Double-deck Blackjack Strategy: A Quick Sneak Peek

Double-deck Blackjack, also known as Pitch, shares similarities with the regular Blackjack except for few variations. In this game, the player has to pick out the cards that are exact 21 or close to 21 before the dealer. However, he cannot exceed 21. The only difference between Pitch and regular Blackjack is unlike the latter, the player can select a card and hold the, face-down.

You can play Double-deck  Blackjack on online casino sites. All you have to search for is a relevant website and game and then you are good to go. You can play its variations like the American Blackjack, European Blackjack, etc. 

The Blackjack rules stay the same for almost all the games. So it becomes easy for the player to understand the game so that they can start playing the game.

Before logging into any online Blackjack website, you have to go in detail to get a grip of the double-deck game. 

Rules of the game

In this game, you are allowed to play with two 52 card decks and deal at the start of the game. The dealers do not get the hole card. Instead, they deal with soft 17. Soft 17 is an ace card that sums up to 7 or 17. When you hit Blackjack, you will receive a payment of 3:2. 

As the game advances, players have multiple betting options. You are allowed to double down on any two-card hand. It refers to a method where you are allowed to double down a bet at the initial stage of the game only if you choose the option of standing upon getting one card from the dealer. 

Players can divide two cards when sharing the same value. Whether you deal with king-jack, eight-eight, Queen-ten or any other combinations like this, you are allowed to deal with two hands sharing the same value. However, you have to keep certain factors in mind: 

1. You can divide two hands only once 
2. After splitting, aces can get one card
3. You can literally double down on any card or a combination of cards.

What are Single Player Tables?

You can play at Single Player Table. In this process, you are allowed to choose and select five betting options per round. This game can be played without a timer. You can select the bet sizes by clicking the chip symbols, using the slider or simply typing the amount you want to bet. You can start one hand by selecting the clear option or committing to the bet option. After the first hand is dealt with, you are allowed to deal with another hand. You can do this by clicking on the Reset Button and placing the same bet.

Unlike the regular game, players are not allowed to surrender. But he is allowed to take insurance only if he feels like the dealer is about to hit Blackjack. In such a case, the player receives payment in the form of 2:1.  The RTP of the double-deck game stands at 99.77%. 

Understanding Double-deck card counting

Card counting is one of the important tricks of the double deck game. There are some significant differences between double deck or six deck game:

1. The count can undergo an increase or decrease quite often
2. When you get a hang of the game, you can play more hands

When you play a six-deck game, card counters should keep in mind that the count takes a positive turn and favours the player after many rounds. In other words, the edge starts demonstrating in favour of the player. In certain situations, the count may not get positive. But the good news is that under many circumstances, the count will stay positive which will allow the player to deal with big bets. 

However, card counting is a different ball game when you play a double-deck game. The count is volatile. It can go positive in one round but suddenly become negative in another round. You can deal more hands which will not require a larger bet spread as you need for a six-deck game. The reason being the card counters need to bet more so that they can have control over the hands they are playing to compensate for the hands they can’t have an edge for. For a six-deck game, you will need a bet spread of 1-10 or 1-12 but in a double-deck game, you just need a bet spread of 1-6 or 1-8 to play the sport.

In card counting, penetration is another important aspect to be kept in mind. It means the percentage of cards you deal with until you have to shuffle. Many card counters advise the players to bet the cut card at 50% which means when they complete playing one deck, they can shuffle the remaining decks. But for a double-deck, a 50% penetration is considered to be less lucrative than other games with 60%-75% penetration rates. Therefore, under card counting, the penetration has to be more than 50%. 

Another wonderful tip for card counting in a double-deck game is that we can add some extra cards at the beginning of the game before we shuffle the cards to increase your advantage. So say if the count in this round is positive and the next round is the final one right before the shuffle, you can increase the spread and play for an extra two-three spots. Now, you get to play with more hands over the cards you have dealt with versus the undealt cards, which thus provide scope for maximum penetration. 

Hope the article will be of great help to you when you play Double-deck Blackjack in future. Even though it is easy to understand, it is highly advised for the players to practice before you actually play for money. This suggestion is for amateurs or beginners to Blackjack.