The blackjack basic strategy is based on the busting odds, these tell you what are the odds for you to bust when your hand value is X and you wish to hit, meaning to ask the dealer for another card. The following table describes the busting odds which are used in blackjack basic strategy and can help at our variety of blackjack casinos:
| Hand Value | Busting Odds When Hitting |
| 11 or Less | 0% |
| 12 | 31% |
| 13 | 39% |
| 14 | 56% |
| 15 | 58% |
| 16 | 62% |
| 17 | 69% |
| 18 | 77% |
| 19 | 85% |
| 20 | 92% |
| 21 | 100% |
It seems that many blackjack players use the busting odds too frequently and rely too much on it, which is awful. There's no logic in not hitting in certain cases. When you hold a hand of 7/7 you might not want to hit, since you have 56% odds for busting, but in such case there's place for other basic blackjack strategy, such as the splitting pairs strategy, which in this case advise to split the cards.
You might as well feel lucky in some cases and you might consider other basic blackjack strategy as doubling down strategy, which might advise in some cases to double even when the busting odds are against you.
Finally, using the busting odds is important, but don't let the odds take over your game since you won't be winning money in the long run.
Article contributed by Sam Marshall 27th of February '06