What does double down mean in blackjack? When a game starts, initial bets are usually placed before the playing cards are dealt. In majority of situations, you will not get another opportunity to. Mar 12, 2020 So, here is the breakdown of the situations in which it is best to double down when playing online blackjack: Hard 9 vs. A weak upcard Players should always double down if they have a hard 9 and the dealer is showing a low card (2 through 6).

Most people know that, in blackjack, you can hit or stand – either take another card or stick with the total you have. Most people know about doubling down, too, but if you’re a novice, learning how to double down can be the biggest game-changer of them all.

• What does double down expression mean? Definitions by the largest Idiom Dictionary. In blackjack, to double one's wager after seeing one's initial hand of cards.
• Double down is a blackjack term and is the name of one of the decisions that a player can make as the game goes on. In most variants of blackjack, the player is allowed to double his initial bet in exchange for being forced to stand right after receiving one more card.

That’s the purpose of this post – to explain how, when, and why to double down in a blackjack game.

How to Double Down

Doubling down in blackjack means doubling the size of your original bet and agreeing to take one (and ONLY one) additional card.

It’s not enough to just announce that you’re doubling down and put another chip in the betting circle, either.

To double down in a live casino, you put the extra chip next to your original bet, and then you hold up ONE finger while announcing, “double down.”

Do NOT hold up two fingers when you want to double down. Holding up two fingers means you’re splitting. This only matters when you have a pair, but sometimes you have a hand where both options are available.

Why and When Should You Double Down

You double down for the same reason card counters double down – you have an edge, and you want to get more money into action.

What do you mean, you’re thinking. Doesn’t the casino always have an edge in blackjack?

They do, yes, but in any given hand, the house’s edge might be different. And it changes according to how you play that hand.

If that’s not obvious, think about what happens to your expected value when you have a total of 21 on your first two cards compared to you expected value when you have a total of thirteen on your first two cards.

One hand is probably going to beat the dealer. The other hand is probably going to get beat, either by busting or because the dealer gets a higher total.

Here are some hard hands where doubling down makes sense, at least some of the time:

1. 9
2. 10
3. 11

If the dealer has a three, four, five, or six showing, you should double down with a nine. That’s because of two factors:

For one thing, the next card won’t bust you, no matter what. And most of the time, you’re going to wind up with a solid total.

For the other thing, the dealer has a better than 35% probability of busting with any of these hands.

Combine those two factors, and it’s obvious why you’d want to get more money into action in exchange for only taking one more card.

If you have a hard total of ten, that’s even better. You’ll double down against any dealer up card other than a ten or an ace. (Obviously, those are strong cards for the dealer to have, too.)

Finally, if you have a hard total of 11, you should always double down – unless the dealer has an ace showing. (In fact, you’ll NEVER double down if the dealer is showing an ace.) The probability of getting a ten as your next card – giving you the best possible hand – is better than the probability of getting any other single card.

Most casinos allow you to double down on any of these three totals, but they’ll often have restrictions on which other totals you can double down on. When in doubt, ask the dealer. When evaluating blackjack games, always try to go for the games where you have more freedom in your decisions rather than less.

You’ll also often double down on soft totals, but only when the dealer is likely to have a stiff hand. The soft hands you’ll consider doubling down on are soft sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen. (A “soft” hand is one in which you have an ace that might count as one or as eleven.)

But you’ll only double down on one of these soft hands if the dealer has a card lower than six showing. Those are the hands where the dealer is more likely to go bust. (They’re called “stiff hands.”)

Special Situations

What about after a split? Can you double down on your new total?

In most casinos, doubling after a split is NOT allowed. If you can find a casino that allows you to double after splitting, though, the house edge on that game is much better than usual – unless the casino has other rules like 6/5 payouts for blackjack, which more than compensates for that tiny percentage they’re giving up.

You’re never allowed to double down after taking a hit. You’re only allowed to double down on your first two cards. If you COULD double down after hitting, you’d have a big edge over the casino under almost any set of rules – even though the times when it would be the correct play wouldn’t be many.

You also can’t double down on a total of 21. Some people might want to double down when they’re dealt a blackjack, because of their hope that they’d get a card that wouldn’t hurt their hand much.

But you’re better off taking your 3 to 2 payout on the blackjack, anyway.

What You Risk When You Double Down

When you think about how many cards of each value are in the deck, it’s easy to see how many basic strategy decisions make sense. There are more tens in the deck than anything else – sixteen of them, total. That’s still not enough to make it the likeliest next card you’ll get, but a lot of others cards – sevens, eights, or nines – will almost always help your hand when you double down.

The risk you take is that you’ll get a six or lower. In fact, the lower the card you get, the worse it is for you.

Suppose you have a hard total of eleven, and you decide to double down. Almost a third of the time, you’ll get a ten, giving you a total of 21.

