--- title: 'The Winning Blackjack Basic Strategy' source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=HeVclniKpHs' video_id: 'HeVclniKpHs' date: 2026-07-07 duration_sec: 0 --- # The Winning Blackjack Basic Strategy > Source: [The Winning Blackjack Basic Strategy](https://youtube.com/watch?v=HeVclniKpHs) ## Summary Basic strategy is the mathematical foundation for beating blackjack, telling you the correct decision for every hand. It reduces the casino's edge from 1-2% to about 0.5%, saving you significant money over time. This video explains what basic strategy is, where it comes from, and why charts can vary based on rules. ### Key Points - **Basic Strategy Defined** [00:01] — Basic strategy tells you exactly how to play every hand: when to hit, stand, double down, split, or surrender. - **Origin of Basic Strategy** [01:22] — Basic strategy was figured out using early computers and has been revised as casino rules change. - **Impact on House Edge** [01:49] — Average player faces 1-2% disadvantage; perfect basic strategy reduces it to about 0.5%. - **Two Ways Basic Strategy Helps** [02:04] — It helps you win more by maximizing advantageous hands (doubling/splitting) and lose less by minimizing losses on bad hands. - **Example: 16 vs Dealer Ace** [02:29] — Hitting a 16 against an ace loses less money over time than standing, even though you'll often bust. - **Why Charts Differ** [02:55] — Differences arise from rules like dealer stands on soft 17 (S17) vs hits (H17), number of decks, and European no-hole-card rules. - **Minor Impact of Rule Variations** [03:47] — Differences in basic strategy due to rules only move the edge by about 1/1000th of a percent. - **Recommendation: Learn Generic Chart** [04:14] — For 99% of players, learning a generic H17 multi-deck chart is best; rule-specific deviations can be learned later. ### Conclusion Mastering basic strategy is essential before attempting card counting. It cuts the casino edge to 0.5%, but to truly beat blackjack, you need additional techniques like counting. ## Transcript blackjack and not known what decision to make, this video is for you. The absolute foundation to beating blackjack is basic strategy. If you don't have this mastered, you don't have a chance of beating the game. In this video, I'm going to explain what basic strategy is, where it comes from, and why not all where it comes from, and why not all basic strategy charts are the same. I'm Colin from Blackjack Apprenticeship. I've played blackjack professionally. I've run blackjack teams responsible for being casinos for roughly $4 million. And now I provide tools, training, and community for card counters at Blackjack the blackjack table and you get dealt a hand and you're not exactly sure what decision to make. What do you do? You can follow your gut. Not very has been made off of people following their guts. You can ask other players at the table, even the dealer or the pit boss. They always have an opinion, but it's not always right. What's a book say? 12 is a plane. Someone might even reference the book. Yes, I follow the book. What is this mythological book? Where did it come from? Did the casinos create the book? Enter Basic Strategy. Basic Strategy tells you exactly how to play every hand of blackjack. When to hit, when to stand, when to double down, when to split, and even when to surrender. Basic strategy was figured out a long time ago using very early computers, but it's been revised over the years according to various casino rule changes. And blackjack nerds like me use computer simulation software to run basic strategy charts based on any game you find out there. And it will tell you the mathematically correct decision for could be dealt. While the average blackjack player will be playing with a 1 to 2% disadvantage, the perfect basic strategy player will be playing with about half of 1% disadvantage. That's the difference between losing about $20 an hour on average or losing $80 an hour. But because basic strategy is the hand at the table, these aren't just suggestions that you can then build your own strategy on top of. These are the correct decisions to make every time. How does basic strategy help? Well, first off, it can help you to win more money at times. It'll tell you when to double down or split to maximize hands where you have the advantage. The second way basic strategy helps is it'll help you lose less money. Let's take an example where you have a 16 against a dealer's ace. Most players don't like hitting a 16 because the odds are they're going to bust and lose. And the reality is the odds are that you are going to lose if you hit a 16. However, the odds are even greater that you lose if you stand on a 16 against an ace. So, over the long haul, you're going to lose less money by hitting a 16 against an ace than by ignoring basic strategy and standing on a 16 against an ace. If you search online for basic strategy, you're going to find a number of different charts that might have small differences. Why is that? Because nearly every rule at the blackjack table changes basic strategy. One of the common differences on charts is if it's based on whether the dealer stands on a soft 17 or hits a soft 17. So let's say the dealer has an ace six. Are they going to then stay at 17 or are they going to then hit that hand? A few playing decisions like doubling an 11 against an ace or doubling ace8 against a six are going to be different depending on whether the casino stands on a soft 17 or hits a soft 17. However, today 80% of the casinos in the US are based on an H17 or dealer hitting a soft 17 game. And that's why our generic basic strategy is assuming those H17 different charts based on whether you're playing a single deck game, a double deck game, or a shoe game like a four to eight deck blackjack game. However, I've run the numbers on this, and the difference in playing a basic strategy based on these different rules is going to move the needle about 1/ 1,000th of a different charts based on different numbers of decks being dealt. Do you play in a country like the UK where the dealer doesn't take a whole card? If so, we call this European nohole card and you're going to have to learn a than bog people down with decision fatigue, we found it's far better for 99% of people to just learn our generic basic strategy chart. get it down about beating the game and you're going differences based on rules will be solved when you learn the deviation charts. You can download either the generic basic strategy chart or a rule apprentichip. We have links below in the description. However, having the chart is just the first step. Don't just take the chart with you to the casino. What you really need to do is memorize it and be able to play it perfectly. To help, we have a free basic strategy drill at blackjack apprentichip. That too can be knowing basic strategy mean that you're going to win every hand in the casino? Of course not. What it's going to do is help you cut the casino's edge to about half of 1%. To beat blackjack, you're going to need more. And that's where get ahead of ourselves. First, it's time to learn basic strategy. And I've got a video right here that will teach you the fastest way to learn the basic strategy chart. in the game of [Music]