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Along with about 200 slots, Everygame Red Casino offers over 100 games in other categories. Most games are very straightforward. Gamers like this type of game. There are two great online casino games that are a bit less straightforward.
These are blackjack and video poker. In fact, there are times when the best decision on a given hand will be quite counterintuitive. This means that a gamer’s natural instinct would be to make the opposite decision.
Here, we will try to teach you how to not just accept but to embrace the counterintuitive moves that lead blackjack and video poker gamers to the massive 99.5% return to player rate.
Should I Always Stand with 12 Points?
This is one of the most asked questions in blackjack. Of course, if you hit and you get a 10-point card, you will bust. The dealer might have busted if you had stood.
So, what is the best move here? The answer is that always standing with 12 points or more is a poor approach to blackjack. Sometimes standing is correct, and sometimes taking a card is correct.
Here Are Examples
One hand that blackjack players make mistakes on is a hard 11 against a 10-point card. The basic strategy is always to double down with 11 points, but a lot of players are afraid to do so with a hard 11 against a 10. Statistically, in the long run, you are much more likely to win money with this hand by doubling down than you are to lose money.
Another very counterintuitive hand is when you have a pair of 8’s and the dealer has a 10. Players are told to split 8’s since 16 is a terrible hand for the player, but they are afraid to split 8’s when the dealer has a 10. Statistically, in the long run, the player will lose money with 16 points, but they will lose less money in the long run if they split the 8’s.
This also points to an important intuitive aspect of blackjack, which is to play a game that also offers surrender. In this case, you would surrender and come out less behind over the long run than by either standing or splitting.
Splitting Seems Obvious but Isn’t
When to split seems to be a difficult area for blackjack players to master. In this case, you might have a pair of 9’s and the dealer is showing a 9. The best strategy is to split, but a lot of players are afraid to do so. In this scenario, you might draw a 2 on the split 9, and then you could double down.
This leads to another conclusion about the rules: play in a game that allows you to double down after splitting.
A Short List of Blackjack Tips
Overall, the best strategy in blackjack is pretty much straightforward. Here is a short recap of the points made here and a few that we are making now:
- Play in a game that pays 3-2 for a blackjack. This eliminates blackjack at many land-based casinos, which have begun to pay 6-5.
- Play in a game that allows surrender.
- Split 8’s even against a dealer’s 10.
- Split 9’s eve against a dealer’s 9.
- Always hit with 12 or 13 points when the dealer has a 7-ace.
- Play in a game that allows doubling down after splitting.
What is Counterintuitive in Video Poker?
There are two main areas of video poker strategy that a lot of gamers find difficult to fathom. The first is going for a Royal Flush, even though it is quite rare. The second is to sometimes break apart a winning pair in order to go for a better hand.
Why Chase a Royal Flush?
It is true that a Royal Flush comes about only about once in 40,000 hands. If you play video poker at a land-based casino, you will likely never see a Royal Flush. However, if you play at Everygame Casino Red, or any other good online casino, you will be able, over time, to play many more hands in video poker than you could ever play at a land-based casino.
Gamers often get confused by how a standard video poker strategy chart is organized. The charts usually start at the top with pat hands such as a Royal Flush, straight flush, full house, or four of a kind. You never break any of these hands.
But most of the hands gamers get in video poker are either no pair, one losing pair, or one winning pair. So, gamers have to learn what to do when they have no pair and two or three high cards. Do they go for the straight? Do they hold all three high cards? Do they hold two of the high cards?
You hold two high cards rather than discarding one of them. You hold a low pair even though you can’t win unless you make trips with the low pair or get another pair. You hold suited high cards even if one of them is a 10. You keep a single high card when you have nothing else.
What is Counterintuitive Here?
So far, nothing.
If you have four to a Royal Flush or four to a straight flush and you have a winning pair, you break apart the pair to go for the higher paying hands. You do not break a winning pair if you have four to a straight or four to a flush! There are a lot of gamers who think that four to a flush or straight is as strong as four to a straight flush, but they aren’t as strong.
If you have a winning pair and the chance to get a much better hand with one card, you should take that chance. You might get a great hand, you might get a lesser hand but one that pays better than a pair, or you could still re-pair the high card or get another winning pair.
This is the great insight in video poker. Instead of “ a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” the refrain, on those hands where it applies, should be “go for the gusto”.
Everygame Casino Red Has Many Variations of Video Poker
Most people associate online casinos with slots as they do with land-based casinos. But online casinos such as Everygame Red Casino are different. We feature over 300 games, and gamers can experience every one of our games over the course of time.
There is no pressure to play on and on like there is at a land-based casino. Thus, gamers who like games of skill can play video poker, Caribbean Poker, blackjack, or other games. We also offer several variations of video poker. One thing we do emphasize: learn the correct strategy for any variation you wish to play.
Everygame Casino Red also has excellent banking options, many promotions with deposit bonuses in the thousands, and free spins to boot, to blog posts like this one that help you get the most fun from online casino gaming.