Heads Up Blackjack

S

stinkus

Member
#1
#1
Ok so there is this online heads up game. Here is how it works.

We each get a hand. You see one of my cards and I see one of your cards and i also Know which one of my cards that you see. You don't see the other persons full hand until both of you are done deciding whether to take more cards or not, example, if i hit and break the other player does not know that i broke, all they see is one of your cards until you both are done taking cards.

My question here is probably complex and would take some work, how could one go about coming up with a strategy for this game, ONE of us has to have an advantage if played correctly i think, and possibly a large advantage since the other player probably has no clue, neither is the dealer nor must take cards in certain situations or any forced rules.

Now some obvious things, if I have 14 and i see you have a 10 its obvious i should hit and play the hand like i would against normal hand against a blackjack dealer. Same would go for if I have 16 and you have a 4 showing, i'm going to stand.

The difference though is that when I have the 14 and you have a 6 showing, it may be correct to hit since the other player if they have 16 probably are not going to hit, so if we both stay i probably lose.

Double downs and splits don't matter. 2 blackjacks push, 2 hands of equal rank push and 2 busts push. A natural black jack beats a multiple card 21.

Anyone have any ideas for a good general strategy. I realize that this may be to complex to come up with and i know that since the other player makes their own decisions that it may make this question even tougher or not realistic to calculate easily.

Thanks,
Stinkus
 
B

Brock Windsor

Well-Known Member
#2
#2
How do you determine who acts first? Position seems important. Also bluffing using the knowledge of which card the other player saw will come into effect. If your opponent is so predictable that they always play perfect basic strategy you probably have a good indication of what they have based on how they play against your upcard. Where is this game?
BW
 
S

stinkus

Member
#3
#3
Brock Windsor said:
How do you determine who acts first? Position seems important. Also bluffing using the knowledge of which card the other player saw will come into effect. If your opponent is so predictable that they always play perfect basic strategy you probably have a good indication of what they have based on how they play against your upcard. Where is this game?
BW
Click to expand...
Nobody acts first. You play your hand with only the knowledge of their up card and they do the same, once both of you have either stopped hitting or busted you see both players final hands. You have no knowledge of how their hand has played out until you are both done.

There is this site called moola.com which gives you a free penny and you play people in games online, you can play matches ranging from 1 cent up to 5 million(theortically). Whenever you lose all your money they give you a penny to start over. They have 3 different games you can play against others to win money.

Then there are some other sites affiliated with them that you can use your moola money to play affiliates games, one of which is this heads up blackjack game, which after signing up on moola you would go to (Dead link: http://www.gamesworldonline.com/moola/) to play the blackjack.


I'm not spamming, BW asked where this game was and that was the shortest explanation i could come up with. I don't play on these sites but my wife does and she showed me this BJ game and i figured that some kind of modified basic strategy should be played.
 
D

davidpom

Banned
#4
#4
Most heads up games I've seen either take all ties (up to 9% edge dependent on variants), or pay 1 to 1 on blackjack. Either way, they're a bad bet. Yes, seeing the first card / two cards is useful - but it still doesn't affect what will come next in the shoe. Strategy: play like a normal game but with combined total of two cards shown: see a dealer 8 and dealer 6 - play it like a dealer 4 against your cards.
 
Pyrrhonian

Pyrrhonian

New Member
#6
#6
stinkus said:
Ok so there is this online heads up game. Here is how it works.

We each get a hand. You see one of my cards and I see one of your cards and i also Know which one of my cards that you see. You don't see the other persons full hand until both of you are done deciding whether to take more cards or not, example, if i hit and break the other player does not know that i broke, all they see is one of your cards until you both are done taking cards.

My question here is probably complex and would take some work, how could one go about coming up with a strategy for this game, ONE of us has to have an advantage if played correctly i think, and possibly a large advantage since the other player probably has no clue, neither is the dealer nor must take cards in certain situations or any forced rules.

Now some obvious things, if I have 14 and i see you have a 10 its obvious i should hit and play the hand like i would against normal hand against a blackjack dealer. Same would go for if I have 16 and you have a 4 showing, i'm going to stand.

The difference though is that when I have the 14 and you have a 6 showing, it may be correct to hit since the other player if they have 16 probably are not going to hit, so if we both stay i probably lose.

Double downs and splits don't matter. 2 blackjacks push, 2 hands of equal rank push and 2 busts push. A natural black jack beats a multiple card 21.

Anyone have any ideas for a good general strategy. I realize that this may be to complex to come up with and i know that since the other player makes their own decisions that it may make this question even tougher or not realistic to calculate easily.

Thanks,
Stinkus
Click to expand...
you may be able to stand more often giving the other player a better chance to bust first. Perhaps only hitting 12's or less. I think most people playing that game against you will often take too many cards.
 
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