Proper use of the Double Down
While the basics of blackjack are pretty simple, being able to apply the rules and strategies efficiently and productively is much more difficult than many would have you believe. For example, you can double down in many situations but, for the most part, it is statistically incorrect to double down in many of these situations. In fact, in some cases where you would double down you might not because of what the dealer is showing and vice versa. Knowing when to double down and went to not can be a great boon to your blackjack play and help move the odds in your favor.
The number of scenarios where doubling down is the right play is actually relatively limited. For the most part, you really only want to double down if the total value of your cards is ten or eleven with a few exceptions. This is true for hard values only, which is where there is no ace involved. If the hard value is ten, you want to double down as long as the dealer is not showing an ace or a ten, in which case you should hit. If you have a hard eleven and the dealer is showing anything but an ace, you should double down. For soft values it is a little different and you only want to double down when the dealer is showing a lower card, something that is a six or below and only if you have a soft value that is below eighteen.
