Best way to master basic strategy

[bkeefe]

I was curious if anyone had any tips or tricks on mastering basic strategy. Memorization if probably the best way, but as i learned in college, most people have their only tricks of the trade to assist in that process. I'm currently reading Blckjack Bluebook II, and studying the BS card. I also have Casino Vertie Blueprint, which is a great product. If anyone has any pointers please let me know.

Thanks

 

[rrwoods]

For starters, having little memorization tricks is nice. Like, for splits, I remember things like "2's 3's and 7's up to 7" which helps you remember a bunch of decisions at once.

Next thing you want is some way of playing basic strategy against some[one|thing] that can tell you whenever you do something wrong. Practicing with a person is great; remember that if you're practicing 6-deck strategy, don't harp over only having 1 or 2 decks available. There seem to be lots of trainers online, but I found that all of them have at least one error in them (at least according to the strategy engine on this site).

Me? I didn't have someone to practice with. I didn't like that the trainers all had errors in their strategies. And I'm not (yet!) interested in dropping money on CVBJ, though if you're a serious player there's nothing better. So, since I'm a software developer by trade, I wrote a program myself. (At some point, when I'm happy with it, I'm going to post it on these forums... but this isn't the thread for that ) If you write code as well it's a neat exercise both for your programming skills and your blackjack skills.

tl;dr: Make some mnemonics, find a practice partner/machine.

 

[Wookets]

Flash cards worked pretty well for me. I just carried them in my pocket throughout the day and flipped through them whenever I had a couple minutes of downtime.

 

[Cardcounter]

Here a trick for if you have a hard 12-16 always hit against a 7 or higher. Thats at least hundred situations. Also always split Aces and 8's regardless of what the dealer shows. Once you have the always plays down refine it.
Almost always stay when you have a 12-16 hard vs a 2-6 there are a couple of expections but if you are in doubt stay.

 

[Canceler]

There seem to be lots of trainers online, but I found that all of them have at least one error in them (at least according to the strategy engine on this site).

What about the trainer on this site?

 

[sagefr0g]

basic strategy

just get some scrap paper and write it down over and over and over again and again a few times or so daily or what ever.

 

[Wookets]

He's saying that compared to the trainer on THIS site, other online trainers typically have at least on error. In other words, the trainer on this site is error free.

 

[rrwoods]

just get some scrap paper and write it down over and over and over again and again a few times or so daily or what ever.

That's probably a really good idea too.

I had forgotten about the trainer on this site. It's definitely correct, and it's the best one online because of that. I highly recommend it to anyone getting into the game. I ended up writing my own software because I was looking for something more feature-rich (easy access to problem hands, soft hands only, pairs only, etc., as well as various display options and some rules variations that aren't in the trainer on this site).

 

[rrwoods]

He's saying that compared to the trainer on THIS site, other online trainers typically have at least on error. In other words, the trainer on this site is error free.

Not quite -- I had forgotten this site had a trainer at all, but now that I look at it I remember playing it for a good while.

 

[Wookets]

Not quite -- I had forgotten this site had a trainer at all, but now that I look at it I remember playing it for a good while.

I was responding to Canceler with my post - forgot to quote it.

 

[callipygian]

For those who are more visual learners (like me), it might help to think of the charts as overlaid sheets of transparency paper (or Photoshop layers for the youngins who don't know what transparencies are), with the top sheets "overruling" the sheets below.

For example, memorizing what to do with soft 18 is difficult - dealer A hit, 2-6 double/stand, 7-8 stand, 9-T hit for 18. However, if you think of soft strategy IN GENERAL as a sheet of hit/stand decisions with doubling decisions superimposed on top, memorization (at least for me) became a lot easier: soft 17 and below, hit vs. dealer any; soft 18, hit vs. dealer A, 9, 10; soft 19, stand vs. dealer any. On top of that, double 19 vs. dealer 6, double 18 vs. dealer 2-6, double 17 vs. dealer 3-6, etc, etc.

Eventually, though, there's no way around practicing enough such that basic strategy decisions are automatic. Even if you have the best system in the world to memorize something, it's worthless for card counting unless you have it internalized. Of course, if you don't plan on card counting, you can be as slow as you want. Heck, you can even bring a card with you to the table so you don't have to memorize! :laugh:

 

[suicyco maniac]

Slice open your hand so bad you end up in the emergency room......Serious.

I think I've posted this here before. I had a friend that just would not get around to learning BS. He was playing BJ with an edge (using methods other then counting) but I just couldn't motivate him to learn BS. One day at his day job he cut his hand bad enough to end up in the emergency room. He had to wait several hours and to kill the boredom he pulled a BS chart out of his wallet and started studying. Less then a month later he quit his day job and has been a full time AP for about 8 years now.

