Novice question about cards that will improve a hand.

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n2peppers

New Member
#1
#1
I am new to the game, but very dedicated to learning the ins and outs. I recently sat at a table with one of those semi-obnoxious individuals that sigh heavy or shakes his head every time someone plays their hand differently than he would. For instance, one player had a 15 showing and did not take a hit, the obnoxious fellow said :"You are crazy, do you know how many cards will improve that hand?" And then rattled off a number. My question is: "Is there a chart that has such number available, based on a full deck or full six decks? If so, where can I locate it? Thank you for your patience. PK
 
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shadroch

Well-Known Member
#2
#2
No matter how many decks are in use, your next card will be one of thirteen,
and four of the thirteen have the same value. With a fifteen, you improve your hand with an Ace, two, three,four,five,six. Thats six out of thirteen possiblities.
 
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Thunder

Well-Known Member
#3
#3
With all due respect Shad, that is incorrect. It's quite possible you could have no aces left for example. N2peppers, instead of focusing on how many cards are left of each number, learn basic strategy first. Then when you are ready, you can start learing to count, which will give you a better clue as to the likelihood of you busting or not in that situation.
 
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shadroch

Well-Known Member
#4
#4
Thunder said:
With all due respect Shad, that is incorrect. It's quite possible you could have no aces left for example. N2peppers, instead of focusing on how many cards are left of each number, learn basic strategy first. Then when you are ready, you can start learing to count, which will give you a better clue as to the likelihood of you busting or not in that situation.
Click to expand...
And it's possible that the only cards left are all aces. If you are not counting, you can only go with the possibities.
 
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ColorMeUp

Well-Known Member
#5
#5
shadroch said:
And it's possible that the only cards left are all aces. If you are not counting, you can only go with the possibities.
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I would argue that an ace doesn't improve a 15 anyway, since a hard 16 is worse than a hard 15.....though both hands are terrible!
 
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shadroch

Well-Known Member
#6
#6
ColorMeUp said:
I would argue that an ace doesn't improve a 15 anyway, since a hard 16 is worse than a hard 15.....though both hands are terrible!
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Sure, but then you go on to which cards will improve a 16. You could go the other way and count which of the 13 possibilities will bust your hand. In either case, you get the same result.
 
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nuvi

Active Member
#8
#8
Basic Strategy

n2peppers said:
I am new to the game, but very dedicated to learning the ins and outs. I recently sat at a table with one of those semi-obnoxious individuals that sigh heavy or shakes his head every time someone plays their hand differently than he would. For instance, one player had a 15 showing and did not take a hit, the obnoxious fellow said :"You are crazy, do you know how many cards will improve that hand?" And then rattled off a number. My question is: "Is there a chart that has such number available, based on a full deck or full six decks? If so, where can I locate it? Thank you for your patience. PK
Click to expand...
Assuming we don't know the composition of the 15:

Single Deck: Five cards will improve a 15 (6, 5, 4, 3, or 2). There are 4 suits of each of those cards for a total of 5 x 4 = 20 cards. So of the 52 cards in the deck, 20 cards will improve that hand.

Six Deck: There are 20 cards per deck that will improve the 15. So of the 312 (52 x 6) cards in the shoe, 20 x 6 = 120 cards will improve the 15.

[I would argue that an Ace doesn't improve your hand because neither a 16 nor a 15 will beat any dealer hand that does not bust.]

I do not know of anyone who has created charts to answer your question, but as qfit and thunder suggested, the answer to the question is not very useful. The most important question is: Will I make more money (lose less money) by standing or hitting with 15? Assuming the dealer had a 7 or better showing, basic strategy will tell you that the answer to that question is "hitting."

So if you are new to the game, but dedicated to learning it thoroughly, start by learning basic strategy.
 
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