Blackjack is regarded as one of the most popular card games around the world. What is the secret of this famous game? The main one is that it has quite a simple set of rules. If good luck follows you, then it is quite easy to win. However, relying solely on fortune is not always a good idea. In the following article, we will share useful information regarding diverse strategies for blackjack that will help you to win regularly.
What is the best betting strategy for blackjack to try?
Blackjack can be called one of the least favorite games for casinos’ owners because the advantage of the gambling establishment over customers is less than one per cent, especially if the game is played with one deck of cards. It goes without saying that not a single strategy guarantees you a one hundred per cent win but they help to minimize the chance of losing.
Basic strategy
Over fifty years ago, Edward O. Thorp, an American professor of mathematics and a big fan of blackjack, introduced a basic strategy for this popular game that has not practically changed and has not lost its relevance over these years. The whole strategy was consolidated in a convenient table for utilization: it contains a column with the possible player’s card combinations, a row with the first dealer’s card, as well as actions at the intersection of the columns and the rows, which are recommended to do in a particular game situation.
Thus, how to utilize this table? For example, you have a hard hand of 13 (5 + 8), and the dealer has got the first card 8. If you turn to the table, at the intersection of players’ 13 and dealers’ 8, you will see the letter H, which means Hit / Take. Therefore, you need to take one more card.
Does the basic strategy work? Only when it comes to long-term games. Of course, this strategy will not allow winning large sums of money very quickly, but, at the same time, in most cases, you are not likely to lose a big part of funds. Overall, best of all, the basic strategy works when splitting or doubling. Yes, according to statistics, you will win at blackjack once for twenty hands, but, for those who do not like risking, the basic strategy is a good option.
Martingale strategy
It is the favorite strategy of those casino visitors who prefer playing aggressively. However, it has a significant drawback: the Martingale strategy is advised to be utilized only when a player is ready to invest much money in games. Thus, what is its essence? Everything is quite simple: you need to double your bet every time you lose. It might sound a little bit crazy but do not rush to draw conclusions and move on to read about other strategies. The point is even if during the game you keep losing money, everything significantly changes when you finally win. Why is it so? As you have been doubling all your previous bets, the one that leads you to the win helps to increase your bankroll to the point of covering the complete amount you have lost before. Of course, there is one incredibly important thing you should never forget: as soon as you manage to return your initial bankroll, you need to stop. Unfortunately, the Martingale strategy does not function if to play for a long time.
Conservative strategy
This strategy may be considered as completely opposite to the previous one and is quite popular among those who just start playing blackjack since they, as a rule, are afraid to lose their bankroll. And it is clear that loosing in the first games seems to be especially demotivating. The conservative strategy consists in simply raising bets after each win. It is based on the idea that positive and negative outcomes come in streaks (even in case of games of chance whose results are random by nature). Thus, you may lose four times and then win five times in a row.
However, be careful with frequent visits to the gambling establishment. At present, a lot of people suffer from a serious problem of gambling addiction and you need to control yourself well so as not to face this issue too.
1-3-2-4 betting system
This strategy is not the most popular one but it also has certain advantages. One of them is that you do not need a huge bankroll in order to try this the 1-3-2-4 betting system. Thus, what do these numbers stand for? They stand for the bets you should make after you win a hand. Once you win, you trigger the system but when you lose – you cut it. This means that if you utilize this strategy, you will not lose all your bankroll after an unsuccessful hand. Of course, the strategy will not be very interesting for those players who enjoy making more random bets, which do not depend on the outcomes of the previous hands. Let’s have a look at how the 1-3-2-4 betting system work in real life. For instance, your initial bet is twenty dollars. If you are lucky to win four games in a row, your betting system pattern looks this way: 20-60-40-80. And as we have already told losing a hand means an immediate cutting of the sequence. Then you return to your initial bet (twenty dollars) and continue to wait for a successful outcome to apply the strategy again. Overall, this system is quite good since it serves as a reliable tool for managing bets and the amount of money that is spent during playing the game.
Developing a winning betting strategy for blackjack: how to avoid mistakes
Often, players dreaming of progressive jackpot come up with their own blackjack strategies, which, from their points of view, might help to increase the probability of winning. In general terms, this is not a completely bad idea. However, quite often, when creating a new strategy, people rely not on strict mathematical calculations but on their own intuition, which, as a rule, does not help much in this case. Below, you will find more information regarding typical gamblers’ mistakes that just lead to an increase in the casino’s advantage.
- Refusal to take more cards. A large number of players are too afraid of busting, and that is the main reason why they stop taking cards when they only have twelve-sixteen points on hand. It seems to them that if they decide they take a new card, they will get a card with a high denomination. In fact, this strategy just leads to an increase in the gambling establishment’s advantage to four per cent.
- Copying the dealer’s playing style. According to the rules of this popular game, the dealers take a card if they have sixteen or fewer points, and do not do this if they have seventeen or more points. The fact is that the dealers are casino employees and do not lose money making bets. And the player in this situation is deprived of the opportunity to double and split cards, which as a result increases the gambling establishment’s advantage to 5.5%.
- Constant agreement to insurance. If the dealer receives Ace as the first card, he/she offers the players to insure themselves against blackjack. However, the likelihood that the dealer will get a card providing ten points is extremely small – four out of thirteen. This means that in nine out of thirteen cases, players lose their insurance. Due to this, the advantage of the casino grows to 7.5%. To get a deeper insight into this topic.
- Being afraid of ten as the second dealer’s card. It often seems to the player that the second dealer’s card will be exactly 10 or J, Q, K. This leads to players’ risky actions and later busting – casino’s house edge turns into 10%.
Conclusions. What is the best betting strategy for online blackjack?
Still, which strategy is the most successful? There is definitely no single answer. However, there is one important tip that will certainly help you concerning these first 4 strategies: try to choose the tactics that best suit your playing style and with which you will feel most comfortable.
| The strategy | Who should use it |
| Basic strategy | Those who do not expect large winning coming very quickly and are more oriented towards long-term games. |
| Martingale strategy | Aggressive players who have much money and are not afraid of risk, able to stop on time. |
| Conservative strategy | Novices, who are afraid of high stakes. |
| 1-3-2-4 betting system | Those who enjoy it when everything goes as planned and who want to have control over the game. |
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