Blackjack Counting Basic Strategy 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of using basic strategy in blackjack?
- To guarantee a win on every hand
- To minimize the house edge to roughly 0.5% (Correct answer)
- To memorize which cards have been played
- To increase the bet size at the right moments
Correct answer: To minimize the house edge to roughly 0.5%
Basic strategy minimizes the house edge to approximately 0.5% by making the mathematically optimal decision on every hand.
Question 2: You have a hard 15 and the dealer shows a 10. In a game that offers surrender, what should you do?
- Stand
- Hit
- Double down
- Surrender (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Surrender
Surrender hard 15 against a dealer 10 because the expected loss from surrendering (50%) is less than from playing the hand.
Question 3: You have a pair of 4s against a dealer 5. What is basic strategy?
- Split (Correct answer)
- Hit
- Double down
- Stand
Correct answer: Split
Split 4s against dealer 5 or 6 because the dealer is weak and you can create two better starting hands.
Question 4: A player holds a soft 20 (Ace-9). What should they always do?
- Double down against weak upcards
- Stand (Correct answer)
- Hit to try for 21
- Split the aces
Correct answer: Stand
Always stand on soft 20 because it is an excellent hand and trying to improve risks making it worse.
Question 5: You have a hard 17 against a dealer Ace. What does basic strategy say?
- Hit
- Stand (Correct answer)
- Surrender
- Double down
Correct answer: Stand
Stand on hard 17 even against a dealer Ace because the risk of busting outweighs the benefit of drawing.
Question 6: How does the number of decks in a game affect basic strategy decisions?
- More decks always mean you should hit more aggressively
- Fewer decks slightly favor the player and change a few decisions (Correct answer)
- Deck count never affects basic strategy
- More decks mean you should always double down on 11
Correct answer: Fewer decks slightly favor the player and change a few decisions
Fewer decks slightly improve player odds and change a handful of edge decisions, such as doubling soft 18 or hard 11 vs Ace.
Question 7: You have a pair of 6s against a dealer 7. Basic strategy says to:
- Split
- Hit (Correct answer)
- Stand
- Double down
Correct answer: Hit
Hit a pair of 6s against a dealer 7 because the dealer is too strong to make splitting a profitable play.
Blackjack Counting Basic Strategy 4
What is the primary purpose of using basic strategy in blackjack?