Blackjack Archives

A Blackjack Primer

Interestingly enough, the game was not very well received in the United States when it was first introduced there. It wasn?t until American casinos decided to offer larger payouts (typically 10 to 1) for players who came up with an ace of spades and a black (either spades or clubs) jack that the game really started to take off. It was from this practice that the name “Blackjack” was derived and today, Blackjack is the one of the most widely played card games all over the world, enjoyed in world gambling capitals such as Las Vegas, Macau, and Monte Carlo.


Playing Blackjack

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Blackjack Basics – Playing the Game

1) Playing Blackjack Works On a Concrete Strategy

The basic strategy of blackjack has it that there is only one way to play blackjack for any hands that are dealt. This basic strategy, which is mathematically computed, is what accounts all the winning strategies of a blackjack player. The casino player has to commit this strategy to memory and apply it to all the games he or she plays.


2) Card Counting Is the Most Basic Requirement for Winning at Blackjack

The majority of casino players are satisfied by learning and applying the basic strategy of blackjack and this is enough to give them opportunities to win. However, if you want to become a professional blackjack player and even earn a living out of this casino game, you need to go a few steps further and learn how to count the cards. Once you mastered this, the casino odds would be on your side instead of the house.

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How to Start Playing Live Blackjack

Got all your cash for the evening exchanged for gambling chips? Good. Now you are ready to start playing the game itself.

Look for a table where you can get a seat (spectators are allowed but to play the game, there are only a designated number of players allowed per blackjack table.) At your player position, you will probably see a box or circle where you are supposed to place the bet you are making per hand. There is a rule for placing a bet – if you happen to be using many currency denominations (say a $500, $100, and a $5), you have to place the highest denomination chip at the bottom of the pile in the box or circle, the denomination that is lower in the chain on top, then the last denomination which has the lowest value on top. So in our example, the $500 should be at the bottom, the $100 on top of the $500, then the $5 at the very top.

Remember that you cannot tamper with the amount of your bet once all players have been dealt their hand for the game. Only the dealer is allowed to count down the chip values for you so you can find out how much you originally bet. Only the dealer can check how much each player stands to receive in winnings once the hand is over, and the dealer has to give out the winnings per player after every hand. This gives everyone a clear idea of where they stand based on winnings and losses, and also gives each player a chance to excuse themselves politely from the game to leave altogether if they find they have had enough of the game.

If you choose to stay in the game, you can remove the previous chips (plus winnings, if any) then place a new bet amount within the box or circle for a new hand to be dealt to all players. But the bet has to be in one stack only – that’s a house rule.

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Card counting can put the odds in the favor of the blackjack player, but it has limitations and is not the “holy grail” that many blackjack players believe.

It is a belief that has seen several blackjack card counting myths emerge that cause many players to lose. Here are some of the more frequent ones.

Myth 1: A Complicated Strategy Will Be More Successful

A card counting system can be complicated or it can be simple, it depends on the system.

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Online Casinos – Great Blackjack Tips

Do you love to play blackjack? I know I do! Its one of the most entertaining cards games I’ve ever played, and its pretty easy to understand. How good are you at blackjack? I’d like to offer you three simple ways to increase your chances of winning at blackjack. Maybe you already know about these tips? Lets find out.

Tip One – Always Double Down On 11

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Blackjack Playing Tips

Randomness is a funny thing, funny in that it is less common than you might think. Most things are pretty predictable, if you look at them in the right light, and the same is true of so-called games of chance. If dice and roulette balls obey the laws of physics, then cards obey the laws of probability and that’s great news for the dedicated blackjack player!


For a long time, a lot of blackjack players swore by the Martingale technique: doubling your bet every time you lost a hand in order to recoup your money. Well that works fine until you’re unlucky enough to keep losing enough hands that you’ve reached the betting limit. So a lot of folks started casting around for a more reliable plan of attack. Now most people, if they know anything about blackjack, will have heard of card counting. Those that have fall into two camps – either they’ll say “ugh, that’s math” or “I could learn that in the morning and hit the tables by the afternoon!” Both are missing out on the best playing tips going, because spending a bit of effort on mastering the skill could immeasurably improve your ability and fun!


