It’s a drag to
double down, get a small card, and have the dealer beat you with a 17. And it’s even a bigger drag when that happens three times in a row.
Bad streaks like that cause
Basil Nestor is the author of the new Playboy Complete Guide to Casino Gambling. This wonderful book teaches players how to avoid sucker bets and win more when playing gambling games. He is also the author of The Smarter Bet Guide series for video poker, slots, craps, and many other books about gambling. Basil's website is www.smarterbet.com some people to lose confidence. They abandon
basic strategy and play any old way, or they try to dissect luck and predict the future by studying trends and other non-mathematic strategies.
All that crystal ball stuff is fine, but playing blackjack without basic strategy is essentially a giant leap into the “guessing pool.” It works for people who are psychic, but regular folks don’t fare so well over time. In non-psychic circumstances, the best way to influence the outcome of a hand and play with an actual (though imperfect) knowledge of the future is to follow basic strategy.
But what if your ears start burning, and you have a spooky feeling that you should hit that hard 14 against a 6? It’s your money. Do what feels right. Just realize that you are paying for the pleasure of bucking the odds and making a guess.
You and the dealer have an equal probability of receiving any particular two-card hand, so it’s just a coincidence if it seems as if the dealer is getting all face cards and you’re getting all stiffs.