In the casino, many basic strategy players follow the chart religiously. Some of these people interpret the chart as a road map to figuring out what's coming out next... as if all of the cards have somehow been shuffled in such a manner that allows the game to be beat if everybody plays according to basic strategy. In reality, nothing can tell you what the next card will be. Nevertheless, you always manage to see some guy yelling at the player on third base for either standing or drawing a card when he's "not supposed to".
The truth is, the actions of other players on the table have nothing to do with the reasons why you made the decisions you did on your hand/s. Note that I didn't say that other players don't affect your hand... this is discussed in the last paragraph. Basic strategy charts are created by finding the best play with the information you know (your current total and the dealer's up card) and considering all possible combinations of the information you don't know (the dealer's hole card, the card/s you may or may not draw, and the card/s the dealer will draw, if any). It has nothing to do with what other people do with their hands.
"I saw a guy take the dealer's bust card when he should have stayed. The guy had 12 and the dealer was showing a 6. The guy hit a 10, bust, and the dealer had 16 and hit a 5 for 21."
Yeah, that happens. Other people's actions sometimes have an effect on the final outcome of the hand. But nobody knows what kind of effect that will be. It could help, hurt, or not make any difference at all. The 10 and 5 in that situation could have just as easily been in the reverse order, and that play would have "saved the table". So why does it seem like these kinds of plays usually make it worse for the players? It's the product of what I like to call, "gambler's selective memory". They tend to remember when the "wrong play" hurts them, but completely forget when the same type of decision helps or makes no difference. In the end, it all evens out.
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