For those of you who do not gamble often and/or are planning a trip to Las Vegas or a local casino, and are still looking for a great opportunity to get some good odds and win some money, taking a crash-course in the basic blackjack strategy is a good idea.

If players remain consistent with the following ten easy-to-remember steps, they will drastically help themselves by lowering the Casino Edge and increasing their chances of leaving the blackjack table with some profit in their pocket.

And so here is your crash course to incorporating some last-minute strategy into your blackjack game:

Rule 1: Always take a hit if your cards total nine or less;
Rule 2: Double down your bet if your cards total 10 or eleven, AND the dealer's upcard is less than 10.  If the dealer's upcard is 10 or greater, hit without doubling down;
Rule 3: If your card total is 12 through 16, hit only if the dealer is showing a seven or higher.  If the dealer's upcard is less than seven, stand;
Rule 4: Always stand if your first two cards total 17 or more.
Rule 5; If your cards total a Soft 13 through a Soft 19 (an Ace with a 2,3,4,5,6,7 or 8), double down if the dealer shows an upcard of 5 or 6;
Rule 6: Always hit if holding a Soft 17 or lower;
Rule 7: Always stand if holding a Soft 19 (Ace with an 8);
Rule 8: Always spilt a pair of 8's and Aces, but never split a pair of 4's, 5's and 10's;
Rule 9: Split all other pairs only when the dealer is showing less than 6;
Rule 10: Do not take insurance, ever.

Practice on a single deck of cards when given the chance, and use this strategy on every hand.  Breaking it down into ten steps will facilitate the memorization process, which can be put to use with only a couple of hours of focused practice.

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