Mimicking the Dealer in Blackjack
Written May 22, 2008 by Jack Jones
There are people out there who mimick the dealer when playing blackjack and call that a strategy. Just because the dealer hits up to 16 and always stands on soft 17 or more doesn’t mean that you have to.
The advantage the dealer has in blackjack doesn’t come from when they hit or stand, but on being able to go after the player has acted on his hand. Rule variations will have an effect on the player’s expected return, but the casino’s advantage is when players hit away and bust before the dealers exposes what they have hiding under their hole card. Players are able to quit while they are ahead and that’s why they have a fighting chance.
If you mimick the dealer in entirely, and not only hit 16 or less and stand on 17 or more, but also never split pairs or double down, then by using eight decks the house edge would be 5.5%, worse than the Average Joe, seat-of-his-pants player.
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