Tag: Blackjack Odds

What Would Make Up the Best Blackjack Game?

While we all enjoy our blackjack games, be it blackjack in a brick and mortar casino or blackjack online, we all will imagine from time to time what would be our perfect blackjack game. Granted, we do not expect to ever actually find our perfect game of blackjack, but every now and then we will all sigh and let our minds wander to this perfect game and imagine the fun and the winnings.

So what would my perfect game of blackjack be? Well, naturally it has all kinds of player favorable rules.

For starters I would have natural blackjacks paying 2-1 instead of 3-2. While a 3-2 payout is awesome, a 2-1 payout will not only pay more but it will also increase a player

How Card Counting Works

Part of the image of blackjack is card counting. And that image is of a smooth blackjack player who slips in and, using his incredible intelligence, overcomes the house edge, wins lots of money and slips out before the casino staff can catch on to him.

The idea that card counting can be used to beat the house is not new. And it can help a skilled blackjack player to break even with the house

Blackjack Myth

The only time that this myth would come up is when you are dealt a natural blackjack or a 20 and the dealer has an Ace showing. In fact, the only time you are offered insurance in blackjack is when the dealer has an Ace showing.

The belief on this blackjack myth might sound reasonable, but it is in fact not practical. Here are the reasons these myth-believing blackjack players will insure their blackjacks and 20s:

– If you insure your blackjack you will get an even money payout no matter what even if the dealer has a blackjack.

– If you insure your 20 and the dealer does have blackjack you will wind up with the equivalent of an even money payout because you will lose that round

Blackjack Myth

I have said it before and I will say it again. Soft hands are some of the most misplayed hand in blackjack. I have seen a good number of blackjack players who, while they can handle their hard hands, do not seem to know what to do with soft hands. And a soft 18 is one of those misplayed blackjack hands.

A fair amount of blackjack players will stand on a soft 18. To them it seems like there is no other possible way to play this hand. They get caught up in the 18 part and forget about the Ace.

When facing down a dealer

Who is Winning When?

For those who play blackjack fairly often, for those who have researched blackjack, studied blackjack, they know the odds. They know that blackjack games start with a house edge of 2% to 5%. These studied blackjack players know that they can reduce the house edge to 0.5% just by playing perfect basic strategy.

Unfortunately 0.5% is the best odds an online blackjack player can be after. For blackjack players who play in brick and mortar casinos, they can employ their skills at card counting, and even out the odds or even tilt the odds in their favor.

But what do odds tell you about winning? They tell you the chances of you winning, but those odds apply to each and every hand. They do not tell you on average how often you could win at blackjack. And the well informed player should know how often they could win.

On average a player will only win 44% of the time while the dealer will win around 48% of the time. Those percentages apply to blackjack game when basic strategy is applied. But either the player winning or the dealer winning only accounts for 92% of games. The other 8% goes into pushes. Meaning that 8% the dealer and the player will have a push.

Of the average 44% of games that the player will win, 5% of those games will be won with a natural blackjack. Interestingly enough, the dealer

Blackjack Myth: Never Hit 12 Against a Dealer

For blackjack players who play according to basic strategy, I know, this myth does not make any sense.

And players believe this regardless of whether they are playing online blackjack or blackjack in a brick and mortar casino. Some are absolutely steadfast in this myth.

In truth they are only hurting their own blackjack odds.

Here is what happens in the mind of blackjack player who believes this myth

Luck and Skill in Blackjack

I have said many times that blackjack is a game of skill. When I say this about blackjack, I mean that players have an impact on how to play out their hands in blackjack, whereas in other casino games, like slots, the player has no choice. Many blackjack players what playing in a game of skill means, and others not so much.

The players that do not quite understand what is meant by game of skill seem to think that this means that they can use a piece of strategy, like basic strategy, practice it, play with it, and then beat the house with it. Simply because blackjack is a game of skill, so if they use a skill then they think they have the game beat and will be rolling in money in no time.

These players would not be accurate. In fact, they would be very wrong.

Blackjack as a game of skill means that a strategy skill, again like basic strategy, can be learned and used to lower the house edge. But it does not mean that you have the game beat. Sorry.

There is still a certain amount of luck needed in blackjack.

While some blackjack strategy can help you in how to deal with the cards you are dealt, you need luck to be dealt good cards. After all there are some hands that you just cannot make a profit off of. And that is where you need skill.

Blackjack players are in need of luck in order be dealt natural blackjacks. There is no way of knowing when you are going to be dealt one or how often

Worst Stiff Hand in Blackjack

It is never fun to be dealt a stiff hand in blackjack. You always feel like you have lost the round before it is even your turn to play. Or in the case of online blackjack, as soon as you see the cards you have been dealt.

You wind up basing your play off of whatever up card the dealer has. For hard hands 13 through 16 you stand if the dealer is showing a 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. And if he is showing a 7, 8, 9, 10 or Ace you hit. A hard 12 is the same except that you do hit when the dealer is showing a 2 or 3, so it is a little more flexible.

So if four of the five stiff hands are all played the same, which one is the worst one?

It would be the hard 16. Players have a 61% chance of busting with this hand. This is because when the dealer has a 7 or higher showing, the player

Is Blackjack Beatable or Not?

You can go online and read about how blackjack is a beatable casino game. But then when you go to the casino and lose money or watch how another player makes more money than you. How does that work? Is blackjack really a beatable casino game? Is it more beatable for one player over another?

First, yes, blackjack is a beatable casino game. But it does require skilled card counting. Very skilled card counting.

The way it works is like this: the odds in blackjack are constantly shifting because cards are dealt and the makeup of the remaining deck changes. When the cards are running with high cards the odds favor the player. This is because there is a greater chance for the player to be dealt a blackjack.

The 3-2 payout is what makes up a good chunk of the player