The minute you put your money down at the blackjack table to exchange it for chips, you become a participant in a game governed by strict mathematical rules. Every time a card is drawn from the deck, it has a definite, irrefutable function. A king is a ten. A seven is a seven. You base your entire gambling strategy on these certainties.
The ace is the only card in the deck that cannot be pigeonholed. It is the only card that changes function based entirely on the situation that faces you. It can be your most aggressive offensive tool, your ultimate defensive fallback.
The key to the ace, the key to the entire game of blackjack, is the way that the ace functions. It’s the difference between a player who plays the game by the gut, versus a player who actually understands the math. You do not have to possess a photographic memory to utilize the ace effectively. You do not have to prefer a physical table versus a real money online blackjack version of the game. All you need to know is the mechanics of the way the ace changes to meet your current situation.
The main characteristic of the ace is its varying value. It is considered to have the value of either 1 or 11. This is the basic idea behind the entire game, which changes your chances of going bust completely.
There is no need to inform the dealer about the value of the ace. The game automatically chooses the value of the ace, which is the most beneficial for you without going over 21. If the value of the ace is 11, which would make you go over 21, its value automatically becomes 1.
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A blackjack hand containing an ace, which is currently valued at 11, is called a “soft hand.” This is the most important terminology you need to understand in blackjack. If you are dealt a six and an ace, then you have a “soft 17.”
The best thing about a “soft hand” is that it is mathematically impossible to bust on your next hit. If you have a “soft 17,” and the dealer deals you a face card, then you don’t bust with a 27, because the ace immediately changes to a 1, and now you have a “hard 17.”
Because of this absolute immunity to busting, you must play “soft hands” much more aggressively than “hard hands.” New players make mistakes on “soft hands” all the time. If a player has a “soft 17,” he will look at his hand and say, “Hey, 17 is a pretty good number, so I’ll just stand.”
Making a decision to stand on a “soft 17” is a huge mathematical mistake. A 17 is a poor hand in blackjack, and the dealer will beat you a lot of the time with a 17. You must hit or double on a “soft 17.” You are taking advantage of the “soft hand” to improve your hand for free.
The same rule applies to a “soft 18.” If the dealer has a strong upcard, a nine or a 10, then standing on a “soft 18” is a loser in the long run, and you must hit it. It may feel unnatural to hit a hand of 18, but the math shows that hitting the hand will improve your chances of winning against a strong dealer upcard.
The protective shield of the soft hand remains effective only till you are forced to make the ace change its value. The moment you are forced to make the change, the hand instantly becomes “hard,” and you are back in the danger zone.
Let us take an instance. Suppose you are dealt an ace and a four. This gives you a soft 15. The dealer is dealing a seven. So you choose to hit. The dealer deals you an eight. If the ace remains an 11, your total would have been 23.
In the real game, the ace becomes a 1. So you have an ace, four, and an eight. This is a hard 13. The protective shield is now gone. If you are forced to make another hit and are dealt a ten, you would have busted and lost your chips.
This is the instant change you have to be aware of. The strategy for playing a soft 15 is vastly different from the strategy for playing a hard 13, even though the total value on the table looks somewhat similar to an untrained eye.
However, there is one specific scenario in which the power of the ace is just too great, and the casinos have had to create special rules to deal with it. The scenario is as follows: When your hand is dealt as a pair of Aces from the top of the shoe.
A pair of Aces as one hand is very bad. You have either a hard 2 or a soft 12. But as separate hands, each Ace has a base value of 11. Starting with an 11 is the most advantageous position that a player can be in.
Always, and without exception, split your Aces. Do not concern yourself with what the dealer is holding. It does not matter if they have a six and a ten. You split your Aces.
This is such a powerful play that the casinos have to restrict the way in which they can be played afterwards. When playing Aces, under normal global casino rules, you can only draw one card on each Ace. You can’t draw again. Additionally, if your Ace splits and you draw a ten-value card, it is considered to be just 21, and not a natural Blackjack. This means it pays even money (1:1) and does not qualify for the premium 3:2 payout.
The ace is a wonderful thing when in your hand, but a complete disaster when it is face up in front of the dealer. A dealer with an ace face up is the worst thing on the table.
When you are sitting at a table in a live casino, there is nothing quite as quick a mood killer as seeing the dealer flip up an ace immediately. If the dealer has an ace, he has a 31 percent chance of having a ten in the hole as well, thus giving him a blackjack immediately and eliminating the table before any bets are even played.
Before he continues to deal any more hands, he will offer a side bet, called “insurance,” to all of the players at the table. Insurance is a proposition bet on the fact that the dealer has a ten in the hole, and it will cost half of the original bet to make this bet. If he has a blackjack, you will win 2:1 on the insurance bet, thus allowing a player to break even on the hand overall.
It sounds like a smart safety move, doesn’t it? Trust me, it is not. In fact, it is a very bad mathematical gamble. The real probability that the dealer has a ten is worse than the 2:1 you’ll be getting from the house. Over the long run, taking it will guarantee that you’ll bleed your bankroll completely dry. Don’t be tempted by the emotional need to protect your hand. Don’t accept the insurance bet ever, ever, ever.
Another thing you have to be aware of is how the house forces the dealer to handle their own aces. If you pay close enough attention to the felt surface of the table, you’ll notice that a very important rule is prominently displayed right in the middle.
It’ll either say “Dealer must stand on all 17s” or “Dealer hits soft 17.” This rule has a very big impact on your chances of winning. The dealer’s soft 17 is when they have an ace and a six.
If they have to hit a soft 17, it raises the house edge. That way, they get a chance to improve a mediocre hand without risking a bust with that specific draw. However, when they have to stand on a soft 17, you have a much better chance of winning.
There is nothing you can do about the cards being dealt from the shoe. The only thing you can do is respond to the mathematical situation that is being presented on the table.
The ace is a card that challenges you to think dynamically. It is not just one static number. It is the fulcrum around which the risk potential of your hand is always shifting. Whether you are sitting in one of the massive physical casinos or logging into mobile casinos during your daily commute, the way the ace works is the same.
It allows you the opportunity to play aggressively against weak dealer cards and then suddenly gives you a safety valve in the event of a draw going wrong. It is only when you stop thinking of the ace as just another high card and begin thinking of it as a dynamic mathematical tool that the entire strategy of the game begins to make sense.
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