The Best and Worst Starting Hands in Blackjack

In its pure form, Blackjack is one of the simplest and most popular games found in casinos worldwide. It is a dynamic game that changes the percentages, where each card played also adds or takes away the initial advantage that the casino has over the player. It is the most mathematical game offered by gaming companies, but it is also a great experience for online players. 

To make a big win in Blackjacks you’ve got to be familiar with the best blackjack hands. Each two-card starting hand has a value associated with it. This means that there is a quantitative percentage of the bet that a starting hand has. This is determined by evaluating each combination of cards that may occur during the application of the ideal basic strategy, as well as adhering to the rules of the game offered.

Here we will discuss which are the 3 best starting hands in Blackjack, as well as the 3 worst starting hands in Blackjack and most importantly, why the hands are classified as good or bad. These 6 hands can be applied in physical casinos, as well as in online casinos.

The Best hands to get Started in Blackjack

Blackjack vs Any Card Not 10 or Ace

The best hand in Blackjack is intuitive; it’s when the player has a Blackjack (21), which consists of an Ace and a card of value 10 (for example, a Ten, Jack, Queen or King) to the player against any face-up card other than 10 or Ace. The mathematical value of the hand is 150% of the players bet in a traditional Blackjack game with a payout of 3:2. This means that for every $100 wagered when a player has a Blackjack, the player will win $150; as long as the dealer does not have a 10 or ace card, the player has no chance to push (when a tie occurs) the dealer.

The Difficult 20 vs 8

Hard 20 consist of two cards of 10 values. It is a very strong hand in Blackjack. It is most valuable against the dealer’s 8 cards up. The player wins 79.18% of his bet when he has a hard 20 against the dealer’s 8 open cards. For every hundred dollars wagered when the player has a card of 20 against dealers 8 and up, the player will win an average of $ 79.18. The only hand that can beat a 20 is a total of 21 from the dealer. In some cases, the dealer will draw this total through any number of combinations, such as six as the card in hand for a total of 14, and then draw a 7 for a total of 21. 

The Difficult 20 vs 7

The difficult 20 against 7 has a mathematical value of 77.32%. For every hundred dollars wagered when the player has a card 20 against dealers 7 and up, the player will win an average of $ 77.32. Card face-up 7 is important because the rules of the game dictate that the dealer should hold a total of 17. And because there are 10 more cards of value in the deck than any other card of value, there is a high probability of the dealer having a card of value 10 as his hand card. There is a finite probability that the dealer will tie for a total of 20 or 21, in cases where the dealer would push or beat the player, respectively.

Worst Hands in Blackjack

The 16 vs 10

A total of 16 players against the dealer’s 10 open cards is the worst starting hand a player can have. This total yields a negative expectation of 0.5398%. This means that for every $ 100 wagered in the situation where the player has a total of 16 against the dealer’s 10 open cards, the player will lose $ 53.98 in the long run. As the number of times, this situation increases the average loss will get closer to R $ 53.98. Occasionally, a player will draw a card of 5 or less and stay strong, and the dealer will have a weak card in his hand and be eliminated; thus counting victories. But when all the results are considered, the average loss for the player is 0.5398% of his bet.

The 16 vs AT

A total of 16 players against the dealer’s ace card is the second-worst starting hand a player can have. This total against the dealer’s open card yields a negative expectation for the player of 0.5171%. From the same derivation above, the player loses $ 51.71 for every $ 100 wagered in this scenario. A total of 16 for the player gives the least possible number of cards for the player to make a hand, while an Ace gives the highest number of cards for the dealer to make a hand.

The 16 vs 19

A total of 16 players against the dealer’s 9 open cards is the third-worst starting hand a player can have. This total against the dealer’s open card yields a negative expectation for the player of 0.5093%. From the same derivation as before, the player loses $ 50.93 for every $ 100 wagered in this scenario. A total of 16 against dealers with 9 cards face up gives only a few cards for the player to make a hand. A nine is a strong card for the dealer and, since the preponderance of cards in the shoe is 10 cards of value, there is a high chance that the dealer has a total of 19.

Summary

Each Blackjack starting hand, regardless of whether it is land-based or online Blackjack, has an inherent mathematical value associated with it. Ideally, a player would be better served by betting heavily in cases where he is winning a high percentage of his bet and a minimum amount when he is losing a high percentage of the bet. Card counting is a way of determining when these situations will occur.

In short, these are the different hands you can take when playing Blackjack. After carefully analyzing these, and taking into account the type of hand you have, it is important to go on training and to play in different ways to gain experience and build your own game strategies.

Good Bets!