- The No Bust Blackjack Strategy has players stand on hands of 12 or higher.
- Dealers bust 28-33% of the time with this strategy with non-bust cards.
LAS VEGAS – For those non-risk takers and beginning blackjack players, this “No Bust” blackjack strategy is for you, as it’s easy to remember and doesn’t require any sort of cheat sheet to remember.
The No Bust legal blackjack strategy has players hit when their two cards equal 11 or lower and stand whenever they are dealt a 12 or higher, regardless of what the dealer's up card is.
The reason that this could be considered a beginner friendly, low-risk method comes with the math behind the dealer busting. The dealer has a 28-33% chance of busting with this strategy, with the percentage rising to around 42% if they are showing an up card of 4, 5, or 6.
For example, a player 12-15 against a dealer 10 would give the dealer a 21% of busting. However, if you have that same 12-15 hand against a dealer showing a 5, the dealer has a 43% chance to bust.
Cons To No Bust Strategy
While this is a good blackjack strategy for beginners, it isn’t a good strategy to play with long term and should only be mixed in on a few hands while following basic strategy.
In several cases, there are improved odds when hitting on a player 12-16. Also, while basic and bust strategy push for you to stand on 4-6 dealer up cards, the dealer bust probability can drop as low as 12% when they’re showing cards between 7 and Ace.
As far as the house edge, it rises at most 6% long term, meaning you could lose at most six cents for every dollar bet.
Our No Bust Blackjack Advice
This is a fine strategy to use when playing for the first time to learn the game or even to mix in every so often when following basic strategy, but it should not be your go to strategy when playing long term.
The math shows that this strategy is up to eight times worse than basic strategy, leaving plenty of missed opportunities on the table and giving the house a higher edge long term.