Since the professor Edward O Thorp wrote best best-selling book “Beat the Dealer” in 1967, the hopeful crowds have flocked to Las Vegas and elsewhere, sure they could beat the house. Were the casinos worried? Not in the least, because it was soon clear that few people had really gotten to grips with the ten count system. Yet, the basic premise is simplicity itself; a deck with plenty of tens and aces favors the player, as the dealer is more likely to bust and the player is more likely to blackjack, also doubling down is more likely to be successful. Keeping a mental track, then, of the number of tens in a deck is essential to know how best to bet on a given hand. Here the classic method is the Hi-Lo card count system. The player assigns a value to each card he sees: +1 for tens and aces, -1 for 2 through 6, and zero for 7 through 9 – the higher the score, the more favorable the deck is for the player. Pretty easy, huh? Well it is, but it’s also a skill that takes practice, and sitting at the blackjack tables, it’s easy to lose track.

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Blackjack Card Counting – Part I

The first time I heard of card counting, now many years ago, I distinctly remember how I reacted, and it wasn’t a reaction of love and acceptance. My gut essentially told me that card counting was cheating; I mean how could it not be? Or, at the very least, it has to fall into the most dubious of categories of skill or indeed fair play. As time went on however, and the phrase didn’t disappear, in fact became more common and even boasted famous fans I began to rethink my attitude.

The first thing that came to my attention when I started to research card counting was that it is really not something for the amateur. Unexpectedly I learned that card counting would be very difficult for the blackjack novice and can only really be done well be people who have played the game, enjoyed the game, and internalized basic strategy; which I can tell you is no easy feat. In short the people who card count aren’t in-for-a-quick-buck, hit and run con merchants, rather they have spent many hours at the blackjack tables, they have put in the time and have become experts.

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Blackjack Counting Basics

You see card counting as a component of many a blackjack strategy. In fact, a lot of blackjack strategies actually center around card counting, giving certain parameters with corresponding actions. However, that could make starting out in blackjack difficult because there are a lot of ways to do card counting, many of them multifaceted and requiring years of study and practice.

The Basics

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Blackjack Strategies

Those who are familiar with the game are aware that if a player has a Jack of Spades and an Ace of Spades in the first two cards, he is entitled to some extra payments. The game derived its name from the Jack of Spades which is black in color. In Blackjack, the aim of a player is to get 21 points or as close to it to win. Getting more than 21 points means the player goes bust. The cards in Blackjack have their face value, barring the Jack, Queen and the King that are worth 10 points each and the Ace can either be used as 1 or 11 depending on the choice of the player.


Following Rules

 

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Online Blackjack Or Tv?

So have you ever thought of where you like playing your favorite game most? And where was the first time you actually played it?

Some people start from poker some from casino games, some from live roulette tv. A lot of people start their blackjack game adventure when they get introduced to it by their friends on some sort of get-together, after dinner party or while on holidays and sitting out on the terrace, sipping a glass of wine, someone says \”Let\’s play blackjack!\”. You then get to know how to play blackjack, the rules and although unsure at the beginning, you quickly realize that you actually enjoy it and understand it better than you originially thought. And you\’re winning too! Nice.

OK, so you got the basics, now you think \”I play so good, I should actually use it\”. And how can you use it? You can make money out of it!

You can go to the casino first to try out with real live people and real dealer. It\’s totally up to you how you want to play your game. A lot of people feel intimidated by crowds though and cannot really gamble cause there\’s too much pressure. Others love the attention and gaining that power status so glamorous casinos are made for them. Both can benefit from the brand new blackjack experience though – live blackjack tv ! You get real croupiers and real money, yet you don\’t have to leave home! For those who want the attention, you will see your winnings appearing on the tv screen as well as your name and can chat to the sexy presenter – and trust me, they\’re a lot hotter than the ones in casinos. They\’re presenters but also trained croupiers – can\’t be better than that!

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