On another note, I saw the dealer's hole card for one hand. She had a 10 facing and a 10 as the down card. I'm sitting on a hard 17. Do you hit and try to improve your hand. I did not hit.
The answer in the books is to DD that hand, however, I take into account where and how long I have been playing. If I'm at my home casino I may need to hold for longevity purposes. If I'm playing unrated on a trip, I DD and don't think twice about it and head straight for the door once the shoe is over. If I'm down for the session I may act like a gambler and make some "only way I can get even" comment. In other words the situation will dictate the play. Sometimes, you have to make a negative EV decision to prolong your positive EV going forward.
17 does not beat 20, so therefore, the proper play is to.....tell the critter you saw the hole card, and that it should be burned. If he buys it, you've got another kick at the cat. If he doesnt buy it - hit. You might get a 3 to tie, or a 4 to win.
Or, if you can surrender, do that. Or, if you do hit and get an ace or deuce for 18 or 19, you have to hit again.
Last edited by Freightman; 11-15-2016 at 07:50 PM. Reason: Add last line and then another
In this case if you have seen the dealer's hole card and it makes a total of hard 17 you do need to hit to improve your hand. There is a different strategy for hole card play. Basic Strategy is not valid anymore once you have seen the dealer's hole card. There was one idiot I was playing with today. I got a Blackjack she payoff my hand and skipped all the other players. She have an up card of 7 and mistakenly turn over a 5 to make the total 12. Then the pit boss came over and gave everyone a chance to improve their hand. One idiot was holding a total of 15 he hit the 15 and received a 10 and busted. The correct hole card strategy is to "stand" with a hard total of 12.
Last edited by seriousplayer; 11-15-2016 at 10:10 PM.
Last edited by cc12b; 11-16-2016 at 09:42 AM. Reason: add detail
And I would make the same statement about splitting tens true 12 also. The gain in EV is 100% worth any variance or heat elicited by this move. Getting backed off is not really the end of the world, you just move on to the next casino.
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