![]()  | 
    Dr. 
        Thorp's Beat The Dealer Basic Blackjack Strategy  | 
    
Here's a little something 
  I picked up a long time ago and thought you might find useful. 
  There was a book published some twenty years or more ago, called "Beat 
  The Dealer" by 
  a Dr. Thorp, who systematically played some 100 million blackjack hands using 
  computers 
  (obviously). From his results, he published the following tables in his book 
  which lay out the 
  proper basic strategies for playing blackjack hands. 
Of course be advised that 
  Lifesmith makes no claims other than what we state here. 
  I don't even enjoy playing blackjack (I find craps and poker more fun and profitable)...
The top table is for single 
  deck blackjack (harder to find but still present in Las Vegas 
  and Atlantic City) and the bottom table is for double deck blackjack (more common).
The legend for both tables is quite simple:
| H = Hit | S = Stay | D = Double Down | P = Split | 
|  
       Single Deck  | 
     
       Double Deck  | 
  
Keep in mind that these are 
  the basic strategies. There are adjustments 
  that need to be made to these plays depending on the particular house 
  rule variations and upon the leanness or richness of certain card types 
  remaining in the deck (for those card counters out there).
Enjoy and good luck; if you 
  make a ton of money using this, send me a 
  postcard from the casino!