Play Blackjack Online

We show what is important in blackjack and which strategies can lead to profit.

General information about Blackjack

First of all, you have to say that you can not win with “card counting” in blackjack. To be more precise, you cannot more win with card counting. What used to work today no longer leads to success due to various decks of cards that are used and special mixing machines. More details about the history of card counting can be found in the second point “Where does Blackjack come from”.

Basically, you win at blackjack when you win with your Card value as close as possible to the number 21 approaching. However, if you exceed this card value, you have lost.

So far so good. Who do you play blackjack against? This is quickly answered: either you play against the house, i.e. the provider. Or you can compete against the dealer, such as in Live blackjack. The dealer is also referred to as a croupier, banker or dealer.

How the card game is played in detail and what strategies there are can be found below. For the widest possible understanding of the card game, a look at the history of blackjack is quite useful.

Where does Black Jack come from?

As with so many games of chance, blackjack is also a descendant of a French card game, namely “vingt et un”. This card game is known in Canada as “Seventeen and four” and “twenty-one” respectively . The card game vingt et un was very popular in the 18th century at the royal court of Louis XV and developed in the 20th century in the USA to the now well-known blackjack.

The name “Black Jack" was created because the classic French card game was not really very popular in the USA at first. Therefore, they were looking for a way to make the game more interesting. The solution to the problem was quickly found: they decided on a special distribution, with which they wanted to increase the appeal for gamblers.

A player could secure a higher payout if he played with the first two cards Ace of Spades and a Jacks garnered. The Ace of Spades is simply referred to as “Black”, the jack in the English version as “Jack”.

This special payout, which allowed payouts of up to 10:1, attracted many players. As a result, the term blackjack established itself as the actual name for the card game – representative of the greatest possible profit that could be achieved in the card game.

However, the high distributions quickly led the providers to the question of whether this will really be worthwhile for the house in the long run. That is why the original new regulation, with which you as a player could achieve a significantly higher payout, has been almost abolished to this day. If you have a “Blackjack” as a hand these days, there is only a profit in the ratio of 3: 2.

Card counting used to really work and is not a fairy tale from Hollywood movies like Rainman and Co. This system was successful because cards that had already been played were put aside in the blackjack game earlier. For a new game, the discarded cards were mixed with the rest, and a new set of cards was used. Now, of course, it was clear that if low cards were preferred in the first set, higher ones would probably be played in the next.

From this circumstance, the mathematician Thorp developed a game system in 1961, which he even published as a book a year later. Of course, the book, which wanted to enable all players to win big, had the self-confident title “Beat the Dealer”. The system was based on the fact that by counting the high cards, it was possible to find out whether an advantageous composition of the deck of cards was announced. If that was the case, it was worth taking a higher risk when playing. Due to the publication, the casinos had to react to protect themselves from the new blackjack strategy.

Nowadays, special mixing machines are used as a precaution, which are called shuffle Stars. With them, card counting is pointless, since they directly resume and reshuffle used cards. Also, significantly more decks are used.

What does the classic structure of blackjack look like?

As already mentioned, blackjack is about getting a card value of 21 with the cards dealt by the croupier. Here, the individual values of the cards are added together.

At the opening of the game, you place your bet and receive the first two cards. These are revealed openly by the dealer. Also, the croupier himself receives two cards, but from which he reveals only one card. Now you can decide if you want another card, what with “ Hit song " is designated. If you don't want to get another card, this turn is called “ Stand ”.

The choice of whether to ask for another card or not depends on two starting points: on the one hand, it is about your own card value, and on the other hand, about what the croupier might have in added card value. Because it is primarily important that you have a higher card value than the dealer – and at the same time not above 21. If you are over 21, you will get one. “ Bust ” and lose the game.

A simple example: you get two cards to open the game. One shows a 7, the other a 5. Together, the card value is 12. The croupier only reveals one of his two cards, has a 10. Now you have to ask yourself: Does it make sense to ask for a card again, or do you think that the croupier with the second card will be below his own card value or above 21?

The rules "hit” and "stand" are relevant not only for the player. The dealer must also be guided by this. However, he may not decide freely. The standard rule for the dealer is the following: Does the croupier a hand with a total of 16 or less , he must draw more cards. So he performs a ”hit". He has to do this until he reaches a total of 17 to 21, or overbought himself.

Should the dealer have a total of 17 or more , he may not draw another card. So he decides to “stand”.

Which rules apply to the croupier in the respective online casinos, you should always read before the first game. In some cases, these can differ slightly.

