Latest Cronley Article- "hitting 17 with dealer showing a 5-spot"

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Slewbopper

Well, you keep hitting 12 to 16 and see how long your bankroll lasts.

This is not a debatable topic. Experts have programmed computers to play tens of millions of hands and figured out the optimal strategy (this is referred to as "basic strategy"). You are correct that if you have 13 or higher, you should stand if the dealer is showing 2-6. But if they are showing 7-10 or A, you should hit until you have hard 17 or higher. In other words, if you have 13 and the dealer is showing a 10, you need to hit. If you have 12 and the dealer is showing a 9, you need to hit. In both of those examples, you are going to lose money in the long run no matter what you do. Those are both big-time losing hands in the long run. But if you hit those hands, you will lose less money in the long run than if you stand.
If you don't believe it, program a computer to deal the hands several million times and you will see that you are a better off hitting those hands. If I were you, I wouldn't waste my time doing the work because it's already been done by many of the best mathematicians in the world and they all came up with the same results.