Doubling Down on 9 - Blackjack Doubling Nines

When to Double Down on Nine

It would not be so uncommon for you, while playing Blackjack, either on the Internet or in a casino, that you would, at some point, be dealt a nine. It could be a two and a seven, a three and a six or a four and a five. A lot of blackjack players have a lot of different advice on what to do with a nine. Some players base their decision on what to do with a nine, on luck, gut feelings, math, card counting or basic strategy. I say, the best way to play any hand you are dealt in blackjack is by following basic strategy. You can find and purchase blackjack basic strategy cards in a lot of casino gift shops and even on the Internet. Basic strategy cards for blackjack are small, credit card sized charts that fit in to your pocket and are well worth the small investment they cost. Playing by basic strategy is one sure way to play consistent, since it is calculated by odds, it is a lot better than guessing.

When using a blackjack basic strategy card, it is very important that you remember to make sure that the basic strategy card you are using is designed for the blackjack rules you are going to be playing by. For example, the basic strategy card I follow is designed for tables where the house stays on all seventeens, as opposed to the dealer hitting soft seventeen. If the casino you plan to play in hits the dealer's soft seventeen, then I would suggest getting a basic strategy card for blackjack that applies to that condition.

The basic strategy card that I am looking at suggests that when you are dealt a card total of nine and the dealer is showing an up card of a two, you should simply hit your nine. If you are dealt a card total of nine and the dealer is showing an up card of a three, four, five or a six then you should double down, according to basic strategy. Doubling Down on nine against a dealer's up card of a three, four, five or six means that when the dealer offers you a hit, you would simply place a second wager out there, up to the amount of your original bet, but not more than your original bet and the dealer will give you one additional card to add to your two initial cards that totaled nine. Good card or bad, you are only getting one. Ideally, it would be an ace for twenty, or a ten valued card, for nineteen, though it is important to keep in mind, even if it is an ugly card, like a two, three, four, five, six, seven or eight, you still have a good chance at winning the hand, because if the dealer is showing an up card of a three, four, five or six, there is a good chance the dealer could break. In which case, every hand on the table gets paid.

Basic Strategy for Blackjack also suggests, that when you are dealt two cards that total nine and the dealer is showing a seven, eight, nine, ten valued card or ace as an up card, then you should not double down, but instead you should simply hit your nine.

Of course, just because you follow basic strategy every time you are dealt a nine, and double down when you are suppose to, and hit when instructed, does not mean you will win every time, does not even mean you will win every time you have a big bet out there and double down on a nine, against the dealer's break card, it simply means that hopefully you will win more often than you lose when you follow basic strategy.