Developing Your Online Blackjack Strategy

Choosing the Right Blackjack Variant

The first decision an online Blackjack enthusiast has to make is picking a specific Blackjack variant from a wide range of games offered by casino sites. You will find that your options are typically pretty good at both USA online blackjack sites and the non-USA friendly destinations. Quite obviously, some Blackjack variants have a lower house edge than the others, but with nearly 7,000 variations of the basic rule set around, it would be next to impossible to discuss every possible combination in detail. However, it is possible to pay attention to specific rules and settings that have the potential to improve your chances or increase the casino's advantage. For example, playing Blackjack games that pay 3 to 2 on a blackjack is always preferable to playing short paying 6 to 5, 7 to 5 and 1 to 1 tables, as 3 to 2 games allow you to increase your profits by about 10%. Other rules that benefit the player include the ability to split the aces, early surrender against ten, late surrender, re-splitting aces and drawing to split aces. The rules that work against you are doubling on 9-11 only, splitting to 2 hands only, no doubling after splitting, doubling to 10,11 only and dealer hits on soft 17.

Basic Blackjack Strategy

The most basic American Vegas Blackjack strategy isn't right for all Blackjack games, but knowing how to play the most liberal version of the game is pretty much guaranteed to turn you into a better player regardless of the specific variant you pick. In Vegas Blackjack, players should always hit when they have a hard 4 to 8, ie. when they have no ace or their ace counts as 1 point because otherwise the hand would bust. If you have a hard 9, double when the dealer has 2 to 6 and hit when the dealer has 7 to A. On hard 10 or 11, double with more than the dealer. On hard 12 to 16, stand when the dealer has 2 to 6 and hit when the dealer has 7 to A. Always stand on hard 17 and above. Soft hands are hands with an ace that can still count as 11. Always hit on soft 13 to 15. Double on soft 16 to 18 when the dealer has 2 to 6 and hit when the dealer has 7 to A. Always stand on soft 19 to 21. Splitting is also fairly simple you always split 88 and AA. You should split 22, 33, 66, 77 and 99 if the dealer holds 2 to 6 otherwise you should avoid splitting. You should never split with 44, 55 and double 10.

Which Tactics to Avoid?

Many newcomer tactics simply hurt your chances of winning the game, so you should avoid using them at all costs. Many players believe that never going bust is the right way to play the game, but the truth is that if you never hit on hard 12 or more, you give the house an additional edge of about 4%. Following the actions of the dealer is also almost always the wrong call. First of all, you miss out on numerous opportunities to double or split and if that wasn't bad enough, hitting on soft 18 is sometimes beneficial to the player. Consequently, mimicking the dealer increases the house edge by more than 5%. Nevertheless, the biggest mistake you can make is always to assume a ten in the hole in such a case, the house edge rises by 10%, which is pretty much guaranteed to have a dramatic impact on your long-term profitability.

Online Blackjack Card Counting

Many Blackjack enthusiasts have heard about card counting and expect to succeed in online play by following advanced card counting strategies. Unfortunately, card counting is possible exclusively in a brick and mortar setting if you don't know how far into the shoe the dealer is before the decks are re-shuffled, you simply can't count cards. Card counting players have to know how many decks are in play and have to spread their bets accordingly. This information is never available in a standard online Blackjack environment, as the virtual decks are shuffled by a special algorithm every time you play, which means that you can't get any deck penetration. The best way to triumph over the house in online Blackjack is to leave card counting to land-based players and to take full advantage of all the available bonuses and promotions while following proper Blackjack strategy. Learn more about this strategy from our page about blackjack card counting. The only online setting in which a player may attempt to introduce card counting might be in a live dealer online blackjack situation, and we're pretty sure that it would be challenging even with advanced web streaming.