the time it takes to get to the casino. This should be enough to help reduce the casino’s edge in blackjack to at least 1% if not less.