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There are five distinct actions in blackjack. They are hit, stand, double down, split a pair, and surrender. While many of them are fairly straight forward, others are a little more complex. For example, doubling down is where you double your bet in exchange for only receiving one additional card. As such, you must be certain that adding one card to your hand will give you the greatest chance of winning and making money. Knowing when to double down will help to increase your profitability in blackjack and consequently your enjoyment.
There are many specific scenarios where doubling down is the correct thing to do. If your hand has a hard total of eleven, you should double down in every situation except for when the dealer is showing an ace. If the hard total of your hand is ten, you should always double down unless the dealer is showing a ten or an ace. With a hand that consists of two fives, you should treat is as you would any other hard total of ten and double down as long as the dealer isn’t showing a ten or an ace. For soft totals it is a bit different. For ace 7, you should double down if the dealer is showing a 3-6, for an ace 6 you should double down if the dealer is showing a 3-6, for an ace 5 and ace 4 you should double down if the dealer is showing 4-6, and for an ace 3 or ace 2 you should double down if the dealer is showing a 5 or 6. |
