Blackjack Strategy

Contrary to popular belief, playing winning blackjack does require skill. In fact, statistically speaking, it’s almost impossible to make money consistently playing blackjack if you rely on luck. If blackjack was completely fair, the casino would be at a risk of losing a lot of money. Because of this, the casino has a house advantage over the players. In blackjack, without using any strategy, you give the house an advantage of over 5%. It’s not hard to see that after playing for a period of time with these odds, you will almost certainly lose money.

So what can you do to stop the casino from taking all your money? Well, with blackjack, there are a few different strategies that will dramatically reduce the house edge. With advanced strategies, you can even get a minor edge over the casino. If you’d like to play blackjack to make money instead of playing just for fun, learning these advanced strategies is important. It takes patience and practice to get blackjack strategies down, but once you do, you will be able to make money playing blackjack.

Basic Strategy

The first strategy for helping you win in blackjack is called basic strategy. Using computer simulations and mathematical formulas, professionals have figured out the best statistical decisions to make with each pair of cards. With basic strategy, you memorize whether you should hit, double down, split, or hold, depending on the cards you are dealt. With perfect basic strategy, you can reduce the house edge to .5%. This is a huge difference, and you will find yourself winning a lot more. On top of this, basic strategy also takes emotions out of the game. With emotions, you can make bad decisions, because you’re listening to your emotions and not thinking straight. With basic strategy, you always know what decision to make, so you will never make the wrong decision.

Card Counting

Card counting is a very advanced form of blackjack strategy. Although it sounds complicated, it’s rather simple. All it requires is diligent practice and intense concentration.With card counting, you keep track of the cards that are left in the deck. By doing this, you know whether the next card to come out will be a high card, or a low card. Combine this with basic strategy, and you will begin to have an advantage over the casino. Be careful with card counting, though. Although it’s not illegal, many casinos will kick you out if they suspect you are counting cards.