When it comes to picking which gambling game to play at online casinos, the
choices can be tempting and overwhelming. Depending on how much your
spending limit is, and whether or not your playing for fun, or money, or both -
There are some games with better odds at winning money. Of all the games
to pick from - including slots - Blackjack is the single game that allows for
your odds of winning to fluctuate during a hand. This is how it
works:
The term, House Edge or Casinos Advantage is one you should become familiar
with before moving on. What it means - to put it bluntly - is that
casinos are not dumb. Each gambling game has a programmed profit
percentage for the casino. This profit percentage is the Casinos
Advantage. And since online casinos are generated by programming software,
the Casinos Advantage correlates to what software the casinos use and consider
fair. (That's one reason why it is important to review casinos before
playing)
Now that you know what Casinos Advantage means, let's talk about odds. If
someone is holding a poker chip in one of their hands and they ask you to pick
which hand it is in, you have a 50/50 chance of making the correct choice.
Your odds are 1 to 2. This is also called your probability of
winning. In this particular case, having a 50/50 chance is called an even
money bet. If you win and are paid the exact amount that you wagered, then
you are paid what is called True Odds. If you are paid more or less than
what you wagered, then the odds are no longer True. The difference between
these odds and True Odds, divided by the True Odds, is how you calculate the
Casinos Advantage. For example, let's say you wager $10 and you win.
If the casino pays you $9 on top of your wager, then the difference is 1.
Since True Odds is $10, divide 1 by 10 and you come up with the amount of .1 or
1/10. Convert this amount to a percent and you come up with 10%.
Therefore, the Casinos Advantage is +10%.
Blackjack is the only casino gambling game in which the Casinos Advantage can
be a negative value. It is also the only casino gambling game in which the
Casinos Advantage is not fixed.
Why do other casino gambling games have a fixed Casinos Advantage?
Let's use the example of Roulette, which is a gambling game that will easily
illustrate this concept.
Roulette is a game with 36 numbers, a 0, and 00. This means that you,
the player, have a 1 in 38 chance of winning. Your odds are 1/38. If
you get lucky and win, then the casino will pay you $35 on top of your $1 wager
- giving a total of $36. Since the odds were 1/38, a $38 pay-out is
considered True Odds. However, the odds in Roulette are not true.
Using the formula mentioned above, to calculate the Fixed Casinos Advantage we
take the difference between these odds and True Odds (38 minus 36). Next,
divide the difference, which is 2, by the True Odds - which is 38. You
will come up with the amount .0526, which converted to a percent is 5.26%.
You have just calculated the Casinos Advantage for Roulette, which will always
be 5.26% because there are always 38 numbers on a Roulette table.
Likewise, games like Big Six and Craps have fixed Casinos Advantage percentage
because there are always twelve numbers on a pair of dice, and 36 possible
combinations - The odds of winning will always stay the same.
This is not the case with Blackjack - because each time a new
card is drawn from the shoe, the outcome of the remaining cards is altered
indelibly. If you play your cards right, the Casinos Advantage has a value
ranging from less than 1% to even a negative Casinos Advantage percent. This
entails that the advantage in Blackjack can be entirely in the players
hands! Whether you have a little luck or a little skill, you can have the
advantage!
The key in having the advantage is in playing with a
strategy. Playing hunches in Blackjack can be quite dangerous. When
starting out, it is better to place your wagers according to who has the
advantage. This does not mean that you have to count cards. The idea
of card counting is that small cards favor the casino and big cards favor the
player. However, the important thing to remember is that each time a new
card is drawn, the remaining deck is forever changed - and so is the advantage.
In the professional Blackjack world, there is a way of playing
known as basic strategy - a mathematically balanced strategy that guarantees
best possible odds. Contingent upon what card the dealer has exposed, you
the player will decide whether you want to hit, stand, split, or double the
dealers cards. But before we go into finer detail, let's have a quick
review of Blackjack.
Blackjack is not a difficult game to learn. The object of
the game is to get as close to twenty-one as possible without going over.
