Who invented blackjack basic strategy

Blackjack basic strategy was created in by a group of soldiers who were playing poker during their off duty time in the U. Army Barracks in Aberdeen Maryland. During this poker game someone asked to play Blackjack as their dealers choice. This caused a discussion to break out over what rules to use while playing Blackjack. After that poker game he asked Wilbert Cantey an Army Sergeant if he could use the adding machines located on the army base during his off duty time to work out the optimal way to play Blackjack.

Cantey also had a masters degree in mathematics and a very keen interest in gambling which had gotten him into hot water in the past. Less than legalized and player-banked games were common everywhere else in the early going. She banked and dealt the game of 21 to any takers, and whatever her math talents or card handling skills, enjoyed much success as an expert at the game.

Cheaters and sleight of hand artists abounded as there were little in the way of checks and balances for a game that was not technically legal. House-banked blackjack was established in Nevada in Once its lawfulness was established, the dire need to have game standards and controls in place to regulate the action could finally begin to be met and enforced. The stage was set. Thirty years would pass before the true birth of card counting.

But in those thirty years, surely there were players who thought about the game and how to play it best. Many of them are referenced by those who came after them and explored the facets of the game after them.

There was Jess Marcum, kicked out by many a beaten and confused casino who may have been beating blackjack by counting cards before There were colorful characters with names like System Smitty and Greasy John. Four players Baldwin, Cantey, Maisel, McDermott wrote a book Playing Blackjack to Win with explicit reference to a basic strategy and to keeping track of cards as a way to tilt the game in your favor.

But this book did not quite capture the attention of the casinos or the public the way that Beat the Dealer did in Using early computers, Edward O. Thorp examined whether keeping track of the cards could lend itself to gaining an advantage over the game. That or playing old timey football with a leather helmet and a mouth full of missing teeth. Thorp, You Sally! With some basic mental gymnastics, you can gain a clear advantage over the game.

His conclusions, published in the book Beat the Dealer in , marked the birth of card counting. This was in the day of single-deck only games. The book hit big, landing on the New York Times Bestseller list. Everybody and their brother read Beat the Dealer and sped off to the casino to try and beat the game. The casinos were overwhelmed. Never mind that the system was very difficult for the average player to pull off effectively. Everybody reached back and took a swing, and as a result, Vegas ducked.

The casinos waffled. On the one hand they ran scared, realizing that they were being overrun with information to beat the game.

They implemented changes. Single-deck games became two and four-deck games. No longer did dealers deal most of the way through the cards before reshuffling. But at the same time, casinos were adding tables to the floor to accommodate the influx of new blackjack enthusiasts. The casinos, by and large, were still winning big. Computer programmer Julian optimized it. Others quickly jumped into the game. The advent of computers now began to give blackjack players the opportunity to attack the game, even as casinos changed it.

And modified counting systems gave players a way to determine their advantage quickly and easily, even as the number of decks in the shoe swelled.

Casinos wanted to keep the game attractive enough to insure people would try to beat it. Pit bosses and dealers have been known to hand out basic strategy cards at the table.

So what were casinos to do with those who did know how to beat the game? Las Vegas private detective Robert Griffin saw an opportunity and the casinos jumped at the chance. Griffin compiled a book with pictures of and information about known or suspected card counters, and hawked his book in regularly updated subscription form to every casino in town, which they quickly lapped up.

This eased the pressure on their end to assess each suspected counter individually. They could ostensibly work together to defeat card counters. Easier said than done. In , counter Al Francesco was playing blackjack and looking for ways to avoid heat.

He was in a casino with his brother, also a card counter. The front of the flashcards contains the total of your hand whereas the optimal plays for the corresponding hands are printed at the back. When unsure about the move for a tricky hand, just flip the card over for guidance.

Some online variations of blackjack, and particularly those developed by Microgaming , feature basic strategy suggestions you can turn on and off. You can play their demo versions for free until you commit the strategy to memory and transition to real-money wagers.

As important as it is, basic strategy is often misunderstood by rookie blackjack players. Some blackjack novices believe the correct plays suggested by the strategy rest on the assumption the dealer always has a ten in the hole. This causes them to deviate from the optimal moves for certain tricky hands, which inevitably costs them money over time.

The assumption is altogether nonsensical since the ten-value cards comprise only In other words, there are plenty of other card denominations that could help the dealer improve their hand instead of busting.

However, had this been the case, the strategy would have suggested to draw to hard 17 rather than standing when the dealer has 8 through ace.

Another common misconception about basic strategy is that it, alone, helps the player gain an edge over the house, which it does not. This would have been the case with single-deck variations where the dealer stands on all 17 S17 , you can double after a split DAS , and blackjacks pay at odds of 3 to 2. Unfortunately, such games are virtually impossible to find. Blackjack players can gain the upper hand only by adequate game selection, counting cards, and exploiting casino promotions.

Some blackjack players go as far as doubting the efficiency of basic strategy. They play by intuition and even win in the short term due to variance until the tables eventually turn on them, causing them to suffer big losses.

Basic strategy is a product of rigid computations and simulations. It has been tested on computers on multiple occasions. Its efficiency is indisputable. Ignore its suggested plays and you are doomed to lose big in the long term.

So far we have discussed total-dependent basic strategy where you play optimally using limited information, i. However, there is a way to further take away from the house edge, causing it to drop even lower. This is achievable by following composition-dependent CD basic strategy.

The name explains it all. Blackjack pro Peter A. Griffin introduced the concept of composition-dependent strategy in the late s, describing it in his now-classic book The Theory of Blackjack. Total-dependent strategy dictates you should surrender the 16 or hit it if the former play is unavailable.

Meanwhile, composition-dependent strategy says that you are better off standing with three-card totals of 16, such as , , and This is because some of the low-value cards have left the deck, slightly increasing the odds of busting with a hit.

One simple way to memorize this deviation is to take notice of whether or not the hand contains a 4 or a 5. If it does, you stand, if not, you hit. A hard 15 versus a dealer with a ten-value card is another lousy total players are recommended to surrender, if possible. The total should be hit in case late surrender is not offered. Under composition-dependent strategy, the hand should be hit rather than surrendered provided it consists of an 8 and a 7. This is because the odds of busting decrease slightly in favour of hitting with this hand composition.

Two of the cards you can bust with have been removed from play. Another tricky situation is when you hold a hard 12 while the dealer exposes a 4. Players who abide by total-dependent strategy must stand in this case.

Composition-dependent strategy, however, states you should hit if your 12 comprises a ten-value card and a deuce and stand with , , and