Blackjack Straetgies

When You Have 10 or 11 (Part II)

So?? Where's the power and/or purpose to double your 10 vs. the dealer's power card?? Even if dealer does show a weak 2 through 7 as the cards you can hope to beat the easiest, she still retains the power of hitting those breaking hands. You, the player, get only one card for a double down, while the dealer, fighting back, can continue to draw.

I am not telling you to not double your 10 at all. But at least restrict that move to the times the dealer is the weakest, which would be 3 4 5 6 7. Notice I did not even double the 10 vs. the dealer's deuce. That's because I respect it.

Let's go to your hand of 11 but you will see it is the same situation. You do not have the dealer in trouble, yet the old basic strategy suggests attacking those power cards. We'll go through it again, this time with you having 11 and the dealer again showing a Queen as the up card:

*    Ace 2 3 4 5, and again you have gar bage, to the tune of 12 through 16, definitely losing totals.
*    6 gives you 17, and again, at best a push, unless dealer breaks and we know that is only 25 percent of       the time.
*    7 gives you 18, less than an average winning hand.
*    8 9 10 jack Queen King, gives you 19 through 21 an excellent total to go to battle With.

But again, that is only six times out of thirteen cards you could draw, which puts you With a total at or above the average winning hand, leaving seven cards that could put you in the danger zone.

Merely go to the explanation with the 10 and you will see what the dealer could get, to match with her queen.
Six times she will end up with 19 or better, by the mere process of turning over her down card (9 through Ace). The 8 gives her the 18 that beats your 12 through 17 and ties your 18. The 7 gives her a very weak hand, but strong enough to bury your total of 12 through 16, which you are forced to sit with, because of the one card draw rule.

Even if she draws a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, the ability to draw that breaking hand will give her a one in five shot of getting to a standing position. By the sheer weight of numbers, I don't see any edge at all that doubling against those power cards will give you.

The chart shows DD against that 8 when you have 11 but I think an explanation is in order here. This is one of those superoptional moves. I allow a DD in this case but will tell you that 1, personally, do not double my 11 vs. the dealer's 8. 1 hit my 11 vs. the dealer's 8 because I respect that card and because I don't see a clear cut edge for me doubling my money against a card I respect.

You have my OK to double in this situation and you have my admittance as to what I would do. You're on your own NN4tb what you decide to do, but you know what my suggestion would be.

I went to great lengths explaining what the drawing of the thirteen possible cards could do to your 10 and/or 11, and in each case the dealer has the decided edge against us. But let us not forget these two facts:

1.    When we double, we get one card and if it puts us in a breaking situation, we can't draw to that breaking position to try and improve our total. The dealer can draw to her breaking hands.

2.    We are risking double our original bet and fighting a dealer's power card to boot, six out of thirteen times.
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