Blackjack Strategy Guide

admin · Site Admin Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 862

The game of blackjack may seem simple. However, unless you have an understanding of blackjack strategy it is hard to succeed and win big, whether you are playing live blackjack or online blackjack. Especially if you are playing blackjack at high stakes or in a blackjack tournament it is important to have a few tricks up your sleeves if you want to win at blackjack.

One of the best blackjack tips that can help you to improve your gaming skills and maximize your wins is to familiarize yourself with advanced blackjack rules. Indeed, many players are only familiar with the basic rules of blackjack. Understanding more advanced casino blackjack rules such as splitting doubles, doubling down and insurance is a great way to improve your strategy and win at blackjack.

In blackjack, when your initial 2-card hand is a double (2-of-a-kind) you may split the hand into 2 separate hands. This can be a good way to maximize your wins. If you have double Aces you should always split them, as an Ace is worth 11 points and your chances of getting at least 1 hand worth 21 is very likely if you split Aces.
Another blackjack rule states that you may double your bet after seeing your initial 2-card hand and then receive 1 additional card. This is known as doubling down.

Insurance is a blackjack betting strategy that can help you to decrease your losses. The rules of blackjack state that when the dealer's up-card is an Ace, players may place insurance bets. Insurance bets are bets that the dealer will receive a 10-point card for a blackjack and are placed so that if the dealer gets Blackjack the player will only lose half of their bet, rather than all of it. If the dealer does not get blackjack the player does not lose the insurance bet. Placing an insurance bet is a good way to protect yourself, especially if you are playing for high stakes.

Blackjack odds are also an important part of strategy in the game of blackjack. Odds are the chances you have of beating the dealer based on your hand and the dealer's up-card, should you choose to hit or stay. If you know about odds then you will always know the best move to make in a game of blackjack. For instance, when the dealer's up-card is low (3, 4, 5 or 6) the odds are high that he will bust. Therefore you should stay on any hand worth 12 or more. On the other hand, if the dealer's up-card is high (8, 9, 10 or 11) you should hit on anything below 17.

Now that you have a better understanding of strategy you can practice your skills with free or real money Internet blackjack. In order to get started playing online casino blackjack all you have to do is download blackjack software. Most online casinos offer a free blackjack download that can be used to play blackjack online for free or for real money.