Unlike other online gambling games such as slots and keno for example, blackjack is a mixture of chance AND knowledge.
If you play blackjack online (or at a land based casino for that matter) to a perfect strategy you will enjoy some of the best odds in the casino. By that we mean that you hit, stand, double down and split at the correct time, depending on the face up card of the dealer, to give yourself the best chance of winning the hand.
There have been millions of computer simulated hands played and the optimum strategy worked out for each combination of dealer and your hand- so you would be foolish not to use the information. You can either memorise the information (you need to do this if you are going to be playing in a land based casino) OR make sure that you have the correct strategy card by your side if you are playing online. The optimum strategy is the mathmatically correct way of playing each hand that gives you the highest probability of winning the hand.
We’ll go into the full strategy (which will dend on the blackjack variant that you are playing). However, first, it is worth memorising the 7 Basic Rules of Blackjack. This won’t achieve the optimum odds for you, but it will get you most of the way there.
Stop at 12 when the dealer has a 6 or lower
Hit until seventeen or you go bust if the dealer has 7 or more
Hit with A/6 or lower and stand with A/7 or higher
Double Down with 10 or 11 when your total is higher than the dealer’s up card
Always split two Aces or two 8’s, whatever the dealer has.
Split sevens if the dealer has a 7 or lower
AVOID the insurance bets or EVEN MONEY.
Voila! Seven basic black jack tips which will see you improve your odds immeasurably.
Blackjack played to a perfect strategy should get you a 99.5% payout (house adge shaved down to 0.5%). In a single deck game, an inch perfect system will almost achieve a 100% payout. Remember- the casinos make the bulk of their money in blackjack off people playing the game poorly. Make sure that that isn’t you!
