.: Blackjack Casino Game Review

Blackjack is a value casino game. Playing with basic strategy at a casino with fair blackjack rules, wil return a high percentage. Look for tables that offer: Dealer Must Draw to 16 and Stand on All 17s statement, use a single deck, have no restrictions on doubling down, allow re-splitting, and have a surrender option. You probably wont find this at a Las Vegas strip hotel, but online it is more likely.

Before we can talk about Blackjack, you must understand the lingo:
Points: An ace is counted as 1 or 11, face cards 10, all other cards counted as marked.
Blakcjack: A hand with 2 cards and 21 points... An Ace and a 10 card (10, J, Q, K) Hard Hand: A hand that does not include an ace.
Soft Hand: A hand that includes an ace in first two cards dealt. It has two values, depending on whether you use the ace as 1 or 11. So, being dealt Ace-5 could be scored 6 or 16.
Stiff Hand: A potential bust hand, such as a 13 or 14, but especially a hard 15 or 16
Push: The game ends with your count same as the dealer -- a tie -- no money is exchanged, you do not win or lose.
Burn Cards: Number of cards casino discards at the beginning of a new shuffle.
Multiple Decks: four or more decks played in a game, always dealt face up.
Single or Double Decks: played in a game, first two cards are dealt face down.
Hit: Get another card to add to your point total. You may hit as many times as you like, until you bust
Stand: Do not take another card. Play moves to the next player, or the dealer to finalize their hand
Double: You can double your stake (bet). You automatically get one additional card, but must stay after that card
Split: The two cards you were dealt are split into two seperate hands. You must double your bet, such that the original bet is on one hand, and a new, equivalent bet is placed on the other. Each hand is played individually from that time on. You can only split pairs and only after the initial two cards are dealt.
Surrender: If you dislike your cards, you can surrender the hand. You lose half your stake in the game. Many casinos do not offer this option, and usually only after the casino checks for blackjack (known as a late surrender)

If you play blackjack with poor strategy or instinct, you give the casino an advantage of over 5%. Remember, focus on the dealer. The objective is not to get as close to 21 as possible, but to beat the dealer. Its very possible to win with a 13 or 14 count, especially if the dealer's face up card is a 5 or 6.

General blackjack strategy comes in the form of an easy to use chart, displayed below. Simply look at your two hands (on the left side) and find the intersection based on the dealer's up card along the top. Strategy cards are an exact science... However, there are so many rules variations that one strategy card doesn't apply to every table. As an example, The strategy card included here is for large show blackjacks (4 of more decks) where the dealer hits on soft 17. But otherwise fairly strict rules - no surrender, no resplitting. But they do allow you to double down with a point total of 9. Know the rules you are playing with and find a strategy card to match.

General Strategy
• For quick strategy, use the 7-up rule. If the dealer shows 2 through 6, and so do you, always stand. The only exception is if you hold a 12 and the dealer has a 2 or 3 showing, then you hit. The rationale behind the 7-up rule is that the dealer must hit anything up to 16 and could bust. This is an example of a win with 13 or 14. On the other hand, if the dealers up card is a 7 or higher, always hit.
• Double down on 11, with an additional bet, with no exceptions. Double down on 10 only when the dealer shows a 2 through 9. You get one card only if you double down.
• Do not stand on every hand totaling 12 and 16; you increase your losses by about 8% as opposed to playing each hand strategically.
• Do split aces and 8s. Never split 4s, 5s, or 10s, because you already have a good hand. Two 4s are 8, all you need is a 10 for 18. Two 5s give you a count of 10 and an excellent chance to make 20.
• On splits, and re-splits, use the same hit/stand strategies as the strategy table.
• Use progressive betting. After each win, press your bet. Bet your normal unit, plus some amount ranging up to 50%. Do not play double or nothing as this adds too much risk. After a losing hand, return to a single unit bet. Do not try to make up for losses by doubling after each losing bet as your bankroll will dimish too quickly and will take an extremely long time to get back to even.
• Dont use the mimic the dealer technique--that is drawing on all 16s or less and standing on all totals 17-21in turn, expecting that the dealer wins and losses will match the player. In fact, the player is at a disadvantage because he/she must act upon their hand first. A double bust happens only 8% of the time while either dealer or player busting is 28%.

