The Best Time to Double Down
Many novice online Blackjack players have approached me and asked when is the
best time to double down? This is a very good question. But first, let me
briefly explain what doubling down actually means.
As you would gather from its name, doubling down is simply that, when you double
the size of your bet during a hand. The difficult part though is deciding
exactly the best time to double down.
Normally you would double down when you are extremely confident that your
initial two cards will beat the dealers hand. You might be thinking that
doubling down sounds like a pretty risky proposition and you would be right.
However, you need to understand the odds of online Blackjack to appreciate the
importance of doubling down.
In online Blackjack, all Blackjack for that matter, the odds are stacked against
you, the player. Why? Because of every 100 hands you are dealt, you will lose
approximately 55 of them.
As scary as that sounds, that's gambling folks. But
hang on for a second, if those are the odds then how do online Blackjack players
come out ahead?
The answer is by being skillful enough to double down at the right time. In
other words, by taking full advantage of those hands you do win.
So, If you take
a look at your 45% success rate and factor in hands that you double down on and
win, you can see how to get ahead in online Blackjack.
Of course, this brings us back to the question of when should you double down. The answer is
relatively simple, when the dealer is showing either a 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. These
are the cards where the dealer has the biggest chance of busting.
Look at the
table below to see the percentage chances of the dealer busting:
| Dealer Up Card
Showing |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
Ace |
| Chance of Dealer Busting |
35% |
37% |
40% |
42% |
42% |
26% |
24% |
23% |
23% |
17% |
If you stick to these percentages and learn to follow your gut feel, you should be
well on your way to winning big at online Blackjack.
Other Articles:
Online Blackjack Shuffle TrackingOnline Blackjack HistoryOnline Blackjack CheatingWild Jacks Casino Percentage PayoutsOnline Blackjack TipsWhy Play BlackjackMultiplayer BlackjackBlackjack Glossary
|
