Online Blackjack Tips And Strategies
How to improve your odds and come out on top in online blackjack.
Here Is All Of Basic Strategy In 30 Simple Phrases: 17 and up always stands. 16 stands against dealer 2 through 6, otherwise hit. 15 stands against dealer 2 through 6, otherwise hit. 14 stands against dealer 2 through 6, otherwise hit. 13 stands against dealer 2 through 6, otherwise hit. A Blackjack strategy is essential There’s not an awful lot you need to learn in order to use a basic strategy for blackjack. This blackjack cheat sheet is a simple chart which suggests the various different types of actions you can take when playing this game, such as hit, stand, split, double down, surrender, etc.
Let's face it, no one goes into a real money casino game just for the fun of it. Blackjack is entertaining but when your Canadian dollars are on the line you want to win. Just like the professional blackjack players who are raking in thousands of dollars a month from the game. The good news is you can too. Blackjack strategies are easy to master and we're going to show you exactly what you need to do to up your odds and come out on top every time.
Online Blackjack Tips
In this guide we'll teach you:
- When you should choose to hit, stand, split, or double down
- The simple systems that have helped players pocket millions
- How to reduce the house edge from 8-10% to just 1%
No matter what your level of experience and skill, when it comes to playing real money blackjack in an online casino, these basic blackjack strategies are easy for anyone to learn and put into practice.
A Basic Blackjack Strategy To Increase Your Odds
Blackjack relies on a player's ability to correctly call when to hit, stand, split or double down. But when the card being played is blind how can you know what the right decision is ahead of time? Easy - you use a chart of hands.
Remember that high school Math you found so pointless? Well, turns out it wasn't so useless after all. Blackjack strategy is built on mathematical equations, but don't worry, you won't have to work out any sums for yourself. Experts did the math and devised the strategies long ago.
Getting that House Edge Down
Blackjack charts, which you can find easily online with a quick Google search, include hard hands, soft hands, and pairs, and how to play combinations of them all. Without this strategy, the house edge can be between 8 to 10 percent at a minimum. But using a blackjack chart can reduce that edge to just one percent and is the first and most basic key to making money at the game.
Knowing When to Split
The first step to mastering blackjack strategy is pairs, which have splitting rules. Always split eights and aces. Split twos, threes, and sevens against any dealer card less than eight. Split sixes against any card less than seven. Split nines against anything except ace, ten, or seven. And only ever split fours against a five or a six. Never split fives or tens.
How To Play Hard Hands
Hard hands don't allow aces to be counted as 11. Rules in this category include doubling against any eleven, even if there's an ace, doubling against any ten (except if there's an ace or ten for the dealer) and doubling a nine if the dealer shows three, four, five, or six.
Soft Hands & Doubling Up
Soft hands contain an ace that counts as eleven or one depending on the need of the hand to stay under 21. In those cases always double against a five or six. Double against a four if you have 15 or more. Double against a three if you have 17 or more and double soft 18 against a two. Be sure to know the rules of the blackjack hand you're playing, to know if the dealer will stand or hit a soft 17.
Stick With It
Basic blackjack strategy is proven to deliver wins over the long term. So if you bomb the first couple of rounds don't dismiss it. Mathematical odds have proven that even if you bow to the dealer for a few consecutive hands you'll still come out on top overall, so it's important you stick with the strategy. Even, if you don't win right away. Patience, as they say, is a virtue.
Getting To Grips With Systems
Now we've got basic blackjack strategy nailed, we're going to look at two simple and commonplace blackjack systems. Just like with using a blackjack chart, systems can also help you to gain an advantage over the house and increase the odds in your favour.
Positive And Negative Progression Systems
In the positive progression system players will raise their bets after a win to help fund future hands from the profits they've accrued on previous hands. This is considered a fairly conservative betting system because a string of losses won't hit your bankroll too hard.
