The Latest Advanced Blackjack Strategy Guide for Players in the USA

6 Deck Blackjack Advanced Strategy

Most brick-and-mortar and online blackjack casinos don’t use only a single deck but instead use multiple decks, so using a 6 deck blackjack advanced strategy is extremely useful.

This involves making specific tweaks to a standard system, including converting a running count to a true count, adjusting bet sizing, and deviations from basic strategy. It also takes into account advanced blackjack surrender strategy.

2-1-2 Strategy

The 2-1-2 or Manhattan strategy is an excellent example of blackjack bankroll management. This is a form of betting strategy that takes advantage of winning streaks. Players adjust their wager size based on specific winning patterns of previous hands.

Players start by betting 2 units. If they win, they reduce the next bet to 1 unit. If they win the second bet, they increase the bet size to two units. If the third bet wins, they increase it to three units. If they lose at any point, they restart the cycle.

Professional Blackjack Strategy

Professional players can follow advanced blackjack strategy tables and charts that come with specific betting systems. By precisely following the recommendations for each betting system, players reduce the chance of making losses and maximize their profits.

Hi-Lo

The Hi-lo system is one of the most common blackjack card counting advanced strategies and the system most people start with. The method works by keeping track of the ratio of high to low cards left in the deck. To do this, point values are assigned to cards which are:

When the count is positive, meaning there is a larger ratio of high cards (10-A), players are in an advantageous position, so should bet a higher amount. The higher the count, the more a player will bet.

Wonging

Wonging is named after Stanford Wong, the pen name of blackjack author Jack Ferguson, who developed and described this technique in his books.

In this advanced card-counting strategy, players observe a blackjack table without playing and will only start to play once the count is favorable. Players continue to play hands until the count is unfavorable. This strategy helps minimize losses and reduce the disadvantage counters have when playing at tables with a lot of decks in the shoe.

However, this can be quite a conspicuous method at live casinos, and you need to position yourself carefully to view a table and not be too obvious. You can do this quite easily when playing on a blackjack app or site’s live table.

Zen Card System

The Zen card system uses the same basic principle as the Hi-lo system but ramps it up a notch. It assigns value to cards like Hi-lo, but cards are assigned a number from -2 to +2, meaning there are five assigned values rather than the standard three. You can view the values assigned to cards below.

Expanding the value associated with cards makes this system more accurate than the standard Hi-lo method.

Omega II

The Omega system came to the attention of many when the book “Blackjack for Blood” by Bryce Carlson was published in 2001. This system also assigns a value between -2 to +2 to cards, like the Zen card system. However, the values are slightly different, as you can see below.

Tip #1: Master the Basics First

If you are reading this guide, chances are you have some experience playing blackjack and are already aware of basic strategy. However, if you are not, make sure to fully familiarize yourself with the basic strategy chart and betting recommendations before trying out advanced techniques.

Tip #2: Learn Card Counting Strategies

Card counting is the ultimate advanced blackjack strategy, as it produces a negative house edge. While it’s not simple to do, it’s not as difficult as many people expect, and with time and practice, anyone can master it.

It’s best to start with a simpler version such as the Hi-Lo strategy, and once you are confident in your ability, you can try using even more advanced versions like the Zen card system and Omega II. It’s important to note that card counting is impossible at RNG tables at online mobile casinos, as decks are often reshuffled after each hand.

Tip #3: Remember to Convert the Count

When using a card counting system in a game with more than one deck, which is going to be almost every live dealer blackjack game, it’s essential to convert the running count to the true count. This is simply done by dividing the running count by the number of decks. So, if you have a running count of +6 and the game is being played with 6 decks, the true count is 1 (6/6).

Tip #4: Determine Your Bet Spreadand Bankroll

When counting cards and using a blackjack strategy and advanced betting system, working out how much to bet and what bankroll you need is vital. The bet spread is the range you will be betting based on the count. You need to set your minimum and maximum bet and bet amount for the count before playing. For example.

In an ideal world, you would have an unlimited bankroll, as this would all but eliminate your risk of ruin. However, this isn’t possible in the real world, but aiming for at least 100x your average bet significantly decreases your chances of going bankrupt. So, in our above example, our median average bet is $40, so we would need a bankroll of at least $4,000.

Tip #5: Split and Split Again

When a blackjack advanced strategy chart dictates splitting a hand, you should always do it, even if this means splitting a hand that you’ve already split. For example, let’s say you hit a pair of eights and split them.

If one of the eight pairs with an eight again, you should split that hand again, leaving you with three hands. This also goes for doubling down. Let’s say one of the pairs of eights you split has a 3 dealt to it, and you have 11, you should then double down.