Blackjack 101: Let the Dealer’s Card Decide Your Fate

May 29, 2017 By editor

blackjack dealer with hand showdown — “BlackJack” (CC BY 2.0) by dave_stone

The ability to look beyond your own hand is a skill every blackjack player should learn. Regardless of the stakes you play for or the variant you most enjoy, blackjack is a game where the dealer’s card is as important, if not more so, than your own. Why, you may ask? Well, let us explain.

When you play blackjack at any established online casino, you always know you’re getting a fair shake of the dice (or the deck as the case may be). For instance, when you visit a licensed casino site like Spin Palace Canada that offers a selection of real money card games, blackjack not only ranks high on the list of options, but each game is certified as fair by eCOGRA.

Once you’ve got the confidence that the game is eCOGRA fair, you start to think about strategy and this is where spotting the dealer’s up card comes to play. Basically, what we mean by this is that you should assess the value of the dealer’s exposed card (i.e. the one on show) before you decide how to play your hand. Essentially, when you consider blackjack in this way, it starts to become like a game of poker.

Learning to Play Blackjack Like a Poker Player

arms with poker chip stack — “Poker chips” (CC BY 2.0) by daveynin

Before any hand of poker, a skilled player will look around the table for subtle clues to help guide their moves. For example, if a player noticed an opponent had a tell (i.e. their body language), such as touching the table just before they placed a bet, they would wait to spot this before deciding what to do with their own hand. Indeed, it may be the case the physical tell is a sign of supreme strength, so the player could take this as a sign to fold.

This is similar to the moves you’ll make at the blackjack table if you’re a skilled player. So, let’s say you have a total of 13 and the dealer is showing a five. If you only considered your own hand in this example, the chances are you’d hit because 13 is a weak total that you’ll likely need to improve if you want to win. However, when you factor in the dealer’s card, this actually becomes a position where you should stand.

Make the Dealer Make a Move

riffle shuffle — “Rapid Riffle Shuffle in a Poker Game” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by www.toddklassy.com

Under the rules of most blackjack variants, the dealer must draw to at least 17 and stand on 17+. When you combine this with the fact there will be more high-value cards in the deck than low ones, we can make an assumption that an exposed 5 will turn into a total such as 15 when the dealer reveals their second card. Based on this assumption, we can then see that standing on 13 becomes the best move because it puts the pressure on the dealer.

Anytime you can make the dealer take a card in a bad position rather than doing it yourself is a good thing. Let them go bust while you sit and wait. Naturally, this dynamic also works the other way. If the dealer is showing a strong card (i.e. an ace, 9 or 10), you should be hitting more totals than normal. When you break it down in this way, you can see that blackjack strategy really isn’t that complicated. As long as you look beyond your own hand and consider the other variables in play, you should start to see more winning hands during a session.

Beating the Blackjack Dealer

August 30, 2016 By editor

Blackjack hand For a seemingly simple game, blackjack can also be surprisingly complex and nuanced, as a new player soon discovers. Its popularity as a casino stalwart also comes from the fact that it’s fast to play and exciting too. That you’re directly taking on the dealer adds more than a frisson of extra pleasure when you do come up on top.

Because so many professionals play the game there’s also no shortage of strategies and techniques ranging from the simple to the complex. But, even for the novice player, there’s something in all these strategies that anyone can use.

Learn the basic strategy

Edward O. Thorpe was a Professor of Mathematics from MIT who, in 1961, decided to take a logical look at all the permutations that can exist in hands dealt in a game of blackjack – over 500 in all. Having identified them all he devised what became known as his basic strategy and published it in a book called Beat the Dealer. This details every hand and how it should be played.

The book’s become the definitive guide to using probabilities and it is generally acknowledged that anyone who wants to succeed as a player needs to memorise the basic strategy. Doing this can greatly tip the odds in your favour.

Scan the cards

Henry Tamburin is one of today’s most highly regarded blackjack authorities and writes books and regular columns about all aspects of gaming and blackjack in particular.

He recommends that you should pay extra attention to the cards dealt in each hand to see whether there have been more high value cards (10s, picture cards and aces) dealt than low value cards (2s to 6s). If more high value cards have been dealt it stands to reason that there will be a greater number of low value cards in the deck. But if the opposite is true and there are more high value cards left the odds shift in the player’s favour who should feel more confident about staking more.

Choose the game to play

Tamburin is also a strong advocate of thinking carefully about which particular game of blackjack you should play when there are a number of options available.

By gaining a knowledge of how the number of decks being used and the specific table rules affect the “house edge” – or the amount the casino stands to gain from the game – then your choice of game can tip the odds in your favour. It sounds complex but there are odds websites where the information is easy to find.

Rely on “tells”

Like many casino games, the body language of the dealer and other players can tell you a great deal about the hands they’re holding as well as their attitude to the game. Steve Forte has written the definitive guide to using these observations to your advantage.

Count the cards

The final strategy is one which, if not against the rules, will certainly not be welcomed by casinos. It involves the counting of cards that have been dealt with the aim of working out how many high value ones remain in the deck. To try and limit the practice casinos have gradually increased the number of decks in play at any one time, hoping to make it too difficult for any player to keep track. As well as being ethically dubious, this is probably a strategy better left to the professionals.

Nevertheless, the previous four techniques are ideal for any level of player to use, including you. 888 casino’s blackjack guide could be the most comprehensive yet and while it may not turn you into a pro overnight, it will definitely make playing blackjack a more enjoyable experience – so if you feel like playing blackjack for real money right now you may find a more profitable way to spend your time.

Blackjack Strategies

Chances are, you have seen movies like 21, which show players winning large amounts of money playing blackjack using something called card counting. You probably thought it was some complicated system that only geniuses could figure out and implement in their games. Because of this, you probably stuck to playing online roulette, slots and other casino games.

The truth is, card counting is a relatively simple blackjack strategy that can be used to increase your odds of winning every time you visit your favorite casino online. It may not make you a millionaire in a few hours, but if you continuously implement some kind of card counting strategy, you will have a long-term edge over other players, as well as the casino.

The basics of card counting are simple: The larger number of high cards in the deck means the dealer has a higher chance of busting and you making your hand. The opposite is true for larger numbers of low cards in the deck.

Card counting is just a way to systematically keep track of the ratio of big card to small cards in the deck. Now, obviously, this system is not perfect or 100% accurate, but it doesn’t have to be. Just a 2% edge over the house continuously played will make you a lot of money. You can put this system in play at land casinos such as Las Vegas Mirage or online casinos provided that the cards are dealt from a deck or shoe and not an automatic shuffling machine.

A basic card counting system works as follows: the count starts at zero. For every small card (8 or below) that is dealt out, a 1 is added to the count.

For every high card (10 or over) that is dealt, a 1 is taken away from the count. The higher the count is, the more profitable the deck is for the player.

Now, there are more complicated variations of this strategy, such as weighting the values of different cards and other like formulas. But, even the basic implementation of the strategy above should drastically increase the profitability of your blackjack game.

To win at blackjack, you need an edge. The odds are always tipped in the favor of the casinos if you don’t use a strategy. Try counting cards while playing blackjack and see if it increases your profitability. There is a good chance it will make you more money than you expected!