With a negative progression betting system players raise their bets after losses, which in an ideal world would always bring you back to a break-even point. However, a string of losses can wipe out a player's bankroll altogether, so unsurprisingly this blackjack system is often regarded as the riskier of the two.
To demonstrate the negative betting system, let's look at an example. Bill sits down at a blackjack table and wagers $5 and wins. His next two hands he bets the same $5 each time, but loses. This means he is down $5 and for the next hand, would wager $10. If he were to lose again, he would be down $15 and make that amount the value of his next bet, and so forth.
What The Experts Say
Whether or not either of these two systems actually work to a player's advantage has been debated endlessly in blackjack inner circles. Noted blackjack theorist, and member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame, Stanford Wong has gone on record saying betting system's simply do not work. Other respected authors on blackjack theory also echo his feelings and discourage the practice altogether.
So let's look at a system that has proven time and time again to work.
How To Count Cards In Blackjack
Card counting is a strategy system used in blackjack to determine whether the next hand is more likely to give an advantage to the player. This allows real money blackjack players to bet with less risk and minimize their losses.
The goal of any basic card counting system is to assign point values to the cards and keep a running tally as each card is dealt. Basic card counting systems assign a positive, negative, or zero value to each card denomination. Low cards are known to help the dealer, while high cards are known to help the player.
Mastering The Hi-Lo System
Known as the 'High-Low' system, in this blackjack strategy every time a low card is dealt it increases the percentage of high cards (good for the player) remaining in the shoe. When a card assigned a value is dealt players take a mental note and adjust the running count accordingly.
The 'High-Low System' is considered a single-level count, because the count never increases or decreases by more than a single numerical value. In the Hi-Lo System the follow values are assigned to cards:
2, 3, 4, 5, 6 = +1
7, 8, 9 = 0
10, J, Q, K, A = -1
Famous Blackjack Card Counters
Perhaps the most famous example of using the hi-low system to profit is the MIT blackjack card counting team. You may remember the 2008 film 21 that starred Kevin Spacey. This film was based on the true events of six MIT students and their professor who travelled to Vegas and used the High-Low system to clean out casino after casino - until they got caught. The beauty of online blackjack is that there are no cameras in your home looking on at you as you play.
Advanced Blackjack Strategy
Once you're comfortable with basic blackjack strategy, there are some ways you can take your game to the next level and improve your odds even more.
The consistent wager system for example involves playing a fixed amount of money on every hand, no matter what cards have been dealt in previous hands. While the Martingale system is an alternative French method of card counting that involves adjusting betting based on the hands dealt and profit or loss of previous hands.
No matter which system or blackjack strategy you choose to use to improve your game you should always be prepared to adjust your technique for the game variation being used. As a general rule, blackjack strategy will always be affected by the number of decks in use, and the specific dealer rules at the virtual casino table you choose to play at.
Test Out Your Blackjack Strategy In Today's Top Casinos
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So if you're looking for the best online casinos to play real money blackjack in 2020, you can't go wrong with a recommendation from our top rated casinos list.
Most of the time when you’re playing online real money Blackjack at Ignition Casino, you’ll place your bet, the cards will come out, and you’ll either hit or stand - no strategy required. But every once in a while, your hole cards will be so good, you’ll want to double your bet. The blackjack double down (or just “double” for short) strategy is one of the most powerful moves in your arsenal – but with great power comes great responsibility. The strategy of doubling in blackjack for real money should be done with great care, and only when the cards are right.
That’s because you’ll get only one more card when you double down. Then it’s the Dealer’s turn. If that seems risky, don’t worry; our latest installment of online blackjack strategy will show you when it’s appropriate to unleash the double. As always, it depends on which online blackjack game you’re playing at Ignition Casino, as well as your hole cards and what the Dealer’s up-card is. Here’s a closer look at the strategy of doubling.
Why You Should Double Down
It might seem foolish at first to limit yourself to drawing one card and one card only when you’re at the blackjack table. And it usually is. But there are a few situations where the casino odds will be in your favor – and if you’re serious about learning blackjack rules and strategy, you won’t want to pass up these opportunities to double your bet and draw that final card.
The best part of this strategy is that you’re not committed to doubling down in online blackjack before the hand begins. You get to see your hole cards and the Dealer’s up-card first; once you have that information, then you can make the right play. And you’ll almost always want to double in the first example we’ll show you.
Holding a Hard 10 or 11
Anytime you’re at the blackjack tables and you get dealt a 10 or an 11 that doesn’t contain an 11-point Ace, you’ve got a very good chance of drawing a 10-value card and making either a 20 or a 21. That will usually be the winning hand, too. It’s the best doubling spot you’ll find in any blackjack strategy guide – but even here, you need to be choosy.
That’s because you won’t always have the odds to double if the Dealer’s up-card is an Ace or a 10-value card. If you’re playing Classic Blackjack at Ignition Casino, the standard six-deck game where the Dealer hits on soft 17, you can go ahead and double if you’re holding 11, since you’re still in pretty good shape to make 21. But if you “only” have 10, pump the brakes and hit instead. The same strategy applies if you’re playing Single Deck Blackjack or Double Deck Blackjack. Note: This doubling down strategy also includes those times when you’re dealt a pair of Fives. Never split a pair of Fives, no matter which blackjack game variant you play at Ignition.
Soft 16 Against Low Up-Cards
Now we’re dealing with one of the more subtle strategy of doubling down in the casino. It’s usually a bad thing to get dealt 15-17 when you’re playing online blackjack for real money – you’ll want to just surrender those hands and eat your losses if the Dealer has a strong up-card. But if it’s a soft 15-17 (including an 11-point Ace), there is an opportunity to double – if the Dealer has a low up-card, i.e. Six or lower. You can also make this play when you have soft 13, 14 and 18. There’s even a time to double down with soft 19.
You shouldn’t do it all the time, though. In the six-deck blackjack game, you’ll want to double all the soft hands (13-19) we mentioned if the Dealer’s up-card is a Six. Anything lower than that, and you have to be more judicious:
- Five: Soft 13-18
- Four: Soft 15-18
- Three: Soft 17-18
- Deuce: Soft 18
You have to be even choosier if you’re playing Single Deck Blackjack or Double Deck Blackjack. In order to keep track of all these small differences in strategy, you can refer to a casino blackjack chart to help you with your decisions – as always, make sure your chart matches the specific game you’re playing, and comes from a reliable source.
Hard 9 Against Dealer’s 3-6
New Blackjack Strategies
There’s one more situation in blackjack where you should be doubling, and it’s like a combination of the other two spots. When you get dealt a hard 9, your hand strength is almost as good as a hard 10 or 11 – but to make this play profitable, you should only use it when the Dealer’s up-card is a Six, Five, Four, or Three. If you’re playing Single or Double Deck Blackjack, you can also double with hard 9 when the Dealer shows a Deuce.
Before we wrap up our blackjack doubling strategy guide, here’s one more “secret” spot you where you should double: If you’re playing Single Deck Blackjack, you get dealt a hard 8, and the Dealer’s up-card is a Six or a Five. Making this rare play is one of the things that separates the blackjack pros from the wannabes – and now that you’ve read this strategy guide, you know all about it.
Again, keep in mind that the blackjack strategy we’ve given you here apply specifically to the games at Ignition Casino. If you play at a bricks-and-mortar venue, you might find yourself playing a version of the online blackjack game where the dealer stands on soft 17 instead of hitting, or vice versa. And if you happen to be counting cards at the live casino, you’ll obviously want to divert from the basic Blackjack strategy when the shoe is suitably rich or lacking in Aces and/or 10-value cards. But keep it on the down-low as much as possible, or you could get denied service. In the meantime, keep coming back to Ignition Casino for more blackjack strategy, and best of luck at the tables.