An Expert Strategy for Blackjack Switch

Blackjack Switch Expert Strategy: Knowing When to Switch

Blackjack Switch is a unique blackjack variant that gives players an element of control in forming their hands. Thus, it is important that you know when to switch cards and when not to. Sometimes making the switch is the obvious thing to do – such as forming a blackjack with one hand. However, the cards you are dealt aren’t always going to be quite so complementary to each other.

In order to know when to switch, you should keep an eye on your dealer’s face-up card. According to our expert strategy, you should consider their face-up card either Strong, Weak or a Deuce. Strong cards include 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. Weak cards are 3, 4, 5 and 6. A Deuce is any of the twenty-four 2s in the shoe.

Once you have determined the category of the dealer’s face-up card, you should do the same with your own hand. There are four different types of categories for your hand, namely, Winner, Loser, Push and Chance.

To follow this Blackjack Switch strategy, you must always assume that the dealer’s face-down card is a ten-value card. Indeed, you must also do the same for yourself; assume that the next card you take will also be a 10. As seasoned blackjack players already know, just over 30% of the cards in a single deck are 10-value cards.

• The Winner is a blackjack hand that is formed by either blackjack, or a hard or soft total from 18-20 that beats the dealer (assuming they have a 10-value card faced down). A Winner hand can also be formed if the players total is between 8 and 11 and it beats the dealer’s face up card. For instance, if your total amounts to 10 and the dealer’s face-up card is only a 4. You can consider a split as a Winner hand if each of the cards qualify as a Winner compared to the dealer’s face-up card. Lastly, you will have a Winners hand if the dealer has 2 and you have either 10, 11, 19, 20 or 21. The reason behind this is that the dealer will not bust if they end up with 22, unlike in the standard form of blackjack.
• A Loser hand is determined by the face-up card of the dealer. If the dealer has a Strong face-up card, i.e. 7-A, you will be considered to have a loser hand if yours is lower than the dealer’s. For instance, if you have a total of 19 but the dealer’s face up card is 10, your hand is considered a Loser hand.
• Similarly, a Push hand is the assumption that your total is equal to that of the dealer’s Strong face-up card. If you have 19 or 20, whilst the dealer’s face-up card is either 9 or 10, you are considered to have a Push hand.
• A Chance hand essentially is a risk that you take. If your hand is either a soft or hard 3 to 7 or 12 to 17, whilst the dealer’s face-up card is 2 to 6, you are playing a Chance hand. Your hand is not that great, but neither is the dealer’s.

The easiest way to use this Blackjack Switch strategy is by pitting your hand against the dealer’s. After the cards are dealt, if you need to hit, imagine the next card that comes is a 10 and the dealer’s face-down card is also a 10. Will your hand win, lose or push?

The only exception, that makes the strategy slightly more difficult to calculate, is the face-up dealer 2. This is because the 2 is a stronger low face-up card and a player 7 or 17 is never considered a Winner or a Push.

The best to worst hands to hold are ranked Winner, Push, Chance and then Loser.

Although this strategy may appear tricky to grasp at first, it is not that difficult to pick up. Essentially, you’ve just got to keep tabs on both of your hands and the dealer’s face-up card. If you can spot the type of hands you have compared to the dealer’s, you can make the switch if necessary. To paint you a picture, we will give you two examples of how switching cards can be an excellent trick to use.

Example 1:

If you have 10-3 and 8-9 compared to the dealer’s face-up card of 9, you have two Loser hands - 13 and 17 are Loser hands compared to the dealer’s 19 (9+10). However, if you make the switch, the hands will change to 10-9 and 8-3. This switch will transform your hands into a Push and Winner hand – 19 is the Push and 21 is the Winner (11+10).

Example 2:

If you have 7-2 and 6-4 while the dealer’s face-up card shows 9, you have a Push and Winner hand. The strategy shows that your hand would amount to 19 and 20 whilst the dealer’s hand amounts to 19. In this case, making the switch would not be as beneficial.

By switching senselessly, your hand would change to 7-4 and 6-8. That in turn would make one hand into a Winner (7+4+10=21), whilst the other one would become a Loser hand (6+8+10=24). The more practice you get with this expert strategy, the wiser you will become in using it.

Possible Blackjack Switch Outcomes

Blackjack Switch is an exciting variant as it always puts you with two hands to control against the dealer’s one. There are 9 different outcomes of how your hands can fair against the dealer’s. Check them out below in ranking from best to worst.

1. Winner/Winner
2. Winner/Push
3. Winner/Chance
4. Winner/Loser
5. Push/Push
6. Push/Loser
7. Chance/Chance
8. Chance/Loser
9. Loser/Loser

Experts Tip

At Regent Play, our seasoned professionals have a pro Blackjack Switch tip for you. If you have challenging hands, for instance a Loser/Loser hand or Chance/Chance hand, you may want to switch it up. In some cases, a switch from Chance/Chance to Chance/Chance may be a wise decision to take. Likewise, changing Loser/Loser hands to other Loser/Loser hands can also prove to be beneficial.

According to expert tips, it is always better to have a hand that you can hit on rather than a hand that you must stand on. For instance, if you have a 6-7 in one hand and 5-8 in the other, whilst the dealer’s face-up card is 3, it amounts to two Chance hands. The total of the hands is 13, both Chance hands. If you make the switch, you will have 12 and 14, both of which also remain as Chance hands.

Any expert Blackjack Switch player would make the change as blackjack strategy suggests that you can hit on 12, whilst standing is required on 13 and 14. Thus, it is better to switch and hit on 12 while standing on 14. The same logic applies to having two Loser/Loser hands.

Although Blackjack Switch expert strategies may seem difficult to execute at first, we guarantee you that with a bit of practice, using the correct strategy will become second nature. At Regent Play, you are welcome to play the demo of Blackjack Switch at first, to try and apply our expert strategy before playing for any real money.