The dealer gives you a card and you draw cards until you either come as close to
twenty-one as you want, hit twenty-one, or go over. All small cards are
worth their number; Face cards are worth ten; Aces are worth one or
eleven. The fact that the player must act before the dealer, gives them
the advantage - because the player has a choice of standing on a hand that could
very well go over twenty-one on the next card they draw. Likewise, this
leaves the dealer with a card that very well may bust him too. But there are
more moves than this - The following summarizes the possible actions you the
player can make while playing Blackjack. Lastly, we will introduce the
basic playing strategy.
Standing
Standing is accomplished by motioning your hand above your cards. You will
want to stand when you think that you are as close to twenty-one as you can get
without going over.
Hitting
Hitting is accomplished by tapping the table or signaling the dealer with a
summoning motion. By drawing another card, you are taking a hit. You
only want to do this when you are confident that the next card you draw will not
take you over twenty-one.
Doubling Down
This is the term used when doubling your bet after being shown your first two
cards. The majority of casinos will let you double down on any two cards
(DOA) However, some casinos will only let you double down on hands that total
ten or eleven. This is because you have the greatest chance of falling
short of twenty one. You should know that when doubling down, you are only
allowed to draw one more card - even if you are still far short from reaching
twenty-one. In the casino, you Double Down by placing your additional bet on
top ofyour additional wager. Doubling Down is a great way to
win money. It can definitely be used for the players benefit.
Remember to only Double Down in favorable situations - like when you have the
Advantage. And when you start to see just how effective the Basic
Blackjack Strategy is, you will become more confident and more inclined to
Double Down your wager for the maximum allowance.
Splitting
Splitting is another rule for the players benefit. Occasionally, you will
be dealt a set of cards that have the same value - this is called a pair.
If this happens, you have the option of separating these two cards into two
different hands. However, to do this, you are obligated to make another
bet equivalent to your original wager. In an actual casino, you would do
this by placing your additional bet next to your original bet. The
dealer would, in turn, split your cards for you and deal each hand on its
own. Once you decided to stand or you bust (go over twenty-one), the
dealer would move on to your other split card and play that hand as was done
with your original hand.
The Basic Strategy for Blackjack
Play this strategy to the T and stick with it regardless if your winning or
losing. Remember, like the tides of the ocean, your winnings and losses
will fluctuate - in gambling, nothing is 100% sure for 100% of the time.
Yet, with this strategy, you are guaranteed better odds. This means that your
losing hands will always be outnumbered by your winning hands, which is a recipe
for success.
Soft Hands
If your first two cards are Ace/8 or Ace/9, always Stand. If you have
Ace/7 and the Dealer has 3-6, then Double. If the the Dealer has 2,7, or
8, then Stand. Take a Hit, otherwise. Let's say you have
Ace/6: Always take a Hit, and Double if the Dealer has 3-6. Do the
same if you have Ace/4 or Ace/5, except, only Double if the Dealer has 4-6. Also
take a Hit if you have Ace/2 of Ace/3, except, Double if the Dealer drew 5 or
6.
Hard Hands
If your first two cards add up to 17 through 21, always Stand. Also Stand
if you have 13 through 16 and the Dealer has 2 through 6. Take a Hit
otherwise. If your card total is 12, then Stand if the Dealer has
4-6. Take a Hit otherwise. For a card total of 11, take a Hit if the
Dealer has an Ace. If the Dealer has 2 through 10, then Double and
Hit. Stand otherwise. With a card total of 10, always take a Hit,
making sure to Double when the Dealer has 2 through 9. Do the same
for a card total of 9, except, Double when the Dealer has 3 through 6. For
anything less than a card total of eight, take a Hit.
Pairs
Lets start with a pair of 10's: Stand always. For a pair of 9's,
Stand if the Dealer has a 7, 10, 0r Ace. Only Split if the Dealer has 2
through 6. If you have a pair of seven's, always take a Hit. Only
Split if the Dealer has 2 through 7. Do the same for a pair of 6's,
except, only Split when the Dealer has 2 through 6. For a pair of 5's,
always take a Hit - And Double if the Dealer has 2 through 9. Take a Hit
with a pair of 4's, only Splitting when the Dealer has 4 or 5.
Do likewise for a pair of 2's or 3's, except, only Split if the Dealer has 2
through 7. And with a magic pair of Aces of 8's, you will always Split.
