Online Blackjack - Easy Tips and Strategies To Help You Win
Blackjack is played between a player and a dealer. The main aim of the online blackjack game is to beat the dealer by getting the total card value of as close as possible to 21, but not exceeding it. You can either ‘hit’ (receive another card) or ‘stand’ (stay with your cards) to win at blackjack.
The player busts and automatically loses the game if the total combined value of all his cards comes out to be 22 or more. If the player doesn’t lose, it is the turn of the dealer to play. Generally, the dealer draws the cards to get a hand as close to 17 or more. He cannot add more cards when the value of his total cards reaches more than 17.
In situations where the dealer busts or loses, the player becomes the winner lest he has not busted formerly. If both the player and the dealer are not busted, they check the total combined value of their cards and find out who’s the winner.
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Basic Blackjack Options
Blackjack is the ultimate card game that not only rests on your luck but also your patience and strategies. Therefore, you must acquire the right skills to play it optimally and increase your chances of winning when you play at casinos with real money.
You can master your blackjack gaming skills by playing it for free at select online casinos. When you gain experience of playing blackjack, you won’t find it difficult to beat the dealer. Here are a few options you can choose from when playing blackjack.
- Hit: When a player chooses ‘hit,’ the dealer deals him one more card.
- Stand: When a player chooses ‘stand,’ this means that the player wants to stay with their cards. The dealer will then reveal his face-down card and find out who’s the winner.
- Double Down: This option lets the player double their bet. On choosing this option, the dealer will offer one more card to the player.
- Split: Players may choose to ‘split’ when they want to create two separate hands from the initially dealt cards. This option requires the players to create one more bet equal to the initial bet. They also receive one card each for both hands.
- Surrender: Players may choose to ‘surrender’ and receive half of the amount of their original bet if they don’t want to proceed further.
- Insurance: If the face-up card of the dealer is Ace, players may choose ‘insurance’ to avoid losing their full bet amount.
Basic Blackjack Strategies
Blackjack is played with a standard deck of cards. The value of the cards from Two to Ten is denoted by their face value while the Jack, Queen, and King are valued as 10. Ace has both 1 and 11 value and you can choose the one that makes the best hand. If Ace is counted as 1, the hand is known as ‘hard hand.’ And, when the Ace is counted as 11, the hand is known as the ‘soft hand.’
The following strategies will offer you some idea on what to do and what not do:
- Always split a pair of Aces and 8s, irrespective of the face-up card of the dealer.
- Avoid splitting a pair of 5s or Tens. This is because keeping Tens together makes 20 and it offers more chances to win. Splitting 5s and playing them separately will not yield good hands.
- If you have a pair of 2s or 3s and the face-up card of the dealer is a 2 or 3, you can choose to ‘split.’ However, if the rules don’t allow you to do so, you can choose to ‘hit.’
- If you have a hard 11, you can ‘double down’ against any face-up card of the dealer.
- If you have a two-card 10 and the face-up card of the dealer is a 9 or less, you can choose to ‘double down.’
- If you have a hard 12 and the face-up card of the dealer is a 2 or 3, you can consider to ‘hit.’
- If you have a soft 18 (Ace as 11 and a 7) and the face-up card of the dealer is a 9 or 10, you can consider to ‘hit.’
- If you have a hand with a total value of 17 or more, you may choose to ‘stand.’
- If you have a hand of Soft 13 to Soft 18 and the face-up card of the dealer is a 5 or 6, you can ‘double down.’
- If you have a pair of 9s and the face-up card of the dealer is a 7, you can choose to ‘stand.’
- If you have a hard 16 (Ace is counted as 1) and the face-up card of the dealer is a 9 or 10 or Ace, you can choose to ‘surrender.’
- If you have a hard 15 (Ace is counted as 1) and the face-up card of the dealer is a 10, you can choose to ‘surrender.’
- If you have a hard 16 (Ace is counted as 1) and the face-up card of the dealer is a 10, you can choose to ‘stand.’
What Is Card Counting?
Card counting is found to be the most profitable strategy to win at blackjack. However, most land-based casinos don’t like their players using it and so they implement various measures to make card counting difficult for them.
At online casinos, card counting cannot be used in free play blackjack games because of the inbuilt random number generators (or RNGs). Players can make use of card counting methods to a certain degree during live blackjack gaming but live blackjack is only available to play with real money and not free play.
Playing Blackjack Online to Win
These are some general rules and tips that you can use if you are playing the classic version of blackjack for free. Nevertheless, it is always best to learn about the different versions of blackjack and their associated rules if you want to play blackjack for real money and earn winnings. Still, the best strategy to beat the dealer at blackjack is to make the right decision that can reduce the casino’s advantage over you.
