Author: blackjackhero

Will New Jersey have Online Blackjack?

Even if the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) now in effect California and Florida have been looking into making online gambling legal within their states for state residents. They are looking into it mostly as another source of income, which is much needed.

But while California has been going round and round in talks with tribes in their state, and Florida has been going back and forth with the Seminoles, New Jersey has snuck in under the radar.

On Thursday a bill, proposed by Senator Ray Lesniak, that would regulate online gambling within the state for New Jersey residents passed a committee vote 3-1. With the bill passed it can now go to the entire Senate for discussion and hopefully a vote that will allow for online gambling in New Jersey.

The way the bill works is to allow licensed casinos the ability to create sites online that allow for gambling online. Casinos must be licensed because without that license, according to federal law, they would not be allowed to offer online gambling. But since casinos in Atlantic City are licensed

Rules to Improve Your Blackjack Odds

The better your blackjack odds are, the better your chances of taking home some extra money. Thankfully blackjack is one such game that you can do this with.

Blackjack is a casino game in which the odds are not set in stone, like how they are with a slots game. Tables and online blackjack games can have different rules that can either help improve your blackjack odds or hurt them. Naturally, you want to look for the rules that will improve your blackjack odds.

But do you know what house rules to be on the lookout for to improve your blackjack odds?

One of the best rules to look for is blackjacks that pay 2-1. This rule can increase your blackjack odds by 2.27%. With a 3-2 payout you would be paid $15 for a blackjack on a $10 wager. But your winnings for a blackjack at a 2-1 table is $20. You are being paid more for you blackjack and that hits the house harder.

Another good house rule to be on the lookout for is an automatic win for a Five Card Charlie. A Five Card Charlie is a hand of five cards whose total value is still less than 21. If you are playing at a table that allows a Five Card Charlie to beat anything the dealer has

Doubling Down on Soft Hands

Soft hands can be surprisingly hard to play in blackjack. I know, the name does not make these hands sound all that bad. But in blackjack having an Ace dealt to you at the beginning of a round can be a good thing and a bad thing.

The good thing about an Ace in blackjack is that you have the ability to change the value of that Ace if you need to. Aces start out with a value of 11 in blackjack. But if the player hits too high, that Ace can be reduced to a 1 to save the hand from busting. Think of it as having a second chance for your hand.

On the other hand, that ability to reduce can make it difficult to know how to play your hand. If you have a hard 14 versus a dealer

Basic Strategy or Instinct

Basic Strategy is the single easiest blackjack strategy tool that can be used. Basic strategy can be used for blackjack in a brick and mortar casino, and also for online blackjack. This is because it is based on the basic rules of the game, making it a versatile blackjack strategy tool.

However, this does make it ineffective for variations with different house rules, such as Spanish 21 and Pontoon. It can be used in variations in which the game play is the same as regular blackjack with the variation coming from a side bets. But you should not be playing side bet variations anyway.

What makes basic strategy the easiest blackjack strategy tool? It is because the hard work has already been done. All you have to do is find out what play is the best recommended for the hand you have been dealt against whatever the dealer

European Blackjack vs. Blackjack

For the most part blackjack is a pretty standard casino game. There are not a lot of ways to vary blackjack. And that is probably why most of the blackjack variations you run across in online casinos and in brick and mortar casinos are based on side bets, while the actual game is played the same as always.

However. There are a small number of blackjack variations which are true variations, meaning that some rules are different. European Blackjack is one such variation.

European Blackjack is not a variation based on a side bet. There are two rules in this game that make it different than regular blackjack. And these differences in rules are not to the player

UIGEA Implemented Today

Well, it is the beginning of June. And that means that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is now in effect.

But really do not expect things to change for those who play in online casinos and gamble online. The actual implementation and action of UIGEA does not rest on the shoulders of those of us who play blackjack online, or slots online, or poker or any other online casino game. That is correct. The UIGEA does not actually focus enforcement on the players.

Rather the enforcement and implementation rests in the hands of financial institutions, such as banks and credit card companies. Under UIGEA banks and credit card companies are the ones responsible for stopping all transactions to and from online casinos.

And that is why those who play online casino games will probably not be as affected by the UIGEA as they might think. See, online casinos are on the clever side. They use coding so that banks and credit card companies will not recognize that the funds to or from an online casino will not be recognized.

The UIGEA says, in short, that banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions cannot knowingly process transactions to or from online casinos. But if, thanks to the coding used by online casinos, banks and credit card companies do not recognize that the transactions are going to and from online casinos then they will not be able to stop them. And because they are not knowingly processing the transactions, it makes them

Natural Blackjack and Even Money

There is no feeling in blackjack like being dealt a natural blackjack. Just seeing those two cards come face up in front of you is euphoric. It is because you won that round of blackjack and you know you have won. And then every now and then the dealer will rain on your blackjack parade and have an Ace for an up card. It does not mean that you have lost; it just makes the situation a little trickier is all.

Naturally the dealer

About Card Counting

It is entirely up to the player in blackjack if he wants to use a blackjack strategy. Many players will take up basic strategy because of how easy it is to use and how effective it is. Playing every hand in blackjack according to basic strategy can lower the house edge to 0.5%. But for some blackjack players that is not enough strategy.

For those players looking for a little extra edge they will usually turn to brick and mortar casinos and card counting because card counting cannot be done in online blackjack.

Card counting is a way of tracking what cards have been played to have an estimation of what is left in the deck still to be played. Once card counting blackjack players have an idea of what is left unplayed in the deck they will base their wagering on that estimation.

Throughout an entire game of blackjack, these players will count the cards as they are played and discarded to manage their betting. This becomes a part of their betting strategy.

When counting cards, blackjack players tend to use one system or another. But like how basic strategy is the most widely used strategy for its ease and effectiveness, card counters in general will use the simplest counting system: the Hi-Lo System.

The Hi-Lo System assigns counting values to the cards, designating them as high, low or neutral cards. The breakdown is as follows:

2-6 are worth +1 and are considered low cards
7-9 are worth 0 and are considered neutral cards
10-Ace are worth -1 and are considered high cards

Well, now that you know that, let

True Insurance Odds

Earlier today I explained how the odds of an insurance bet in blackjack are not equivalent to the payout, making it an unfair blackjack wager.

Yes, fair wagers do exist. Take that single number roulette wager. It carries 36-1 odds and has a 36-1 payout. That makes it a fair wager.

We already determined this morning that if in the first round of blackjack that the dealer had an Ace showing and neither of your cards were worth 10 that the odds were 2.0625-1, which does not equal the 2-1 payout that the house offers.

But that is an unlikely scenario. So let