Blackjack is unique and offers many tips and tricks that help players like you to overcome the house edge; at least as much as possible anyway. While the idea of counting cards and being able to beat the house may seem lucrative, the popularity behind blackjack is plain and simple. For hard hands over 12, players can use the following blackjack tips and tricks. Hand between 12 and 16. If the dealer has a hand value of 2 to 6, the best choice is to stand. The chances of a dealer getting higher hand when they are starting with such low hand are unlikely, but not impossible. Blackjack Tips and Tricks. It doesn’t matter if you’re just starting to learn about the ins and outs of blackjack or if you are looking to brush up your skills – here are some of the best tips and advice from players who have enough years of experience to know better.
It’s probably safe to say that you haveheard of blackjack before, but whether you are great at playingblackjack or not is anotherstory. Playing blackjack has always maintained its place as the popular game of choice in casino’s worldwideand online. Over time, games like poker and the pokies have gained quite the following. Blackjack, however, does notappear to be slowing down anytime soon.
Blackjack is unique and offers many tipsand tricks that help players like you to overcome the house edge; at least asmuch as possible anyway. While the ideaof counting cards and being able to beat the house may seem lucrative, thepopularity behind blackjack is plain and simple. Playing blackjack is fun.
Now you might think that to be a goodblackjack player you need to invest in learninga strategy heavily, but this is not true. With our quick tips andtricks, you can increase your chances of landing a great hand and a nice nest egg without spending hours readingthrough card counting books.
How to play blackjack
Blackjack isusually played with a four, six, or eight standard 52-card decks. Thesedecks are combined to create the dealer’s shoe, which is also the source of wherethe cards are drawn from to give players’ their hand in each round. Now, eachcard in the game of blackjack carries a point value, cards two to ten are worth their face value; kings, queens, andjacks are valued at ten points; and acescan be used as a one or as an eleven.
The way that you win a game of blackjackis by drawing cards from the dealer which add up to a value of 21, withoutgoing over, or at the very least to beat the dealer’s hand.
How to win playing blackjack
Now that you are all caught up on thebasics of how to play blackjack – read onand make sure to take note of our quick blackjack tips and tricks.
Lookout for fives
In blackjack, each card has a value. Thisvalue is the underlying factor in determining what actions you take and theireffect on the entire game played from the dealer’s deck.
Card counters are always on the lookoutfor decks that are stacked with high-value cards. This is because a deck that is loaded with cardson the higher value benefits the player’s chances of drawing winning hands.
Now, if higher value cards arebeneficial, then lower value cards are bad news. These lower value cards aregreat for the dealer. What is useful to know is that the lowest value card withthe most significant disadvantage to theplayer is the five. For every five that isremoved from the dealer’s deck,the player will receive an extra 0.67% to their expected return. This might seem small at first but considermultiplying that by the number of fives that are in a dealer’s six-deck shoe, and you’re looking at a significant advantage.
Blackjack Advice
So be sure to keep a lookout for all thefives that are being drawn, the more being removed from the shoe, the better!
When to hit
A hit is your way of asking the dealerfor another card. How you notify a ‘hit’ is different, depending on the styleof game that you are playing. In hand-held games,players scrape their cards against the table. In face-up games, players can useeither a wave of a hand towards their body or tap the table with a finger.
Use the following guidelines as a quicktrick for when to hit, depending on what your hand looks like and the dealer’s face-up card:
- Ifyour hand totals eight or 12 through to 16, and the dealer’s face up card is aseven, eight, nine, ten, or ace – hit
- Ifyour hand totals 11, and the dealer’s face up card is an ace – hit and do not double down
- Ifyour hand equals ten, and the dealer’sface up card is a ten – hit and do not doubledown and
- Ifyour hand equals nine, and the dealer’sface up card is a seven, eight or nine – hit and do not double down.
When to stand
To notify the dealer that you want tostand, you can place your cards under chips in hand-held games; whereas, in face-up games, you must wave your handhorizontally across your cards.
Use the following guidelines as tips forwhen to stand, depending on what your hand looks like and the dealer’s face-up card:
- Ifyour hand totals 17 or above, no matter what card the dealer has – you alwaysstand
- Ifyour hand equals 13 or above, and thedealer’s face up card is a six or below – stand
and
- Ifyour hand consists of a splittable pairof 10s or face cards – do not split them, stand.
When to split
A split is a little more complicated.When splitting a pair of cards, you must place a second bet of equal value outside of the betting box while pointing with two fingers in a spread ‘V’shape.
The dealer will then split the cards anddeals an additional card to each new hand, which results in the player usingeach hand separately.
Our quick “tricks” to split your handdepends on the value of your pair of cards, and the value of the dealer’s face-upcard. Consider the following rules to decide when it is best to split yourhand:
- Onlysplit a pair of twos or threes if thedealer’s face up card is a four, five, six, or seven
- Neversplit a pair of fives; either opt todouble down, or hit if the dealer’s face up card is a ten or an ace
- Alwayssplit sixes and sevens if the dealer’s face up card is a six or below
- Alwayssplit a pair of eights – no matter what the dealer’s face up card is showing
and
- Alwayssplit aces if you are allowed.
When to double
Doubling down ‘looks’ as cool as itsounds. To double down, place your added chips next to your original bet andpoint with one finger, with confidence.
Blackjack Tips Og Tricks
Doubling is a strategy which is generally used when your hand equals nine, ten, or 11, which gives players a good chanceof hitting 19 to 20 with either a 10 or a face card. Use these guidelines to determine when to double down on your hand,according to the total value of your cardsand the dealer’s face-up card:
- Besure to double down when your hand has atotal of ten – unless the dealer’s face up card is a ten or an ace
- Alwaysdouble down on an eleven, unless the dealer has an ace
and
- Alwaysdouble down on a nine when the dealer’s face up card is a three, four, five, orsix.
