Blackjack is classified as a game requiring skill and luck to win. To develop the needed skills, one has to master basic Blackjack strategies. They are foundations upon which others are laid.
Card counting, popularized by Edward Thorp’s book Beat the Dealer, released in 1962, is one of the most commonly mentioned Blackjack strategies. It has had numerous interpretations, variations, and depths. One of its most outstanding additions that has been proven to work is the Illustrious 18.
Our casino news today looks at the Illustrious 18 Blackjack strategy and analyzes how it can help improve your gameplay.
Illustrious 18 Explained: Simple Rules for Card Counting Success
The Illustrious 18 are eighteen deviations from the basic Blackjack strategy. It states what to do in certain Blackjack gaming scenarios by looking at the player’s two-hole cards, the dealer’s up card, and the true count. This strategy was created by Donald Schlesinger, a successful mathematician, who discovered these variations in his quest for a better Blackjack strategy. This strategy is built to be used with the Hi-lo card counting strategy, and with Illustrious cards and games.
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Deviations for Illustrious 18
Blackjack Illustrious 18 is simply a chart showing you eighteen possible positions for Blackjack during card counting and the decisions you should make with them.
There are certain modern winning strategies every Blackjack player must have come across. An example is always to split aces and 8s. Following these tips correctly will give you some big winning chances; you can try them out at Slots Paradise Casino.
However, the idea of Illustrious 18 is that there are times when deviating from basic Blackjack increases your odds of winning the game. Rather than stand, in some instances you can double down to get more money out of the play.
The most profitable change to the basic Blackjack strategy while using card counting is Illustrious 18. It consists of only three actions: hitting, standing, or doubling down. There is no option to surrender.
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Deviations Table for Illustrious 18
Here are all the deviations in tabular form.
| Rank | Hand | Basic strategy | Illustrious 18 | True count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Insurance | Don’t take | Take | +3 |
| 2 | 16 vs 10 | Hit | Stand | 0+ |
| 3 | 15 vs 10 | Hit | Stand | +4 |
| 4 | 10-10 vs 5 | Stand | Split | +5 |
| 5 | 10-10 vs 6 | Stand | Split | +4 |
| 6 | 10 vs 10 | Hit | Double down | +4 |
| 7 | 12 vs 3 | Hit | Stand | +2 |
| 8 | 12 vs 2 | Hit | Stand | +3 |
| 9 | 11 vs A | Hit | Double down | +1 |
| 10 | 9 vs 2 | Hit | Double down | +1 |
| 11 | 10 vs A | Hit | Double down | +4 |
| 12 | 9 vs 7 | Hit | Double down | +3 |
| 13 | 16 vs 9 | Hit | Stand | +5 |
| 14 | 13 vs 2 | Stand | Hit | -1- |
| 15 | 12 vs 4 | Stand | Hit | 0- |
| 16 | 12 vs 5 | Stand | Hit | -2- |
| 17 | 12 vs 6 | Stand | Hit | -1- |
| 18 | 13 vs 3 | Stand | Hit | -2- |
The hand column is the different gameplay scenarios you can be in; here you find your hand versus the dealer’s up card. The basic strategy column is what to do under normal circumstances, while the Illustrious 18 column shows the action to take if you have an identical true count. When gameplay doesn’t align with the true count, you should always fall back toward basic strategy.
Deviations Chart for the Illustrious 18
To better clarify this, there is also an Illustrious 18 chart with simple color codes that make it easy to read and one you can always use as a reference when necessary. Below is the Illustrious 18 Blackjack deviations chart.
| Illustrious 18 | |||||||||||
| Stand | |||||||||||
| Hit | |||||||||||
| Double down | |||||||||||
| Split | |||||||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A | ||
| Insurance – take @ +3 | |||||||||||
| 17+ | 17+ | ||||||||||
| 16 | +5 | +0 | 16 | ||||||||
| 15 | +4 | 15 | |||||||||
| 14 | 14 | ||||||||||
| 13 | -1 | -2 | 13 | ||||||||
| 12 | +3 | +2 | 0- | -2 | -1 | 12 | |||||
| 11 | +1 | 11 | |||||||||
| 10 | +4 | +4 | 10 | ||||||||
| 9 | +1 | +3 | 9 | ||||||||
| 5-8 | 5-8 | ||||||||||
| 10-10 | +5 | +4 | 10-10 | ||||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A | ||
(Source: A1 Blackjack)
Benefits of Using the Illustrious 18
Anyone who has played Blackjack long enough will know that your chances of winning big depend on how well you can master the Blackjack tables to lower the house edge. With a basic strategy, you can reduce the house edge drastically and win more. This is even better when you include card counting, to help you make more informed decisions.
Illustrious 18 helps you improve your card counting, giving you a higher chance of success. If done properly, this can further reduce the house edge and give you more winning chances without getting detected. However, Illustrious 18 doesn’t often work at online casinos, though you can try with real Blackjack.
Pared Down
If Illustrious 18 has taught us anything, it’s that there are more ways to improve on already-existing strategies with Blackjack. Yes, combining basic strategy and card counting is a great way to go. However, you must have mastered Blackjack to a certain level or at least know card counting before using these 18 indices.
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