House rules
- 8 card decks
- Double allowed on 9, 10 or 11
- Dealer stands on soft 17
- Blackjack pays 3:2
- Insurance pays 2:1
- Dealer Blackjack takes original and busted bets only
- Split to 3 hands
- Aces split to 2 hands
- One card only on split aces
- Double after split allowed
- Double for less allowed
- First card burnt
Number of tables:
$10-$500: 16
$15-$700: 4
$25-$1000: 18
$50-$2000: 15
$100-$4000: 3
Basic strategy for Crown Casino
For each combination of Blackjack rules played at a Casino, there is a single action to take at any time which maximises the odds of the player winning the hand. The action depends on the card(s) the player has and the value of the dealer’s card which is displayed. The set of best actions is known as the Basic strategy.
Shown below is the Basic strategy for Crown Casino in Melbourne which will reduce the house advantage down to around 0.5%.
Always hit on soft 17 or less and hit on a soft 18 if the dealer shows a 9, 10 or Ace.
The dealer’s card is shown along the top, and the player’s total down the side. S = Stand, H = Hit, D = Double and SP = split.
For single cards:
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A | |
| 9 | H | D | D | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
| 10 | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | H | H |
| 11 | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | H |
| 12 | H | H | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
| 13 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
| 14 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
| 15 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
| 16 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
| 17 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
For pairs:
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A | |
| 2,2 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | ||||
| 3,3 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | ||||
| 4,4 | SP | SP | ||||||||
| 5,5 | ||||||||||
| 6,6 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | |||||
| 7,7 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | ||||
| 8,8 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP |
| 9,9 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | |||
| 10,10 | ||||||||||
| A,A | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP |
February 3rd, 2005 at 18:20
Why is it that you don’t hit a 9 against a 2? What kind of advantage do you end up with by not doubling? Furthermore, why don’t you stand on a 12 against a 2 or a 3? How is this advantageous? Another couple of questions involve the treatment of pairs. Why stand a pair of 9s against a 7 but then split them against an 8 or 9? This doesn’t make sense to me. Please help me, as I am curious as to what advantage these moves have.
February 9th, 2005 at 12:28
It’s all about the odds of your busting versus the dealer busting and the expected payoff for each hand.
I can’t find the book which I used to help calculate this strategy, but there are plenty of online calculators. Try http://www.blackjackinfo.com/bjbse.php and enter the Crown Casino rules.