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Playing the Hard Hands in Blackjack

Unlike the other card games we have around, blackjack doesn't rely heavily on a player's luck. A huge part of winning the game requires strategy. A player's card skills, reasoning ability, and speed of thought count as determining factors during the game. One of the tools of the trade a player needs to learn is how to play hard hands.

A player usually begins by learning the ground rules in blackjack. Eventually he adds a few other items such as strategy, soft hands and hard hands. We'll discuss how to play hard hands in blackjack.

A hard hand is basically a hand that does not have an Ace. Players will get hard hands every now and then during a game. A player will increase his chances of winning if he knows how to play the hard hands correctly.

To play the hard hands correctly here's what we would need to do. First step would be to check what is the dealer's up card. After taking note of that, we'll check the two cards dealt to us initially. A rule of thumb is that we should always stand if our card value totals to 17 to 21.

In case our card value totals to eight or less than that, it is correct to hit. We double when the dealer's up card is three to six and our card value totals to nine. If these conditions are not met, then we hit.

If the dealer's face card would have a value of two up to nine and if our card value totals to ten we go for a double.

If ever our hard hand would total to eleven we go for a double if our dealer would have an up card of two up to ten.

It is recommended to always hit when we see that the dealer's face card is an ace.

If our hard hand totals to twelve and the dealer's face card were a two or three the best move would be to hit.

And if our dealer's face card is a four, or a five, or a six the best advice is to stand. And in case this is not so, we then are obliged to go for a hit.

It is a good advice to stand if our hard hand total is from 13 up to 16, and the dealer's face card is from two to six. If this is not the case then we will have to go for a hit.

Since every player can expect to get a hard hand it is wise to learn how to play these correctly. Knowing how to play these hands in blackjack significantly raises our skill level.