Microgaming composition dependent exceptions
• Two cards
• Three cards
• Four cards
• Five cards
• Six cards
In single deck blackjack, the effect of the removal of certain
cards in certain situations is sufficiently great to enable strategic alterations
to be made that marginally improve the expected return. For example: basic
strategy says to stand on a 12 against a dealer 4. However, if the 12 is
composed of a ten and a two, that ten card reduces by 25% the chance of
busting with the draw of another card - there now being only three 10 cards
remaining in the deck as opposed to four. Hence, although basic strategy
says to stand, "composition dependent" strategy says to hit.The sum total of all the composition-dependent variations doesn't amount to more than a few tenths of a percent, but in the context of the Microgaming single deck game the house edge is already sufficiently low for those few tenths extra to make a respectable difference - 99.87% becomes 99.90%. It's quite a hard slog to learn ALL the variations, but if you want to shave the house edge down to the bare minimum it's well worth it. If nothing else, learn a few of the simpler ones such as the two-card and three-card alterations - it makes the game more fun. Thanks again to The Wizard Of Odds for use of these charts.
Two Cards
Basic Strategy Changes: None
Exceptions:
1. 8 (6+2) vs 5 = Hit (not relevant to Microgaming, since double on 8 is not an option)
2. 8 (6+2) vs 6 = Hit (also not relevant)
3. 12 (7+5) vs 3 = Stand
4. 12 (8+4) vs 3 = Stand
5. 12 (10+2) vs 4 = Hit
6. 12 (10+2) vs 6 = Hit
7. 13 (10+3) vs 2 = Hit
Three Cards
Basic Strategy Changes:
1. 12 vs 3 = Stand
2. 16 vs 10 = Stand
Exceptions:
1. 13 (10+2+A) vs 2 = Hit
2. 15 (5+5+5) vs 10 = Stand
3. 15 (6+5+4) vs 10 = Stand
4. 15 (6+6+3) vs 10 = Stand
5. 16 (6+5+5) vs 9 = Stand
6. 16 (8+4+4) vs 9 = Stand
7. 16 (8+5+3) vs 9 = Stand
8. 16 (6+6+4) vs 10 = Hit
9. 16 (7+6+3) vs 10 = Hit
10. 16 (8+6+2) vs 10 = Hit
11. 16 (9+6+A) vs 10 = Hit
Four Cards
Basic Strategy Changes:
1. 12 vs 3 = Stand
2. 16 vs 10 = Stand
Exceptions:
1. 12 (A+2+2+7) vs 3 = Hit
2. 12 (A+2+3+6) vs 3 = Hit
3. 12 (A+3+3+5) vs 3 = Hit
4. 12 (2+2+2+6) vs 3 = Hit
5. 12 (2+2+3+5) vs 3 = Hit
6. 12 (2+3+3+4) vs 3 = Hit
7. 15 (A+4+5+5) vs 10 = Stand
8. 15 (A+3+5+6) vs 10 = Stand
9. 15 (A+2+6+6) vs 10 = Stand
10. 16 (A+5+5+5) vs 7 = Stand
11. 16 (2+4+5+5) vs 7 = Stand
12. 16 (3+3+5+5) vs 7 = Stand
13. 16 (3+4+4+5) vs 7 = Stand
14. 16 (4+4+4+4) vs 7 = Stand
15. 16 (A+5+5+5) vs 8 = Stand
16. 16 (2+4+5+5) vs 8 = Stand
17. 16 (3+3+5+5) vs 8 = Stand
18. 16 (3+4+4+5) vs 8 = Stand
19. 16 (4+4+4+4) vs 8 = Stand
20. 16 (4+4+4+4) vs 9 = Stand
21. 16 (5+4+4+3) vs 9 = Stand
22. 16 (5+5+3+3) vs 9 = Stand
23. 16 (5+5+4+2) vs 9 = Stand
24. 16 (5+5+5+A) vs 9 = Stand
25. 16 (6+4+4+2) vs 9 = Stand
26. 16 (6+5+4+A) vs 9 = Stand
27. 16 (8+3+3+2) vs 9 = Stand
28. 16 (8+4+2+2) vs 9 = Stand
