Advanced blackjack technique

If you think that you’re not a blackjack rookie anymore then you should start learning advanced techniques. Blackjack card counting is such technique. By learning the technique of counting you will have the odds with you.
The basic concept of blackjack counting is that a deck filled with 10s and aces will be to your advantage. At the same time, if the deck of the dealer is filled with smaller cards it is to the dealer’s advantage. So it’s that simple - when deck is to your advantage bet maximum, when it’s to dealer’s advantage bet minimum.
When a deck filled with 10s dealer’s chances to get bust are high. You, on your side can just opt to stand. And otherwise, a deck filled with smaller cards makes the dealer’s chance to bust less. If you know the deck is filled with 10s or smaller cards, this can give you the advantage of knowing what
strategy to use.
The dealer must then always hit until having a soft 17. To hit with a hand of 10 & 6 and knowing the deck is filled with 10s is a bad idea.
Your chances to hit blackjack are high, if the deck is filled with aces. In case the player has blackjack , the pay off odds are 3:2. In this situation dealer can only win if he also gets a blackjack. That’s why a deck filled with aces is always to the player’s advantage.
Blackjack counting is not done by memorizing each card that has come out of a 6 deck shoe of cards. People who are able to do that should immediately contact Guiness Records administration to commit a record.
Assigning the different card numbers with different point values - that is how blackjack card counting is done. You should choose a system that is easy to remember. By doing this you’ll save your nerves and your money, because you will lose less money.
So, you should assign a point value for each card and you will have to add the value of the cards that have come out. This is called the running count. Based on the plus/minus strategy. here are the values assigned:

2, 3,4,5,6 = +1;
7, 8, 9 = 0;
10, J, Q, K, Ace = -1

The first card dealt is an ace, so we start by having -1. Then 6 is the next card dealt so we add 1. This makes the run count back to zero. Then a 3 and 4 follows, making the run count now 2.
After figuring the run count, you can try to figure the true count. You take the running count you have and divide it with the number of decks remaining from the shoe.
The true counts tell you the appropriate bet size and you can base your strategy from there.

strategy from there.

The basics of blackjack

Even if you don’t how to play blackjack it will take not more than 10 minutes to understand the basics. Of course, you don’t always need to listen to blackjack experts, but if you’ll do it it will increase your chances of winning. As always it’s all about experience.
In blackjack, you have to place a bet first, even without seeing cards that you’re going to be dealt with. This is de rigeur for all blackjack games, online or played in land based casinos. Then, the dealer deals two cards to every player on the table. The dealer can deal himself one or two cards. One
card would be ideal because it offers the other players better chances of winning the round.
After that, it’s the moment to look at the cards you’ve been dealt with. The object of the game is for your cards to reach the value of 21 or one nearest to it but definitely not a value that’s greater or more than 21. A set of cards with an equivalent of value for example of 23 would immediately leave
you out of the running because your bet is immediately lost.
What concerns the values of the cards, simply rememner that face cards (King, Queen and Jack) are equivalent to 10 while the Ace could either be counted as one or eleven.Hence, if your cards contain a 10, a King and a Three, that’s equal to 23 and means you’ve lost your bet.
While playing single round of blackjack you can hit or draw as many as five cards. The value of your cards shall only be pitted against the cards of the dealer and no one else. So all you have to worry about is what the dealer’s hand is. Now you’re ready to start!

