Blackjack is a popular casino game that is played against the dealer. It has a very low house edge and is therefore really player friendly. However, to beat the dealer you need to have some skills and at lease some level of strategy. In this post, we will reveal some blackjack secrets, tips and tricks, which you can use to bring down then the house edge even further and increase your chances of winning.
Blackjack Tips and Tricks
Learn the basics
Familiarize yourself with the general rules of the game and learn how to play blackjack. If you don’t know what you are doing and how the game is played, you won’t be able to win.
Manage your bankroll
No matter how well you play, there is no guarantee that you will win. Therefore, it is very important to manage your bankroll. Know how much you can afford to lose. Set yourself a limit and stick to it. You should also decide on a minimum betting size according to your bankroll. Use about 2% of your bankroll as minimum stake. For example, if your bankroll is € 1,000 your minimum bet would be € 20.
Learn to quit
You have to learn when to walk away and when to stay in the game. If you won’t stop playing because you get greedy or you think that you might win soon, it can cost you a lot of money. There are not set rules but set yourself limits. If you are on a winning streak stop playing when you have increased your bankroll of e.g. 60%. If you are on a loosing streak walk away when you have lost e.g. 30% of your bankroll.
Learn and use the basic blackjack strategy
Blackjack is not a guessing game. To increase your chances of winning you should know how to play which hand. Blackjack was studied for several years and it has been proven, that there is an optimal way to play every hand dealt to you. This way is also known as the basic strategy. Using this strategy allows you to minimize the house edge to less than 1%
Always check the rules
Look at the rules and choose a table/game with liberal playing rules. Always stick to games/tables that pay 3:2 for a blackjack. Never play a game that only pays 6:5 or worse. Other rules you should look for are:
- the dealer stands on soft 17
- players can double down on any two cards
- doubling after splitting is allowed
- surrender is offered
Additionally, check the number of decks used. This is important to know, cause the more decks used, the lower the chances of attaining a blackjack. Using more decks also increases the difficulty as well as usefulness of card counting.
Never take the insurance or even money
When the dealers face-up card is an ace, they will offer you an insurance. An insurance is a side bet, where players are betting that the dealer’s face-down card has a value of 10. The wager can be less or equal to the half of your initial bet made. If the dealer has blackjack you get payed at a ration of 2:1. The odds of a dealer getting a blackjack are 9:4. Meaning, taking an insurance will help you 4 times out of 9. So, the odds are not in your favor if you are taking the insurance. Therefore, you should always avoid them. The same is true for even money.
Avoid progressive betting size strategies
Sizing your bets based on whether you won or lost the previous hand will result in loosing a lot of money. You should base your betting size on your chance of winning a hand compared to the dealer’s chance. To know when the advantage shifts in your favor, use card counting
Don’t make bets based on your emotions
Never increase or decrease your bets based on how you feel. Even if you have lost several times in a row, and you have the feeling that you will win soon. Stick with your strategy. The cards don’t care whether you are in the middle of a loosing or winning streak.
Ignore other players
Ignore decisions of other players at the table. They won’t impact your hand. You are playing alone against the dealer. If you use card counting just watch which cards are dealt to other players, but don’t make your decisions dependent on how other people play. Blackjack is not a multiplayer game.
Don’t play on tables that use continuous shuffling machines
Continuous shuffling machines are devices that shuffle the cards after each round as this makes card counting useless and helps the casino keep its advantage. If you do not use card counting, you can ignore this tip.