29. 16 (8+4+3+A) vs 9 = Stand
30. 16 (8+5+2+A) vs 9 = Stand
31. 16 (9+5+A+A) vs 9 = Stand
32. 16 (9+4+2+A) vs 9 = Stand
33. 16 (6+6+2+2) vs 10 = Hit
34. 16 (6+6+3+A) vs 10 = Hit
35. 16 (7+6+2+A) vs 10 = Hit
36. 16 (8+6+A+A) vs 10 = Hit
37. 16 (10+2+2+2) vs 10 = Hit
38. Soft 18 (A+2+2+3) vs 10 = Stand
Five Cards
Basic Strategy Changes:
1. 12 vs 3 = Stand
2. 16 vs 10 = Stand
3. 16 vs 9 = Stand
Exceptions:
1. 12 (A+A+3+3+4) vs 3 = Hit
2. 12 (A+2+2+2+5) vs 3 = Hit
3. 12 (A+2+2+3+4) vs 3 = Hit
4. 12 (A+2+3+3+3) vs 3 = Hit
5. 12 (2+2+2+2+4) vs 3 = Hit
6. 12 (2+2+2+3+3) vs 3 = Hit
7. 15 (A+A+A+6+6) vs 10 = Stand
8. 15 (A+A+3+5+5) vs 10 = Stand
9. 16 (A+A+4+5+5) vs 7 = Stand
10. 16 (A+2+3+5+5) vs 7 = Stand
11. 16 (A+2+4+4+5) vs 7 = Stand
12. 16 (A+3+3+4+5) vs 7 = Stand
13. 16 (A+3+4+4+4) vs 7 = Stand
14. 16 (2+2+2+5+5) vs 7 = Stand
15. 16 (2+2+3+4+5) vs 7 = Stand
16. 16 (2+2+4+4+4) vs 7 = Stand
17. 16 (2+3+3+3+5) vs 7 = Stand
18. 16 (2+3+3+4+4) vs 7 = Stand
19. 16 (3+3+3+3+4) vs 7 = Stand
20. 16 (A+A+4+5+5) vs 8 = Stand
21. 16 (A+2+3+5+5) vs 8 = Stand
22. 16 (A+2+4+4+5) vs 8 = Stand
23. 16 (A+3+3+4+5) vs 8 = Stand
24. 16 (A+3+4+4+4) vs 8 = Stand
25. 16 (2+2+2+5+5) vs 8 = Stand
26. 16 (2+2+3+4+5) vs 8 = Stand
27. 16 (2+2+4+4+4) vs 8 = Stand
28. 16 (2+3+3+3+5) vs 8 = Stand
29. 16 (2+3+3+4+4) vs 8 = Stand
30. 16 (3+3+3+3+4) vs 8 = Stand
31. 16 (10+3+A+A+A) vs 9 = Hit
32. 16 (7+6+A+A+A) vs 9 = Hit
33. 16 (10+2+2+A+A) vs 9 = Hit
34. 16 (7+5+2+A+A) vs 9 = Hit
35. 16 (6+6+2+A+A) vs 9 = Hit
36. 16 (7+4+3+A+A) vs 9 = Hit
37. 16 (7+4+2+2+A) vs 9 = Hit
38. 16 (7+3+3+2+A) vs 9 = Hit
39. 16 (6+3+3+3+A) vs 9 = Hit
40. 16 (7+3+2+2+2) vs 9 = Hit
41. 16 (6+3+3+2+2) vs 9 = Hit
42. 16 (6+3+3+2+2) vs 10 = Hit
43. 16 (7+6+A+A+A) vs 10 = Hit
44. 16 (10+2+2+A+A) vs 10 = Hit
45. 16 (6+6+2+A+A) vs 10 = Hit
Six Cards
Basic Strategy Changes:
1. 12 vs 3 = Stand
2. 16 vs 7 = Stand
3. 16 vs 9 = Stand
4. 16 vs 10 = Stand
Exceptions:
1. 12 (3+3+3+A+A+A) vs 3 = Hit
2. 12 (3+3+2+2+A+A) vs 3 = Hit
3. 12 (3+2+2+2+2+A) vs 3 = Hit
4. 12 (4+2+2+2+A+A) vs 3 = Hit
5. 15 (6+5+A+A+A+A) vs 10 = Stand
6. 16 (A+A+A+A+3+9) vs 7 = Hit
7. 16 (A+A+A+A+6+6) vs 7 = Hit
8. 16 (A+A+A+2+2+9) vs 7 = Hit
9. 16 (A+A+A+3+5+5) vs 8 = Stand
10. 16 (A+A+2+2+5+5) vs 8 = Stand
11. 16 (A+A+2+3+4+5) vs 8 = Stand
12. 16 (A+A+2+4+4+4) vs 8 = Stand
13. 16 (A+A+3+3+3+5) vs 8 = Stand
14. 16 (A+A+3+3+4+4) vs 8 = Stand
15. 16 (A+2+2+2+4+5) vs 8 = Stand
16. 16 (A+2+2+3+3+5) vs 8 = Stand
17. 16 (A+2+2+3+4+4) vs 8 = Stand
18. 16 (A+2+3+3+3+4) vs 8 = Stand
19. 16 (2+2+2+2+3+5) vs 8 = Stand
20. 16 (2+2+2+2+4+4) vs 8 = Stand
21. 16 (2+2+2+3+3+4) vs 8 = Stand
22. 16 (2+2+3+3+3+3) vs 8 = Stand
23. 16 (6+6+A+A+A+A) vs 9 = Hit
24. 16 (7+3+3+A+A+A) vs 9 = Hit
25. 16 (7+3+2+2+A+A) vs 9 = Hit
26. 16 (7+2+2+2+2+A) vs 9 = Hit
27. 16 (6+3+2+2+2+A) vs 9 = Hit
28. 16 (6+6+A+A+A+A) vs 10 = Hit
29. 16 (6+3+2+2+2+A) vs 10 = Hit
Page top
<<Back To Microgaming Single Deck