The document provides tips and strategies for beginners playing blackjack, including: - Understanding the basic rules like getting cards to add up to 21 and what an "up card" is for the dealer. - Knowing the strategies for soft hands where an Ace counts as 11 and hard hands where an Ace counts as 1. - When to hit, stand, double, or split pairs of cards in different situations based on the dealer's up card. - Recommending practice with free play to master basic strategy before playing for real money.

1. Blackjack Hands Beginners
Anything new can be challenging but learning the basics of blackjack
doesn’t have to be. If all you know is that cards must add up to 21, believe it
or not, you’re already doing better than some. Let’s go over a few points to
help you at least look like you know what you’re doing at the tables.
To start, there are as many as 270 combinations considering 10 dealer up
cards multiplied by the 27 possible player hands. What’s an up card? It’s
exactly that, a card that the dealer leaves facing up.
What’s great about this game is that you don’t have to memorize a bunch of
rules to play it. All you need is a general understanding of how things work
in this game if you against the dealer.

2. Soft Hand Tips
Soft Hand is a card combination in which the Ace equals 11 points.
 stand, if you have already 19 or 20 points;
 stand, if you have 18, and the dealer has 7 or 8 points;
 double independent of your cards, if the dealer has 5 or 6 points;
 double, if the dealer has 4 points, and you have 15-18;
 double, if the dealer has 3, and you have 17-18;
 double, if the dealer has 2, and you have 18;
 hit in all other cases.
Hard Hand Tips
Hard Hand is a card combination in which the Ace equals 1.
 double, if the dealer has in his hand from 3 to 6;
 stand, if you have 17 points and up;
 double, if you have 11 points in the hand, and the dealer’s up card is
not the Ace;
 hit, if you have less than 12 points in the hand;
 double, if you have 10 points, and the dealer has no the Ace;
 surrender, if you have 15, and the dealer’s card equals 10;
 hit, if you have 12 points, and the dealer has 3 or 2;
 surrender, if you have 16 points, and the dealer has 10 and up;
 there is no need to hit in the other cases.

3. When playing with pairs of cards of the same value:
 split, if you have pairs of Aces or 8s;
 stand, if you have a pair of 10s;
 double, if you have a pair of 5s, and the dealer has 9 or less;
 stand, if you have a pair of 9s, and the dealer has the Ace or 10;
 hit, if you have pairs of 4s or 6s, and the dealer has 4 and less;
 hit, if you have a pair of 4s, and the dealer has 4 and less;
 hit, if the dealer has 8 and up, and you have a pair of cards from 2 to 7;
 split pairs of cards in all other cases.
To master the blackjack basic strategy you can experiment with free play
before diving into the real money pool.
The following table will help you with the card counting as well as with
making the correct decisions during the game.