Consider using a strategy chart to begin
If you are having trouble remembering ourquick tips and tricks – you may want to invest in a handy blackjack strategychart.
A blackjack strategy chart is designed totell players exactly what moves to make in every possible situation. If you dopurchase a chart, beware of playerbacklash as some of the community have a strong dislike for blackjack strategycharts. This is because they remove the foundations of the game I.e. the “on the fly” decision making.
Before you decide, think of it this way –casinos have the house edge in blackjack because the dealer cannot makedecisions. The dealer always follows strict guidelines based on probabilitieswhen playing their hand.
Now, if you as the player tries to usethe same strategy, you would be effectivelyreducing the house edge.
Understand the rules
There are many variantsin the game of blackjack today, each with their slight differences in therules. Some games even have optional side bets and progressive jackpots.
If you decide to tryplaying a new variation of blackjack, like Perfect Pairs or Super 21, be sureto know all the rules and payouts beforegetting started.
No, you do not want fries with that
Insurance is the blackjack version of thecashier at Maccas asking “do you want fries with that?” When the dealer draws a face-up card – that is an ace, and the playerhas the option of purchasing insurance. Now the insuranceis a bet which involves putting down half of your original bet in the case the dealer draws a blackjack (aperfect 21). If the dealer does, you will win 2:1 on your insurance bet,covering your loss.
For example, you initially bet $10. The dealer puts up an ace to which you decide topurchase the insurance and place a $5 bet down. Now the dealer draws a king,which makes a clean 21. You get your $10 from your insurance bet but lose the$10 bet you initially placed.
Now, what if the dealer did not draw a 21 you say? If this is thecase, you will lose the $5 insurance bet you placed but still have the chanceof winning your initial bet if you beat the dealer’s hand.
It seems like a good idea on paper,hedging your bet and all – but the reality is the opposite.
The odds of a dealer having a blackjackare 9:4. This means that out of 130hands, you would win your insurance bet 40 times and lose it 90 times. So, savemoney in the long run and skip the insurance.
The not-so-sweet 16
If you thought fives were terrible, check this out about ‘16’.
Blackjack players over the world hatedrawing a hand worth 16. It is a value complete with indecision and uncertaintyand is full of confidence-shattering second-guessing;should you hit and risk busting over 21? Or should you stand and risk losing tothe dealer’s hand?
The problem with 16 is that it is there,but not quite there enough. Whether you have a hard or soft 16, or whether thecasino you are playing at has the surrender option. Any serious blackjackplayer needs to consider their stance on the not-so-sweet 16.
This is a difficult situation and not one that can be decided so quickly,so we recommend going out and doing some significant research into the16-point hand.
21, 20, and 11
So, it is a given that the best possiblehand to receive in blackjack is a perfect 21, and the second-best hand is 20. Thus, the third best hand in blackjack has to be a 19, right?
Wrong.
It might come as a surprise, but the third best hand in blackjack is an 11. This is because when you are dealt a hand witha value of 11, you need a ten to win which makes this hand very favorable.
The 11 is favourable because there are somany opportunities to get a ten, because kings, queens, and jacks all have avalue of ten. This means that there arefour times as many ten value cards inblackjack than there are any other cards.
As pointed out earlier, provided thedealer’s face-up card is not an ace – youmust always double down on 11.
Counting cards
Blackjack card counting is not for the faint-hearted and will take a lot of practice and brain-power to be able tocount effectively. Card counting is an old strategy that was used by manyprofessional blackjack players to make the game virtually beatable.
Although it is not hard to learn, it doestake some time to master; however, theresults are very lucrative.
We suggest that you do a lot of practisingbefore you practice card counting so that you do master it. Although it is not considered illegal, thestrategy is disliked by casinos because it removes the house edge and causesthe casino to lose money. You will likely find yourself being thrown out orpermanently banned from casino’s if security or gaming attendants recognisethat you are counting cards.
Remember, card counting does not work foronline games of blackjack. This isbecause after each hand the software re-shuffles the deck.
Play online, it is much cheaper
Playing online blackjack is excellent,and a really enjoyable game without the social aspect of physical casinoblackjack. The only downside? It is mostly only relevant to the hardcoreplayers – which means that you cannot count cards because the virtual dealer isdrawing from an infinite source of cards.
Playing online will save you a tonne of money in exchange for giving up the social aspects of casinos andblackjack. When it comes to online blackjack, players can reduce their significant overheads that playing at casinosattract, such as the flights, accommodation, food and drink, the parties – thelist could probably go on forever.
It makes sense to stay home and set a limit on your funds that you mayuse for playing blackjack, so why not consider signingup to a casinowith online blackjack games like Planet 7 Oz? It’sone of the most favourited casinos to play online blackjack within Australia, withstable servers which perform much better during Aussie peak traffic times.
The bonuses online are worth it
The comfort of playing in your own homeisn’t even the best part of playing blackjack online.
Because of the intense competition in theonline casino gaming world, players are always going to score sweet bonuses toentice them to join.
Simple tactics like welcome bonuses orfree casino chips for returning to the casino after any short hiatus, can netyou with huge starting bankrolls up to $100!
You’ve made it through our quick tips andtricks for playing blackjack, now get out into the world and put that newfoundknowledge to the test! If you are still unsure where to start, we suggestplaying blackjack online for free before you put your hard-earned cash on theline. You can practice playing using ‘fake’ money online with Planet 7 Oztoday!
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