But another third of the time, you’ll get a six or lower. A six gives you a total of seventeen, which isn’t awful, but a four or five is awful. You’ll wind up with a total of fifteen or sixteen, which is hardly favorable.

Some conservative players prefer to avoid doubling down because of this, but they’re not thinking clearly. In blackjack, you always want to make the move that gives you the best possible expected return.

And that move is obvious in most situations where you might want to double down.

What Does It Mean To Double Down In Blackjack Card Game

One More Thing to Avoid

I know I’ve already explained how to add to your bet and signal to the dealer that you want to double down, but I want to leave you with one caveat:

When you put that second bet up there, don’t put it on top of the chips that are already there. Put it next to your original bet.

When you put chips on top of other chips at the table, the casino worries that you might have tampered with the chips.

They want to avoid that, and you want to avoid the appearance of that.

When playing blackjack at a physical or land-based casino, the most frequent decision you’ll have to make is whether to hit or stand. While you can gain a feel for this over time simply through experience, you can expedite the process by studying up on the best moves to make in any given situation. If you’re ready to win more cash during blackjack games, read our handy guide to learn when to hit and when to stand.

Master the Basics

Before we delve into strategies, we want to make sure that you have a firm grasp on the basics of hitting and standing. The main premise of blackjack is to get a hand whose total exceeds the dealer’s hand, but without going over 21. When you hit, this means that you want to draw another card to try to improve your hand’s total. Conversely, when you stand, you are satisfied with your hand’s total and don’t want to draw any more cards. If you signal to the dealer that you want to stand, your hand for the round is completed. If you hit and your hand exceeds 21, you’ve busted.

We have two important gambling terms for you to memorize before learning strategies: hard hand and soft hand. A hard hand is any hand that doesn’t contain an ace, or in which an ace’s value is only 1. A 10-8 and a 7-A-10 hand are both hard 18s. A soft hand contains an ace that’s counted as an 11. For instance, an A-7 hand is a soft 18. If one of the first two cards you are dealt is an ace, you have a soft hand. This gives you an advantage. The ace has a value of 11, but if you take a hit and go over 21, its value reverts to 1. This eliminates the risk of busting after that hit, thus giving you the freedom to make moves that would normally be risky.

Now that you know the basic definitions, we’ll go through the circumstances in which you should hit or stand. We’ll provide you with the best strategies, as well as blackjack hit/stand tables that you can save for future reference.

Hitting and Standing with a Hard Hand

When playing blackjack with a hard hand, we would recommend the following:

• When you are dealt a total of 5-8, always hit.
• When you are dealt 9, hit if the dealer shows a 2 or a 7 through ace.
• If you have 10, hit if the dealer shows an ace or a 10.
• If your hand is 11, hit only if the dealer shows an ace.
• For a hand of 12, stand if the dealer shows a 4 through 6. If they show a 2, 3, or a 7 through ace, hit.
• When you have a hand of 13 through 16, stand if the dealer reveals a hand of 2 through 6. Otherwise, hit.
• When you are dealt 17 through 21, you should always stand.

Reference Chart

Blackjack hit or stand on a hard hand cheat sheet.

If you’re playing a multi-deck game and you have a hard 17, double down instead of taking a hit.

You’ll need to make some minor tweaks to our strategy, depending on the number of decks and rules you’re playing with. If you’re playing in a double-deck game, don’t hit when you have a 9 and the dealer has 2. If you have an 11 against the dealer’s ace, don’t hit either. In both cases, you should double down.

And lastly, if you’re playing in a single-deck game, double down under the following circumstances:

• You have 8 and the dealer has 5 or 6.
• You have 9 against the dealer’s 2.
• You have 11 and the dealer has an ace.

Hitting and Standing With a Soft Hand

Remember, you can’t bust a soft hand with a one-card hit. Taking that into consideration, our strategy for playing with a soft hand is much simpler than our hard hand strategy. Keep the following moves in mind:

• If you have a soft 19 or 20, you should always stand. You are unlikely to get a stronger hand than this.
• For a soft 18 against the dealer’s 2 through 8, stand. If the dealer shows 9, 10, or an ace, hit.
• If your total is soft 17 or less, you should always hit.

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What Are Your Other Options?

Hitting and standing aren’t the only options available to you in a game of blackjack. The following moves are also possible:

— Split. If you are initially dealt two cards of the same value, you can split your hand. You’ll place an additional wager equivalent to your first one, and then manage two hands rather than 1.

— Double Down.Gamblers can increase their potential profits with this move, but it comes with some inherent risk. To use this move, you must double the size with your bet and then receive one more card. After that, you must stand.

— Surrender. If you are not confident with your chances of winning the round, you have the option to surrender. When you use this move, you will only lose half of your bet.

Where to Play Blackjack Online

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