As popular and as widely played as blackjack is, not many people have made an effort to research and make use of a decent blackjack strategy. This is very unfortunate as a decent online blackjack strategy can help you to maximise your winnings and minimise your losses. That being said, there is one bit of advice that we can offer you, no blackjack strategy is infallible and in the end, the house will always win. The trick to playing a decent game of blackjack, winning and still walking home with your bankroll, is: plan a budget, manage your money and QUIT WHILE YOU’RE AHEAD.
Useful Tips and Clever Tricks
Before we start the lecture regarding the various betting strategies, we feel that a few basic tips are required. These tips are easy to remember and form the baseline of the in depth strategy that we’ll get to in a minute. They are there to make sure that you don’t fall for the all the old casino tricks ad to make sure you stand a reasonable chance to walk away a winner. The tips and tricks are:
- Never pay for Insurance. The house edge is too big for it to matter and you will just end up wasting your money.
- Never ever, split a pair of tens. The chances of the dealer beating a hand of 10 are very slim (less than 20%) and if you already have a winning hand, why risk it?
- Always split any Aces and any Eights, regardless of what the dealer is showing. The chances of getting another winning hand are very good and it is well worth doubling the stakes.
- Always stand on a hard 16, 17and 18, but only if the dealer’s card is a 4, 5 or a 6.
- If the dealer is showing a 4, 5 or a 6 you should always hit on had 12.
- If the dealer is showing a 10, you should keep hitting until you have at least 17 as the chances of the dealer winning are very good so sticking with less than 17 is just not worth it. Rather take the chance.
- If the dealer has a 10 and you have a soft 17 (with an ace) you should always ask for another card.
If you are not sure about the terminology used in our tips and tricks section, please visit our How to Play Blackjack Page where you will find a detailed account of all the terms used at a blackjack table.
A Basic Blackjack Strategy
In the graph below, we have outlined a basic online blackjack strategy. Once again we must insist that this is in no way a perfect strategy as there is no such thing. This graph will merely show you when to hit, stick, surrender or double down. If you follow the basic rules and guidelines outlined in the graph, your odds of beating the house will greatly improve.
Blackjack Variants That Work the Best
There are many different variations of online blackjack to play, however only a few are well suited to play using the above mentioned Blackjack Strategy. These are the games that are not only offered in a vast majority of casinos, they are also the ones that will allow you to make full and proper use of the table. Games like Spanish Blackjack, played with 6 or 8 decks of 42 cards that do not contain any sixes, sevens, eights or nines.
Blackjack Variants:
- Classic Blackjack
- European Blackjack
- Double Exposure Blackjack
- Vegas Strip Blackjack
- Vegas Downtown Blackjack
- Atlantic City Blackjack
Try these games at our Online Blackjack section
Card Counting, Shuffle Tracking and Identifying Concealed Cards
These “Blackjack Strategies”, although not illegal, are severely frowned upon by all of the world’s land based casinos and will cause the player being banned from a, if not all the casinos. Besides being extremely hard to master (Card Counting and Shuffle Tracking), they are not always reliable as they require the player to memorise cards and analyse the outcomes of the shuffle. They also require extensive mathematical knowledge as you will need to work out, in a matter of moments, the odds of the next card being high or low. We must once again reiterate that no card counting or shuffle tracking system is perfect. Also, these methods are completely useless when you play online blackjack as the Random Number Generators used by all online casinos are extremely sophisticated and will reshuffle the cards after every completed round.
Be Wise Play Smart and Remember the Basics
Anybody looking to enjoy a game of online blackjack should remember that: although it is a game with the lowest house edge, a mere 0.68% (for an eight card deck), it is in no way an easy game to play, nor is it one that will guarantee you entrance into the exclusive millionaires club if you use clever systems and sneaky techniques. The strategies and tips we have so obligingly laid out for you in the above few sections will help you make the most of your time spent playing online blackjack .The blackjack strategy or strategies, which we have offered you will make it easier to win and will make it a lot easier for you to win more. But please remember, you can use the supplied graph when playing online blackjack, but don’t walk into a casino with our Blackjack Strategy in your hand.