The history of Blackjack

It’s not a secret that most of the card games have unique history. They’ve been developing through centuries gaining new properties and rules. Today we’ll try to dig to historical roots of blackjack.
Nowadays historians agree that blackjack first appeared in 17th century in France where a game caled Vingt En Un was played in French casinos. “Ving En Un” means 21 in French, which evidently was not the first ancestor of blackjack, but it’s clear that blackjack originated from it.
These games are very similar to each other, aside from a few minor differences:
* you would have to bet after each round;
* only the dealer was allowed to double.
But in both these games the goal was to reach a “natural” or a total of 21 by using blackjack’s hand ranking system. English name blackjack derived from a special feature of Vingt en Un, which was a special payout when one had a hand of a Jack and an Ace of spades, hence the term Black Jack. It’s the ideal hand of Vingt en Un.
At the same in Italy a game called Seven and a Half was played. In this card game, which was played with face cards and the 7’s, 8’s and 9’s cards, your goal was to reach a hand of seven and a half points. Regular cards (7’s, 8’s and 9’s) were valued as one point while face cards valued half a point. The King of Diamonds could substitute any card, like a Joker card and it was basically a wild card. When players exceeded seven and a half points they were “busted”. It is believed that the term “bust” of blackjack derived from “Seven and a Half”.
After the French Revolution the game migrated to North America and since it wasn’t prohibited by any laws it gained great popularity. Soon the blackjack basic strategy was developed by professional gamblers who understood the potential of the game. The gamed continued to gain popularity and in the
beginning of the 19th century the government of the US has banned and outlawed gambling activities. It was belived by the US government that gambling corrupted society and encouraged organized crime.
This way blackjack became an underground game and gained even more popularity than before. In 1931 Nevada decided to legalize gambling and Las Vegas was born as a gambling capital. Once again the game continued to gain popularity until science has desided to investigate it as well.
In 1953 Roger Baldwin and his associates used statistics theory and calculating methods in order to reduce blackjack’s house edge. In 1956 this work was published in the Amercian Statistical Association. The article was entittled “Optimum Strategy in Blackjack”, the first ever blackjack strategy guide.
After the first step in this direction there were others who has tried understand blackjack via math and science. In 1962 Professor Edward O. Thorp published his book “Beat the Dealer” in which there was the first actual system - the blackjack card counting system. “Beat the Dealer” not only had impact on blackjack players but aslo hit the casinos with terror. To reduce the damage to the casinos blackjack rules were modified.
In spite of such huge success of the Thorp’s book, it was uneasily to read or inderstood by the public and the main effect it had was raising blackjack’s popularity up into the sky. The public of blackjack players were raged upon the casinos’ new ‘bogus’ blackjack variations. And so the casinos, after
realizing that “Beat the Dealer” was no threat to them, and losing much money on the way, reinstated the use of the ‘traditional’ blackjack. During the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s blackjack was the rising star of card games among the casinos.
Next work was created by Julian Braun, who used his computer skills and studied blackjack with a simulator. His work was inluded into second edition of “Beat the Dealer”. Another work, which inspired many players from all around the world was done by Lawrence Revere and was called “Playing
blackjack as business”.
The hero of blackjack, Ken Uston, had also a great part in blackjack’s history as he inspired millions of people in his books “Million Dollar Blackjack”, “Ken Uston on Blackjack” and “The Big Player”. Ken Uston and his colleagues used computers that were inserted to their shoes, and by using them they made thousands of dollars every month while playing blackjack at Nevada’s casinos.
Ken Uston wasn’t the last to use such methods and in the 1990’s another group of players hit the casino halls using card counting techniques - The MIT Blackjack Team. The members of this team made millions of dollars until 1997 when they were banned from the casinos after they were detected by the
Griffin Investigation, a private detectives company that identify card counters and secure casinos around the world from gamblers that cheat.
Today blackjack is an amazzingly popular game which is played everywhere in the world. Recently the new era of blackjack has began - an online blackjack. Due to it’s simplicity and extension it has gained many fans (part of which came from real casinos) and continuing to grow in popularity. Try online
blackjack yourself and you’ll make sure that it’s an interesting and fascinating game!

Winning at Blackjack

Blackjack offers you the best chances of winning in comparison with poker or roulette, mainly because you don’t need excellent bluffing skills (like in poker games) or inordinate amount of luck (like in roulette).
In this game you shouldn’t be afraid to take risks because this is the game that provides you with the best chances of winning. So remember this tips when playing blackjack.
1.Take insurance only when you have to and play to win.
Don’t forget that in the game your main goal is to beat the dealer.Of course, knowing other players’ cards helps, but the most significant thing is to concentrate on is how to beat dealers cards.
2. Splitting rules.
If you receive two cards of the same value in the first deal you are able to split them into two and play them separately, as long as you place the same amount of bet on each card.
There is a strategy that can be appplied to this particular situation. Most players would either or never split their cards. You’re not one of them, are you? Remember this and follow your own strategy, which is:
When you have 10’s or 5’s it is not reasonable to split so just stay with it. But if you have 7’s or 8’s and the dealer shows a card that’s equal or lower than 5 or 6 it’s the right time to split them. When you have face cards it’s better no to split them. And when your receive aces - don’t even think - split them immediately.
3. Get maximum from use of double down.
If you feel that first two cards received from the dealer are so good, you always have the possibility of doubling down and dowbling the bet. For blackjack players it’s the best option available, so try not to forget about it. Be agressive and tou’ll take yours.
Received new information? Feel a bit more expirienced? Then go play blackjack using our tips and you’ll definitely win, what are you waiting for?