The main thing to remember when utilizing optimal black jack strategie is that the strategy is meant to guide you to the best possible decisions over time. However, just like any other strategy of this nature, players can experience variance in the short term, as it is possible to make the most correct decision in black jack and yet still lose. When this occurs, one must ponder whether it is time to abandon optimal strategy or whether to stick with the plan.

Because a serious black jack player understands that optimal strategy is based on the lifetime of a black jack game, they “get it” that through individual sessions, the cards may not fall their way. It is possible that a player could correctly double down with ten while the dealer shows garbage and yet the player is burned each time. The avid black jack players understand that cards work against them. Moreover, a black jack player who is well versed in optimal strategy and the theory behind it understands that they are choosing the best and most profitable course of action. They are hitting when they are supposed to, splitting pairs when it is the right thing to do, and doubling down when situationally sound. The sound player understands that when they should stand, they stand. The true black jack strategist does not deviate from the optimal strategy, as they know they are making the right and most profitable decision all the time.

When having a bad session or sessions, one should not change their tactics to play less than optimally. To adjust from optimal strategy means to play black jack in a manner that causes your outcomes to be less profitable over the long term. Consequently, when running bad over the course of a session or sessions, one should not adjust their tactics away from optimal strategy. Instead, a player can examine options such as betting less money. This will let players continue to play the best black jack they possibly can, while riding through short-term variance as cheaply as possible.

When holding a soft hand, one with an ace, players are presented with the opportunity to make real money when playing blackjack, as soft hands often allow a player to double down in more situations than they can in hard count situations. The soft count eliminates the risk of busting and thus the only thing a player must do is beat the dealer by either outdrawing him or letting the dealer bust.

In blackjack, a double down is the act of doubling the size of your bet in exchange for being able to receive one and only one more card. If you are playing a hand for $100, if you double down, you must put up another $100, which means this hand will be worth a total of $200. If the outcome is favorable, you win $200. However, if you lose the hand, you have lost $200. This means the stakes for this hand are naturally twice as much as if you chose not to double down. The double down move is made when the expected outcome is greater than a whole bet, and by failing to double down when the time is right, a player leaves value on the table.

When deciding to double down with a soft hand, the player should check the dealer’s exposed or up card. Players should avoid doubling down if the dealer shows a two, seven, eight, nine, ten, face card, or an ace. If the dealer’s visible card is a three, the player should double on a soft 17 or 18. If the dealer shows a 4, players holding a soft 15, 16, 17, or 18 can profitably double down. In the event the dealer’s up card is a 5 or 6, then the best of all possible actions is to double down on soft hands ranging between a soft 13 and a soft 18.

By doubling down with soft hands when the time is right, a player can pad his bankroll quite nicely. By playing too conservatively and missing the opportunity to double down, players leave value and thus money on the table.

Every casino varies in terms of what shuffle point they use…meaning how far into the deck, or decks, they go before the cards are re-shuffled. This is an entirely different variable than the type of shuffle used. A 50% shuffle point is somewhat average, at least out on the West Coast of the United States. Where the dealer places the marker will tell you, most of the time, where the shuffle will be.

If you’re a card counter, having the ability to go deeper into the deck is favorable, since you see more of the cards pass through before they are shuffled, and thus can assume with a higher probability of accuracy the probability of certain cards showing up.

So why would a casino favor a deeper shuffle point? It would seem only to benefit the card-counting player? The one major reason why can be attributed to competition. Not between you and the house, but between different casinos, especially outside of a famous location where the game is the only draw. Players, especially knowledgeable ones, are more likely to frequent a casino where they feel the odds are closer to even than at other places. Casinos know this, and adjust little things to draw a larger crowd.

Regardless of which card-counting system you use (high-low, red 7, Ten Count), a deeper shuffle point increases your odds at the table. Why else would a casino do this regularly? Another answer is it’s not the casino, but it’s the work of an ignorant dealer. Don’t kid yourself, they exist in every casino across the world. In the top hotels, they are identified early and dismissed, but it lower-level casinos, you can easily happen upon one who just doesn’t care or doesn’t know enough to consistently pay close attention to the shuffle point. For a professional gambler, one playing blackjack solely to make money, finding yourself across the felt from one of these dealers is like having a rare chunk of meat plopped right in front of a caged tiger.