image of Jack and Ace cards with Blackjack written underneath

How to Play Better Blackjack with 8 Great Tips

We talk a lot about all of the games we have on offer here at Everygame Casino but we admit that we do sometimes give more attention to slots than to other games.  So, in this article, we will give you some good tips for playing blackjack online and in the next article we will do the same for video poker.

Everyone Can Enjoy Blackjack

Many gamers feel somewhat intimidated when they play blackjack at a land-based casino because there is often someone at the table who will tell them that they played incorrectly and cost them the hand.

If you play the hand correctly, you never cost another player the hand.  When you play blackjack at an online casino, there is no one else there to make you feel that you played the hand incorrectly. 

As a result of the intimidation factor at land-based casinos, many gamers feel that blackjack is simply not their game and they avoid it even when they are playing online. 

This is very incorrect!  Blackjack is a great game for everyone!  The house edge in blackjack is very low; it is close to zero!  With correct play, you can spend a long time playing blackjack for the fun it brings and at the end of the session, you will either be a little ahead or a little behind.

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The key is correct play!

Trust the Statistics

At this point, computers have studied millions of blackjack hands.  The computers know what the best play is for every combination. A well-printed card with the best strategy for every variation of blackjack is easily available online so you can always consult the chart to know the best play.

Even with correct play, you won’t win every hand.  Sometimes the best play is fractionally better than the opposite play.  So, when you make the best play, you will win about half of those hands and lose about half.

Sometimes you will think that the chart can’t possibly be right.  Trust the statistics and you will win as much as you lose give or take a few hands.

Pay Attention to the Return for Blackjack

The extra payment for blackjack is one of the ways to get even with the house.  The standard return for blackjack has been 3-2 for a very long time.  Recently, some land-based casinos are running blackjack at a 6-5 return for blackjack.  The arithmetic seems very benign; 3-2 is the same as 5-4 so 6-5 must be okay also. 

It isn’t!  The difference between 6-4 (or 3-2) and 6-5 is 25%!  Never play a blackjack game that pays 6-5 for blackjack!  You can find better.

Dig Deep When It’s Time to Split and Double Down

The basic blackjack chart tells you what the best play is for every possible hand.  This includes the hands where you should split or double down.  On the one hand, it is pretty simple to know when to make these extremely important moves. 

For example, you should never even consider splitting 10’s no matter what the dealer shows.  Splitting 9’s can be an easy choice if the dealer is showing a 5 or a 6 but it might be a harder choice if the dealer is showing an 8.  Staying with 18 points is actually not the best decision for players.  Eighteen seems like a pretty good hand but, statistically, the dealer wins a lot more often than she loses when the player has 18 points!

Play Games that Allow Multiple Splits

A very important rule to the benefit of players is to allow multiple splits.  A player, in theory, can split 3 times.  Many games allow this but there are some that don’t.  It is always better to play a game that allows multiple splitting.

It is also important to play a game that allows doubling down after splitting.  Let’s say that you split 8’s.  This, by the way, is the best hand to split since 16 points is so bad for players and the pair gives you a good way out.  Now, if you get a three or a two on top of one of the 8’s, you want to double down.   Some games don’t allow this move by players.  Make sure that the blackjack game you want to play does allow doubling down after splitting.

Look for Games That Offer Surrender

Surrender is a rule that benefits players so much that it often is the difference between a winning session and a losing one.  Of course, in blackjack when you play according to the best strategy, the difference between a winning and a losing session may be just 1% or less of the total of all your wagers.  Still, everyone likes to win!

Many players find it hard to actually surrender.  This is a tactic that you really should learn and use when it is the correct play to make.

Finally, Stay Away from Insurance

This is an offer to save your bet if the dealer is showing an ace.  If the dealer has twenty one and you have taken insurance, you don’t lose your bet but if the dealer doesn’t have 21 and you have taken insurance, you lose that part of the bet.  Statistically, insurance is not a good bet to take.  You can save a substantial amount of money by never taking insurance.

Counting Cards

This is a tactic that can work well if you are playing in a single deck game and the cards are only shuffled towards the end of the deck.  This type of game is next to impossible to find these days!  As few players as can count cards correctly for hours in order to reap a small advantage over the house, casinos have nevertheless gone over to large shoes and constantly shuffling machines.

So, forget about counting cards.  This tactic may have been successful for some players back in the day but it is not a big factor in winning at blackjack anymore.  Even when there were a lot of single deck games, counting cards meant perfect attention to every card played plus the courage to raise the bet when the card count justified such a bold move and then the fortitude not to tilt if despite all of the statistics behind making a very big bet you lost the hand anyway!

Blackjack Offers Hours of Fun at Low Cost

The high return to player rate means that blackjack is a game that you can play for long stretches at little cost.  It thus provides oodles of fun.  Gamers here at Everygame Casino Red enjoy blackjack for the fun of it and because they love card games.  Our graphics continue to improve as newer and better graphics come online.  We offer several types of blackjack so we recommend that you learn the rules that are unique to each variation.

We offer a massive Welcome Package of up to $5555 for new gamers.   New gamers at Everygame Casino often discover that we offer so many games that they can access easily, unlike the experience they had always had at land-based casinos.  Many new gamers had never played blackjack before they joined Everygame Casino!

Join NOW and discover the joys of vast and varied online casino gaming!

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