Once you understand how to play blackjack, you can get into a game without losing your bankroll. If you make your decisions by playing your hunches, you will lose in the long run—there is only one correct decision for any given play, and that decision is based strictly on mathematics. Whether or not you should hit or stand, double down or split a pair, depends on what the laws of probability dictate. Mathematicians, using computers, have matched every possible hand you might hold against every possible dealer upcard—and it's their way or the highway.

Basic strategy is the best way, mathematically, to play your hands if you are not counting cards.

Depending on the rules and the number of decks in use, basic strategy will usually cut the house edge to no more than about 1/2% over the player. This makes blackjack the most advantageous game in the casino, even if you are not a card counter.
To explain why various basic strategy decisions work would require extensive mathematical proof. Unless you understand the math, and have a computer to work it out, you'll have to accept basic strategy on faith.

There is an underlying logic to basic strategy, however, which can be understood by anyone who understands the rules of blackjack.

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