 

[Mr. T]

I was curious if anyone had any tips or tricks on mastering basic strategy. Memorization if probably the best way, but as i learned in college, most people have their only tricks of the trade to assist in that process. I'm currently reading Blckjack Bluebook II, and studying the BS card. I also have Casino Vertie Blueprint, which is a great product. If anyone has any pointers please let me know.

Thanks

You cannot play BS from memory. You need to play by card recognition. Say you see 12 vs 4. Your mind should automatically register your response immediately. Use the excellent Trainer in this website. After 10 hours of practise you can play to 95% accuracy. You will need another 10 hours to play to almost 100% accuracy. Just remember if you are outside the US you need to modify your play and the Trainer advice accordingly.

 

[tribute]

Get the easy ones down first. (Always split Aces and Eights, never split 5's or 10's, double down on all 11's except vs. an Ace, etc.)

Most hitting or standing decisions are logical ones so just use good sense on those. The tough ones just have to be memorized. (Still, some plays just don't seem right, like hitting 16 vs. 7 or splitting 8's vs. 10) I made up a blank chart and kept filling in the matrix until I got good. From there, I practiced on this site. I first memorized 6-deck,then adjustments for 2D since these are the games I play. You also need to know the variables for the game you play, whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17, DOA, DAS? All this may seem overwhelming but you WILL learn it eventually. Then on to cardcounting. Isn't this fun!

The crazy thing about blackjack is you work hard to learn and memorize, you finally get it down flawless, you execute to perfection, and the person sitting next to you rips you apart for messing up the flow! Some things will never change!

 

[Licentia]

I was curious if anyone had any tips or tricks on mastering basic strategy. Memorization if probably the best way, but as i learned in college, most people have their only tricks of the trade to assist in that process. I'm currently reading Blckjack Bluebook II, and studying the BS card. I also have Casino Vertie Blueprint, which is a great product. If anyone has any pointers please let me know.

Thanks

All I did was sit down to a BlackJack computer game and as each hand came up I refered to the chart to see what to do. I was able to go without looking at the chart with increasing measure, first with the most common hands, and then later with soft hands. This worked fine for me.

Licentia

 

[insomniac392]

just get some scrap paper and write it down over and over and over again and again a few times or so daily or what ever.

I'm also learning BJ and have memorized the BS for a few ideal shoe games. I'm a very visual learner (not quite photographic, but similar), so I used the technique above. What I did was make a blank BS chart and print off several sheets, each with 4 blank BS tables. Every day, several times a day, I would try to fill in the sheet without any reference... then I would check my answers to find my weaknesses and focus on those (I think my biggest trouble was with the soft 18). After 2 or 3 days, I could reproduce the charts with no problem ^_^ If you use this method, when starting out, don't try to memorize the entire chart... break it up into groups (hard 12-16, hard 9-11, soft A2-A8, pairs, etc) and learn those first.

Of course, there are also several software programs out there designed to help you with this... however, as others have mentioned, most of these are either costly or their BS charts conflict with other charts. In addition to software, I've been using a few techniques Arnold Snyder recommends in his book Blackbelt in Blackjack; here is an excerpt:

Practice with Cards
Place an ace face up on a table to represent the dealer's upcard. Shuffle the rest of the cards, then deal two cards face up to yourself. Do not deal the dealer a downcard. Look at your two cards and the dealer's ace and make your basic strategy decision. Check the chart to see if you are correct, but do not complete your hand. If the decision is "hit," don't bother to take the hit card. After you've made and double-checked your decision, deal another two cards to yourself. Don't bother to pick up your first hand. Just drop your next, and all subsequent, cards face up on top of the last cards dealt. Go through the entire deck (25 hands), then change the dealer's upcard to a deuce, then to a 3, 4, 5, and so on. You should be able to run through a full deck of player hands for all ten dealer upcards in less than half an hour once you are able to make your decisions without consulting the charts. Once you start to get the hang of it, every decision should be instantaneous. Strive for perfection. If you have the slightest doubt about any decision, consult the chart.

To practice your pair-split decisions, which occur less frequently than other decisions, reverse the above exercise. Deal yourself a pair of aces, then run through the deck changing only the dealer's upcard. Then give yourself a pair of deuces, and all the cards that follow. Don't waste time with any exercise you don't need. Your basic strategy for splitting aces, for instance, is always to split them. You don't need to run through a whole deck of dealer up-cards every day to practice this decision. Likewise, basic strategy tells you to always split eights, and never split fives or tens. You should concentrate mostly on learning when to split 2s, 3s, 6s, 7s, and 9s, which you'll master soon enough.

Another thing I've found helpful is to use two decks mixed together. I've also been working on a few card counting exercises, and I will occasionally mix the exercises (e.g. give the dealer an ace upcard and run through the deck(s) to make the BS decisions, all the while counting the cards).

Best Wishes,
Kyle