When choosing a blackjack table, online or at a land based casino, consider these factors:

• Single deck makes card counting easier, more shuffling by the dealer--fewer hands are played per hour, thereby reducing the casinos advantage as a function of time, and a better chance that the dealer will not tie a natural 21 with one of his or her own.
• With no restrictions on doubling down, you can press your bet up to the amount of your original wager on any two cards -- not just 10 or 11 as in some blackjack games.
• Make sure blackjacks pay a full 3:2. Some casinos will rip you off only paying 6:5
• The re-splitting option helps you, too. Upon splitting once, you have the opportunity to wager if a third card of the same number is dealt immediately after the split. For example, you split two aces and a third is dealt, re-split that ace a third time with one hit allowed on each split.
• The surrender option means that you can surrender after receiving your first two cards and lose only half your original bet. An early surrender, where the player forfeits his or her hand before the dealer checks for a 21 is the best, but not commonly offered.
• Look for tables where dealer hits on soft 17. If the table simply says the dealer stays on 17, it takes an edge awy from you.

A Bit of Card Counting
Get into the practice of card counting. Unfortunately, playing online it is only reasonable playing single deck shoes with a full table. Online casinos shuffle the deck after each hand, unlike land based casinos. But land based casinos only shuffle when the shoe gets low. But it is also harder to find single deck games in Vegas - the fewer the decks, the greater the player advantage.

The first trick to card counting is to track aces. Since blackjacks pay greater than 1:1, it is the equalizer. Att he start of the show, there are 4 aces per deck used. Hold your bet back if more than one ace has been dealt per 13 cards, increase your bet when fewer aces are dealt.

Before you can start counting cards, you need to know how many decks are in the shoe. Start slowly by tracking the little cards--2 through 6. If you see 10 cards on the table and more than four of them are small, the player has an edge at that moment. The dealers edge kicks in if there are fewer than four small cards. Then you should hold back on your betting.

A couple of hours practice will develop a better counting system where you assign plus and minus totals to certain cards, for what is known as a true count.
2-6 = +1
10, J, Q, K and Aces = -1
7, 8, 9 = 0

Last word on card counting - the more cards out of the deck, the more information you have. If you can snag the third-base seat--just before the dealer, on his or her right-hand side--you can survey the other cards on the table before making your betting decisions.

Pit crews are always on the lookout for expert card counters, so dont be too obvious.

More Advanced Tips
It sure is getting tougher and tougher for intelligent blackjack players as the casinos tighten up the playing rules, however there are still some good plays online and off.

A skilled and serious player should have 50 bets in their session stake and 400 units as their overall bankroll investment. Progressive betting is definitely the road to profit; however, do not double your bet after every win. Smart players should increase their bets about 20-30% at a time. Change red five-dollar chips into white dollar chips to accomplish this. Instead of pressing or upping your bet from five bucks to ten, bet seven dollars. Online, this is done even easier as chips can be chosen at will from your bankroll.

Some facts: the dealer will only bust about once every 4 hands played (28%), player will be dealt a blackjack about once every 21 hands. You will lose more often than you win when you are dealt a hand of 18.

Las Vegas casinos offer a slight advantage over onlinne casinos - Dealer Tells. Dealer Tells from friendly dealers is one of the most useful strategies in this game; hopefully, this player advantage will not disappear with automatic shuffling and sensors detecting the whole card wherein a peek is no longer required. When the dealer checks the hole card, what does he or she tell you after receiving that second card? A stiff or bad hand should produce these signs: no eye contact, head and body leaning backwards, or even leaning toward the next player to receive cards. A pat or good hand, friendly dealers will often talk a lot faster than usual and sound happy, overconfident. Sustained eye contact, a stiff or hard stance, anticipating your next hit, even leaning in your direction. The deck is held lower than normal and angled toward you forcing a hit. Dealers other hand will be closer to you than normal or right in front of your betting circle. Start a conversation about your lousy hand, commenting that you sure hate to hit this one. The reply maybe, so do I, or me too, in other words dont hit that hand. Or I would hit it, you must take another card. Generally, the dealers are not out to trick you and want you to win especially if you placed a winning bet for them previously. Dealer tells are not an exact science - and partly rely on who the dealer wants to win. Dealers often love it when players win... The more they win, the bigger the tip! And with new dealers moving in and out every 20 minutes, it is hard to get a read as to their tells. Lastly, a slot machine that offers a blackjack game option or free play at an online casino is a prudent alternative for novice players to practice strategies.