The Blackjack card values

According to the official rules, the card values in blackjack are distributed as follows:

• The cards 2 – 10 have the respective value according to their number
• Jack, Queen and King are worth 10
• Aces are worth either 1 or 11

The classic procedure in blackjack

From the previous descriptions, you now know what the croupier is doing and how to open a game. In the actual course of a blackjack game, one can focus on the following simple situations with which the first winnings can be achieved:

1. Blackjack is not just about reaching a card value of 21. The goal is to defeat the dealer's hand . This is achieved either by a higher card value, or by the croupier achieving a “bust”.
2. If one of the dealer's two cards is an ace, he offers a side bet. This one will too“ Insurance " and in translation means that insurance is taken out. In this bet, it is assumed that the face-down card will have a value of 10, so the dealer will score a blackjack. This insurance costs half of the bet placed at the beginning, but also makes a payout of 2:1 possible.

As an example: you bet 10 dollars at the beginning. The croupier reveals one of the two cards, this shows an ace. Consequently, he offers an insurance. If you accept it, it costs 5 dollars. If the second card has a value of 10, you lose the set 10 dollars, but in turn the insurance is paid out. So you get $ 10 profit, although you actually lose against the blackjack hand.

3. If the dealer and the player have a blackjack or more than the card value 17, this results in a “ Push ”. This means that you will get back your bet placed at the beginning.

Hard Hands vs Soft Hands

Some terms in blackjack sometimes sound more complicated than they actually are. From a Hard Hand you speak when you don't get an ace as a card. Because then the map values are static, or fixed. In contrast, there is also the possibility of receiving an ace as a card. In this case, the ace can be counted as 1 but also as 11 and is therefore dynamic. If you get an ace, you are therefore talking about an ace Soft Hand . You can decide how the ace should be evaluated. For example, if you have an ace and a 9 as a card value, this can be counted as 20, or as 10.

You are thus able to request more cards without running the risk of landing a “bust”.

First Tips when playing Blackjack

In order for playing blackjack to be fun right at the beginning, you only have to consider a few small things. Because it is clear that it depends on luck as well as on strategy in blackjack. With a few precautions, it is possible to reduce the house edge from about 5% to a tenth.

• You should give the croupier the chance to overbought himself. If the dealer has a card value of 4, 5 or 6, it is advisable to play defensively . Experienced players use such situations to double their bet (“ Double Down ”).
• If you reach a hard hand that has a value above 17, you should not demand more cards. The risk of over-buying is too great. Even if the croupier has revealed a face card, a 10 or an ace, you should rather wait and see. The possibility that the dealer achieves a “bust”, i.e. ends up over 21, should be given to him.
• Two aces or twice the card 8 should always be dealt splitting but not a 10 or a 6. A Split succeed by placing a second bet equal in value to the first. The croupier now places another card on the split card until you decide to “stand” or is over 21. After that, the dealer puts another card on the second split card.

By a split, the player can win with two hands against the croupier, which gives him a clear advantage.

• The minds are divided about the meaningfulness of insurance. Actually, in the long run, it makes no sense to insure yourself constantly against a possible blackjack of the croupier. But for starters, it can mean security, even if, of course, it costs money.

An overview of the basic strategy

What advantages does blackjack have over the provider

The structure of the game in blackjack makes it possible for the player to have many different strategies at his disposal with which he can improve his chances. Furthermore, it is important to make the right decisions and not to want too much too soon. Because depending on how you play, profit and loss are also distributed. The basic advantages of the player in blackjack over the provider, on the other hand, are obvious:

• As a player, you get a win of 3:2 on a blackjack hand. The croupier, on the other hand, only gets a win of 1:1 on a blackjack hand.
• The croupier must adhere to a certain rule in his way of playing. As described above, with a value of 16 or below, he must demand another card, with 17 or more, only a “stand” is possible for him. As a player, on the other hand, you have free choice when you decide to “hit” or “stand”.
• With a good hand in hand, you can double the bet (“double down”) and thus force the croupier to continue the game with more possible loss for the house.
• By a "split" you are in the promising situation of winning with two hands against the dealer.

The disadvantage of blackjack may be that you lose your entire bet by a “bust”. However, the croupier is also exposed to this disadvantage. If both the player and the croupier have a card value of 21 in a game, it does not end in a draw, but you lose your bet. This inequality establishes another banking advantage.

Typical mistakes of blackjack beginners

You can still approach the blackjack game so enthusiastically – certain mistakes have been made by others before you. It is therefore not necessary to commit them again. A small overview minimizes the risk of playing too fast and possibly naive:

1. One should always be aware of the existing Inform table rules . Since they sometimes differ depending on the provider, it is possible that you lose money, since you did not know some of the requirements.
2. No way should one be aware of the playing style of other players be influenced . This can happen especially if you are sitting to the right of the dealer at the table. In this position, you are always the last to make your decision and can quickly be dissuaded from the actual strategy.
3. As a beginner, one should Set a budget , after that, look for a table where the maximum bet is no more than 5% of the budget. So you can easily minimize the risk of too big losses.
4. One should never copy the dealer's style of play - otherwise you run the risk of overbought.