Expected Value Blackjack

• Expected Value Blackjack
• Card Values Blackjack
• Expected Value Calculator Blackjack
• Blackjack Expected Value Table

If you’re going to write about the worst blackjack mistakes you can make, you should probably start by defining what a blackjack mistake is and what makes one such mistake worse than another.

Expected Value Blackjack

Expected Value (EV): The statistical amount that any given time period is worth. Even though results rarely equal a player’s expected value in the short run, the Expected Value is the amount a hand is theoretically “worth.” Given enough time, actual results will inevitably catch up with Expected Value. The part of the card that matters when playing Blackjack is its number value. For the actual numbered cards, you can gather that their card value is equal to the actual number they represent. Cards 2 through 10, no matter the suit, represent that number. Face cards, whether it’s.

A blackjack mistake, for the purpose of this post, is a deviation from basic strategy. Mathematically speaking, every possible decision in every possible situation in blackjack has an expectedvalue. The play with the highest expected value is the correct play.

Card Values Blackjack

Any deviation from that (other than deviations based on counting cards) is a mistake.

How do you decide which mistakes are worse than others?

Blackjack: the concept of expected value. By Andrew W Scott. Written by Andrew W Scott. This article first appeared in the Nov/Dec 2010 issue of World Gaming magazine. Our resident blackjack gurus explain EV, a fundamental gaming concept understood by all expert players. In several of our prior articles we’ve mentioned the concept of expected value (EV), and said that we’d explain it more. Only blackjack is supported at this time. The player speed input and software selection pulldown are used to estimate your rate of play. You can modify this estimate by changing the Hands per Hour input field from the default value.

Expected Value Calculator Blackjack

The biggest mistakes in blackjack basic strategy are the ones with the worst mathematical expectation.

Of course, some of these mistakes are so boneheaded that no one would ever make such a mistake. I’ve eliminated these mistakes from consideration.

Here’s an example.

You have a hard total of 20. If you hit this total, you’ll almost certainly bust. That’s a terrible expected value, but I don’t know any player foolish enough to make such a mistake.

Blackjack Expected Value Table

With that understanding, here are ten of the worst possible basic strategy decisions you could make when playing blackjack.