Author: horse-racing-free-tips

Blackjack, the card game that adds a dash of European style to American casinos is simple enough: At the start of each round you get two cards and so does the dealer, one of which is shown. Keep drawing cards until you hit a total value of 21 or quit just before you go over the limit and bust. It’s you against the dealer and whoever comes out on top gets the winnings. At first glance the game seems one of chance an intuition. After all, you can’t know what card is coming up next. However one of the reasons that Blackjack is so popular is that there is a strong element of skill involved. Rather than just trusting to blind luck you can play your cards wisely and hopeful leave the table with a fist full of dollars.
Perhaps the most important thing to bear in mind is that what matters is not just your card value but also the dealer’s shown card. Winning is all about assessing your hand against the dealer’s potential hand. Because the dealer has to hit on sixteen or stand on seventeen you can use this to plan out your strategy. The higher the dealer’s shown card the stronger his hand is and the more trouble your are in.

Here is a quick list of possible cards showing in the dealer’s hand and what they mean for you:

Ace: Big trouble. This round is going to be the dealer’s unless you have spectacular luck.

10 or face card: Bad news for you. The dealer is in a strong position.

9 : Things aren’t looking good. The dealer has got the upper hand here.

7 or 8: Loosen up a bit, you can beat the dealer on this round if you play things right.

4 to 6: The dealer has got that sinking feeling. This hand looks like it will be yours.

2 to 3: Be careful. It could go either way, so play cautious.

Always draw a card if your total is less than 11 because there is no danger of you busting. As a general rule you should always stand if your hand is 17 or higher. If you are on 13 to 16 only draw a card if the dealer is showing 7 or better.
If you hand totals 12 you should take a hit unless the dealer is showing 4 to 6. In this case the dealer may very well bust so you should sit tight and wait for that to happen.

If you play your Blackjack right you can narrow the house odds down to almost even and with just a little luck, you can come out ahead.

Sure, you could sit down to play Blackjack and just throw your money around. But, did you know that you’re most likely to lose money even if you have more winning hands than losing ones? Before playing Blackjack, it’s best to come up with a battle plan. You’ve got to attack the game.

Today, I’ll show you one attack plan. It’s a progressive (or ladder) system that changes your wager just about every hand. This is not a plan that increases your wager when you lose, because that’s the wrong way to do things. Rather, we’ll increase the wager with each winning hand.

You need to decide on the numbers and how many progressions to use. I’ll give you a guide to start from. Let’s imagine that you have $100 to play with. You should play $2-$5 hands normally. So, we’ll base our start at $5.

The plan is simple. When you lose, your next hand is $5. You never increase your wager after a losing hand. Instead, you start over again. When you win, you’ll be increasing your hand as follows:

5 – 10 – 20 – 40 – 80

I’ve set up five levels. If you win five hands in a row, rather than having $25, you’ll end up with $160 or more-blackjacks. However, if you were to lose say five in a row, you’ve only lost $25.

If you’re a very conservative player, step it down to 3 or 4 levels. Even at 3 levels, you can still pocket $40 instead of $15.

As to double downs, that’s a call you’ll have to make based on your bankroll. Let’s imagine that you’ve won your first four hands. You have $80 on the table and receive an 11. If you double down, it’s a bad move. Why? Adding $80 would mean your entire bankroll is on this one hand. Lose it and you go home. Not smart.

However, let’s say it’s later in the game and your bankroll is now $500 or so. Adding the $80, which is profits at this point, might be a good gamble. It’s a moment-by-moment decision.

No matter how you play it, never risk most or all of your bankroll on any single hand. Also, should you get up by 2-3 times your original bankroll, put that original amount back in your pocket and make sure you leave the casino with it.

Blackjack, and gambling, can be fun, but strategy ensures that you maximize your chances to win and come home with cash.