Author: horse-racing-free-tips

Playing blackjack casino online is virtually the same as playing it in a real casino. One of the benefits with playing black jack online – especially if you are a newbie – is that it is much more relaxing and convenient to sit by your computer in the comfort of your own home and learn the game, than have to travel to a casino where everybody is watching all your steps.

Whether you play blackjack at a casino or on a website or even if you just play black jack for fun, you have to follow the black jack game rules. To win the black jack game you have to:

• Score the highest total you can without “going bust” (over 21)
• Beat the dealer’s score

Don’t let this intimidate you. You can rest assured that the dealer is obligated to obey a strict set of rules to eliminate chance factors that may occur from the dealing process.

The more detailed rules of playing black jack varies from casino to casino, whether online of offline. The first thing you should do before you start to play black jack is to figure out the specific rules that apply to the casino you entered.
Experienced black jack players know that the dealer is required to draw a new card until he reaches 17. In one casino the dealer is allowed to hit a ‘soft 17’ in another casino this is not allowed.

A soft-17 hitting means the inclusion of an ace in the hand. Since it represents a value of 1 or 11, an ace and a six is called ‘soft 17. Soft means that it may be treated as a total of 7. By contrast, a 10 and an 18 for example represent a fixed or ‘hard’ total of 18, under all circumstances.

Other black jack rules can also vary from casino to casino, for example

• dealing style (“face up” versus “face down”)
• the number of decks allowed in a “shoe” (a ‘shoe’ is a collection of decks)
• minimum wagers

and others.

So know the black jack rules for the specific casino you play in before your start to play

If you are the kind of player that enjoys games with rules that are easy to learn, but difficult to master, then Blackjack is certainly your kind of game. While the rules are very quickly learned, there are many influences that a player must understand before achieving any type of proficiency with this timeless classic.

Fortunately Real Time Gaming’s gaming software very closely mimics traditional card play so well that all viable Blackjack strategies will work equally well in Real Time Gaming. This is very important before a player decides to start playing in the online casino environment.

The first item that you must understand is that the odds in Blackjack favor the house. For example, it’s not uncommon for both the dealer and the player to go over twenty-one, or “bust.” If this happens to you will lose your wager.

Another commonly misunderstood bet is the “insurance” bet. This is a side bet that you can make outside the typical wager. This bet comes in to play when the dealer is showing an Ace card face up (players are dealt two cards, initially, with one of the cards being placed face up and the other face down). An insurance bet can then be made. This is a bet that if the dealer has a ten card, and ends up getting a Blackjack, the player will lose their initial wager, but if they made the insurance bet they win that bet. The insurance bet pays two to one and the player breaks even. For many this might sound like a good bet to make but as a player you must realize the likelihood of a dealer getting Blackjack, which is very unlikely with the first two cards. It is typically regarded as somewhat of a fool’s bet, but to novice players appears to be sound thinking. Some experts have even gone so far as to say that this bet should never be made unless a player is counting the cards. Many casinos regard card counting as cheating and a player should never engage in any activity that would be considered unethical.

Another Blackjack strategy that might have you confused is that of “doubling down.” The art of doubling down is a viable strategy and one that must be understood prior to doing it in actual game play. A player is allowed to double down on two cards and increase their initial wager by two. For example, if a player is dealt a six card and a five card, a total of eleven, that player can choose to double down. The dealer will then allow you to increase your bet and then deal you one more card. If you are dealt a ten card at this point you have proven yourself very wise.

These are just a few things to consider before getting too far into Blackjack. Blackjack’s simplicity can be very deceiving and you should learn all you can.

One of the most misunderstood aspects of playing Blackjack is that of splitting a pair of cards. Understanding when to split, and when to stay with what you have is crucial to your play. As ever, a lot depends on what cards you have and what the dealer’s upcard is showing. A key aspect is to remember there are more cards with a value of ten in the pack than any other value.

For a start, never split a pair of face cards or a pair of tens! With these cards you have a very strong hand of 20 and there is no point in ruining it by splitting. By contrast, always split a pair of aces. A single ace with another card is a much stronger hand than two aces and by splitting your chances of finishing with a high hand or even 21 are very good.

A pair of 9s are best split if the dealer is showing a weak card of 2 to 6. If the dealer is showing an 8 you should also. Likewise, if the dealer is showing a 9 you should split because if the dealer has gets 19 it will beat your current hand of 18. If the dealer is showing a 7 then you should stand. Always split 8s even if the dealer is showing an ace. Your hand now stands at 16, which is very likely loser. You are better off taking a chance and splitting.

A pair of 7s should be split if the dealer’s upcard is 7 or less. A hand of 14 is a weak hand but by splitting there is a good chance you will convert that into a pair of 17s. If the dealer is showing an 8 there is a good stay with what you’ve got and be prepared to lose the hand. You are better off just losing the one hand against an 18 than losing two hands of 17 against a dealer’s 18. Split a pair of 6s if the dealer is showing a 6 or less. It is risky to split 6s because you might end up with two hands of 16 so only do it if the dealer is showing a weak hand of below 6 that may lead to the dealer busting.

Never ever split a pair of fives. Your hand is now a very strong ten. Keep the fives and take a hit. Do not split fours either unless the dealer is showing a 5 or 6. If you split a pair of 4s you are likely to hit a difficult 14. 5 or 6 for the dealer however is likely to give the dealer a difficult 15 or 16 so it is worth your while splitting.

You should split 2s or 3s if the dealer is showing a weak upcard of below 7.
By knowing when to split and when to take a hit with what you’ve got you can add decisive strategy to your Blackjack play.