You are four times more likely to pull a ten out of the deck than, say, a deuce.

(For purposes of simplification, when I refer to a card as a “ten” or “X,” it is understood to mean any 10, jack, queen, or king.) Every other denomination has only four cards, one of each suit. In a 52-card deck there are 16 ten-valued cards: four tens, four jacks, four queens, and four kings. There is an underlying logic to basic strategy, however, which can be understood by anyone who understands the rules of blackjack. Unless you understand the math, and have a computer to work it out, you’ll have to accept basic strategy on faith. “To explain why various basic strategy decisions work would require extensive mathematical proof. The following is an excerpt from 'Blackbelt in Blackjack' by Arnold Snyder: