Blackjack Game Tips – Learn Popular Strategies

Anybody can play blackjack online and do reasonably well. Blackjack is unique in that it can be a game of chance for those who are unskilled but also a game of skill for those who want to practice. We’re here to walk you through the basic steps of becoming a better blackjack player, namely by delivering a few top tips for beginners. Let’s get stuck in.

Learn Basic Strategy and Don’t Deviate from It

One of the best ways to become successful playing blackjack online is to learn how to stick to basic strategy. For the most part, this is a strategy chart that tells you the best moves to make based on what’s on the table. You can find these across the net. We strongly recommend that you print out a copy and study it. If you’re playing online blackjack, you don’t even need to study it. You can keep your blackjack Basic Strategy chart beside you while you play and consult it as needed.

Read and Acquire Knowledge

There are other ways to acquire knowledge about blackjack. Some of the world’s most famous blackjack pros have written books about their own top tips and secrets to success. Any of these would be required reading for any blackjack player eager to hone their skills and become better at the game.

Practice Free Play Games

Whether you pocket a few tips via blackjack books and websites or want to master Basic Strategy, practice is key. It is entirely possible for you to practice your skills at home using nothing more than several decks of cards. However, we don’t all have multiple decks to use. Therefore, it may be worth playing blackjack online for free. This can be arguably more advantageous, as it allows you to play the exact game you’re going to play for real money, only as a free-to-play demo.

Pick Your Poison

Blackjack is a game that does allow you to pick your poison. There are several variants out that have largely the same rules. The only real difference is that some of these games have unique twists, which make gameplay a touch different. By choosing from various games, you are likely to find a blackjack game that is bang on what you’re looking for, albeit marginally different from the base game found elsewhere. After finding such a game, you’ll also be able to practice it.

The Ins and Outs of Blackjack

Blackjack is played on a standard casino table (often green in colour) with several spots on it where players can sit and play. The number of seats at a typical table varies, but when playing online, that doesn’t matter as there is often an unlimited number of seats or you play in a one-on-one game against a computerised dealer. Players can use the options presented to them on-screen to communicate with the dealer and make their moves, enhancing the live casino experience.

There are two different ways that blackjack can be played online. They include:

• RNG Table Games: A game which uses Random Number Generators and is played against a computer. This game can feature many variants and uses algorithms to draw cards and act as the dealer. It is the most common type of blackjack game found on the internet.
• Live Dealer Games: These are played with a human dealer over a video stream. The human dealer takes control of the game, much as they would in a land-based venue, providing a real dealer casino experience. Players can use the options presented to them on-screen to communicate with the dealer and make their moves. These types of games may only feature a handful of seats, although betting behind is sometimes possible with live dealer blackjack games.

Either way you choose to play, the first move a player needs to make is to set up their bet, so let’s look at that next.

Setting Up Your Bets

Before any cards are dealt to players, they need to place a wager. There will be limits (clearly identifiable on the table when playing online) as to how little or how much that wager can be worth. Chips are placed in the betting spot, and the game then commences.

Two cards are dealt to the player and the dealer. In many blackjack games, one of the dealer’s cards will be dealt face up so you can see it. This can change when playing some blackjack variants, though.

Each card is worth its numerical value in points, save for face cards which are always worth ten points, and aces which can be worth either one or eleven points, depending on what you need. The value of the two cards is added together. Players can then have a decision to make.

The Three Key Moves

There are three primary moves that the player can make, based on the points total of their cards. You will likely be familiar with these. They include:

• Hitting: The player will take another card to add to their hand.
• Standing: The player opts to stick with the hand that they have.
• Busting: A player’s hand exceeds the maximum total of twenty-one points. This will not happen from just two cards and can only happen if you hit.

If players opt to hit and their hand exceeds twenty-one points, they are “bust” and out of the game. They will, therefore, lose their bet. The same is true for the dealer. Dealers can stand on all 17s, soft 17s or other hands. When playing online, the hand the dealer must stand on will be displayed on the table.

If they are still in play, players can take another card, or stand. Once all decisions have been made (and provided you or the dealer haven’t gone bust) the two hands are compared. The hand which is closest to twenty-one points wins. In the event of a tie, the hand is deemed a push, and bets are returned.

All the above is the fundamental way to play blackjack, but there are other options open to players when the game is being played, too.

Other Options Open to You

Alongside hitting and standing, players have a few different options open to them. These can include:

• Insurance Bets: If the dealer has an ace (or sometimes a ten – it can vary from game to game) showing, they can opt to take Insurance with a new bet at the same cost as their original wager. If the dealer goes on to win the hand with a blackjack (a twenty-one-point hand in two cards), the player will lose their hand, but win their insurance bet, which pays out at 2:1.
• Doubling Down: Players can place a new bet equal to their original stake and will commit to receiving just one new card. They are, in a sense, doubling their initial stake if they believe that may have a good hand.
• Splitting: If the player is dealt a pair of identically ranked cards, they can split them into two hands, and ask for a second card to be dealt to each hand. They are now playing with two hands. However, doing this requires players to place a new bet equal to the original one. Players should note that some games have very specific rules about which cards can be split and which can’t, and when.
• Surrender: Some blackjack variants (although admittedly, not many of them) permit players with atrocious hands to surrender. This is the equivalent of folding in a poker game and often sees half of a player’s original stake returned to them.

These rules are handy to learn, as they can dramatically improve your blackjack game. It is worth pointing out that each blackjack variant may have its own take and twists on these rules. Players are advised to read up on them before attempting to play such variants.

House Edge

The house edge in blackjack again depends on the variant being played. Classic blackjack – the most common form of the game – has a house edge of 0.13%. This assumes that players are using Basic Strategy (which we will cover briefly in a moment). Some blackjack variants – such as Super Fun 21 – has house edges as high as 0.94%.

Each variant has its own house edge, and these are often based on the rules which are unique to each game. Playing with no hole cards, the surrender rule, the number of decks used, the ability to re-split aces, or the dealer hitting on a soft 17 can see house edges rise and fall.

Blackjack Side Bets

Most online blackjack games come with a series of side-bets available. These can make things interesting for players who like a little punt on the side. However, they will screw up your count if you are deploying a betting system such as the Martingale. Most side-bets cost a single unit of currency, such as a $1 bet. Some of the more popular betting systems you can find in blackjack include:

• 21+3 Bet: This is based on the first two cards a player is dealt, and one dealer card which is on show. If the three cards add up to a traditional poker hand, the player wins. Those poker hands include Flushes (5:1), Straights (10:1), Three of a Kind (30:1), Straight Flushes (40:1), or Suited Triples, which requires three identical cards and pays out at 100:1.
• Perfect Pairs: This bet requires players to land a pair in their first drawn hand. There are three possible pairs a player can win with. A Mixed Pair of two cards of the same rank dishes out a 6:1 win. A Coloured Pair of two cards of the same rank and the same colour results in a 12:1 prize. The best payout is worth 25:1 is delivered if players land a Perfect Pair of two identical cards.

Other side-bets are available, too, though these vary between blackjack games.

Live Blackjack Tables

Some popular live blackjack tables include Live Blackjack by Betconstruct, Live Blackjack Early Payout by Visionary iGaming, and Infinite Blackjack by Evolution, each offering unique features and favorable rules.

Winning at Blackjack

Contrary to popular belief, players do not need to have a blackjack hand to win. They simply need to better the value of the dealer’s hand. Winning in this manner will result in a 1:1 payout. However, if players do land a blackjack (nowadays any twenty-one-point hand), they will pocket prizes worth 3:2. As mentioned, Insurance bets pay out at 2:1, and the winnings available via side-bets are listed above in the previous section. Players who have two or more hands on the go (via splitting, for instance) will pocket prizes on each hand that beats the dealer’s card hand.

Balance Your Budget

Why not balance your budget when betting on blackjack? It can be a fatal mistake to wager too much too soon. Similarly, you’re not going to win large sums of cash if you don’t take risks. It is wise to develop a strategy for balancing your budget before you decide to start betting with real money. Again, this is something that is practised in free-to-play blackjack games.

Common Blackjack Mistakes You Should Avoid

Making mistakes in blackjack can happen – even for more skilled players. However, it is likely to happen if you hone your skills, practice gameplay, and avoid the most common blackjack mistakes. To better explain what we mean, we should introduce you to some of the most damaging mistakes found in blackjack. Any skilled blackjack player worth their salt knows to avoid these calamities.

Never Stand on Soft 17s

There are certain hands you simply shouldn’t stand on in blackjack. One of these is the Soft 17, or an ace and a six, for those not in the know. A soft hand is one that you cannot bust if you take one more card. As you should always assume that the blackjack dealer’s hole card is an ace, it is worth having a go. The same is true on a Soft 18. You’re more likely to lose standing on Soft 17s (in the long run) than you are if you hit.

Never Split Pairs of 4s or 5s

Splitting cards is fine, but there are certain times when you shouldn’t. For instance, we don’t recommend splitting a pair of 4s or 5s. Playing a pair of fours is unlikely to see you bust, and you could end up with nineteen if you land an Ace. Similarly, if you play a pair of fives, the worst you can end up with is blackjack (if you land an Ace). Splitting these will almost always result in you having a low scoring hand and then risk busting when you hit. Splitting 4s and 5s isn’t worth it.

Don’t Split 10s

It may be tempting to split a pair of tens, but this is the worst mistake you can make. Two tens equal twenty, and unless the dealer has blackjack, you’re assured of a win or at least a push. It just isn’t worth splitting tens, even if your brain tells you that splitting tens will give you two half-decent hands. Engrain this into your head now – never split tens.

Don’t Play Games with 6:5 Payouts

Any blackjack game that has a 6:5 payout is not as valuable as 3:2. Las Vegas casinos (in particular) have tried this, and while it sounds similar, it triples the house’s edge. A 3:2 win will see you paid 1.5x your bet, while a 6:5 win sees you paid only 1.2x your stake. It simply isn’t worth it, and you shouldn’t be fooled by these blackjack games.

Never Deviate from Basic Strategy

Finally, and this should go without saying – don’t deviate from Basic Strategy. Once you have learnt Basic Strategy or even printed out a chart, be sure to stick to it. Most blackjack dealers and AI dealers use Basic Strategy because it showcases the best moves to make based on the hands available. If you want to win at blackjack, you should not only use it but trust it. Don’t deviate from Basic Strategy.

Mastering blackjack requires understanding the rules, practicing consistently, and adhering to a proven strategy. By avoiding common mistakes and exploring various game variants, you can improve your odds and enjoy a more rewarding live blackjack experience.