How to win at Blackjack
When you play casino games, the house has the advantage. When it comes to Blackjack, the returns to the players are greater than for any other casino game, but the house still has the advantage. Unlike online poker where you play against other players, not against the house and players can save money through rakeback.
Can you enjoy the game and beat the odds?
You can beat the odds short-term, but for as long as the odds are against you, in the long run the advantage of the house will prevail. The trick is therefore not to beat the odds, which in the long run is not possible, but to make sure the odds are in your favor.
So, how can you turn the odds in your favor?
Card-counting immediately comes to mind. Unfortunately, when you are playing online, card-counting is utterly useless. Even if you happen to have photographic memory and keep all 4, 6 or 8 decks in your head, it will not help you one bit. Why? Because with online casinos, card shuffling is done after every round, re-setting the odds.
Does it mean that you should avoid online casinos and only play in land-based ones? No, quite the contrary. Playing online can give you the advantage you can never get otherwise. You can play with the odds stacked in your favor – so you can enjoy the game and make money too.
Let me explain. Like everyone else, casinos are in a competitive business too. To attract players casinos strive to provide better experience, more entertainment and greater perks. In land-based casinos playing for big money often means free accommodation, meals and drinks.
Online casinos have somewhat limited choices compared to land-based ones. It is impossible to provide live entertainment, accommodation, meals and drinks. So, how do online casinos attract players? Apart from improving the software to give you a better playing experience, online casinos typically offer:
1. A sign-up/welcome bonus, to get you to start playing, and
2. On-going bonuses, to get you to keep playing.
When you take these perks into consideration, the odds change in your favor. Let’s do the math, and to make the calculation simpler we’ll ignore the on-going bonuses for the moment.
When you learn the basic strategy, the odds for the casino are less than 1%. We’ll work with 0.69% on the assumption that 8 decks are used (differences in rules influence the odds – see House Advantage for details).
As for the sign-up/welcome bonus, no casino will allow you to just take it and cash it out immediately. Normally you have to place bets up to a certain value before you are allowed to take the cash out. For the sake of giving you an example, here are our starting values (the actual figures will vary from one casino to another):
- The House Advantage of 0.69%
- The sign-up/welcome bonus of $100, and
- You have to place the bets of at least $10,000 before you can draw the cash out.
If you play with the individual bets of $10, you’ll be placing the total of 1,000 bets to arrive to the value of $10,000, which means you get to enjoy the game for quite a while – and with the house advantage of 0.69%, the casino stands to win $69 of your money. Take $69 you lost from the sign-up bonus of $100, and you actually win $31!
Here is the million-dollar question: why would the casinos allow anyone to play with the odds better for the player than for the casino? Because:
1. They need to attract players
2. Thanks to the poor decision-making on the side of the players casinos actually win 4% to 5% instead of 0.69%, and
3. The number of players taking the advantage of better odds is still relatively small.
With this in mind, here is how to win at Blackjack:
- Learn the basic strategy
It takes very little time to learn it, and ensures your betting decisions give you the best odds. Do not rely on the “gut feeling” or “intuition”.
- Do not play tired or under the influence of drugs or alcohol
This is when mistakes happen. Read the article on 10 biggest online gambling mistakes and avoid them.
- Choose a reputable online casino
This is an absolute must because cheating with online software is easy. As a minimum, make sure it is not on the list of casinos to avoid. Also, some certifying authorities are not to be trusted – make sure your casino is not using one of them. Finally, avoid all casinos using the software that gives them unfair advantage.
- Calculate the odds
When you’ve selected the online casino to play, read the rules, terms and conditions – and calculate the odds of winning. Use the example above as the guide, and apply the factors that influence the house advantage.
- Play and enjoy!
Blackjack online
Like everyone else, online casinos are in a competitive business and may offer special promotions for new players and/or loyalty incentives for existing players. Check out online Blackjack offers for the best deal.
