Blackjack Online Card Counting Introduction

Blackjack is a commonly played card game and has been for decades now and since becoming popular many people have tried using any advantage they can to win. One of the most common ways players try to gain an advantage in blackjack is by counting the cards that have been dealt. It isn’t that difficult to count cards when you’re playing blackjack because it’s a fairly slow game and the cards are all visible the entire hand so you get more then a glance at the cards.

The goal of counting cards is to gain an advantage over the house and it has worked many times over the years and many big stories have stemmed from card counting. Your goal when you’re counting cards is to establish the best times to increase your bets and you do this by keeping track of the cards dealt. There are numerous card counting systems out there which we’re going to take a look at in other guides, but most of them start with a solid zero count. All of the cards will have a certain number attributed to it and your goal is to keep adding and subtracting the values as you see the cards. The advantages that you will gain from keeping a count of the deck are as followed.

* You will have an idea of when the dealer is likely to bust

* You will know when you have the best chance of being dealt a blackjack

* You will know when the deck is either full of high cards or low cards

By knowing these the things above you will be able to increase or decrease your bets based on how hot or cold the deck is. It’s really simple to become good at counting cards and you don’t need to be a genius or anything to be successful at this.

The one problem most card counters face is the fact they end up getting caught by the casino.It’s completely legal all around the world to count cards as long as you’re not using any devices except your brain. The problem though is when casinos catch you they often want a little bit of there own justice so things can tend to get crazy if you get caught card counting. Legally a casino such as Harrahs needs to pay you though and you can sue them if they don’t pay you the money that you won. Generally the casino will just pay you, but most of the time they will also state you can’t come back to the casino ever again. You also may get blacklisted from other casinos once news is out that you count cards, so try to be extremely careful and not get caught so you can keep making money.

The first de.blackjackrat.com card counting system dates back to 1962 which is almost fifty years ago now. Since then systems have become more complex and you can definitely gain a nice advantage on the house if you can successfully count cards. The most important thing when you’re counting cards is to keep it unnoticeable and also stay focused so you don’t lose count.

Playing Blackjack with 14

In order to play each hand of blackjack profitably, a player must consider all of his options and sometimes act in a manner that is somewhat uncomfortable. When a player holds fourteen, the “comfortable” thing to do is stand, as a face card, an eight, or a nine can cause a player to go bust. Comfortable is not always “right” when playing blackjack. The choice to hit, split, stand, or double down should be made based on the dealer’s up card.

Playing a Pair of Sevens

When playing a pair of sevens, a blackjack player should sometimes hit, while splitting the pair other times. If the dealer has an up card that is an Ace, ten, nine, or eight – a blackjack player should keep the pair of sevens together and take a hit. However, if the dealer has an up card between two and seven – the blackjack player should split the pair and play each hand accordingly.

Playing a soft fourteen

When playing a soft fourteen, the minimum a blackjack player Titan Casino should do is hit their hand. In instances where the dealer’s up card is a five or six, the player should double down. In the event the dealer holds any other up card, the player holding a soft fourteen should take a hit and then reassess their options. For example, we hold Ace – three while the dealer holds an eight. We are correct in taking a hit. If our hand remains soft and under the total of eighteen, we will hit. If the hand is now valued eighteen or over, we will accept the total and stand.

Playing a hard fourteen

If the player holds a hard fourteen, they should stand only when the dealer’s up card is a two, three, four, five, or six. If the dealer holds an up card of seven, eight, nine, face, or ace – the player should hit, as doing so is more profitable than standing because the instances where the dealer busts or is outdrawn outweighs the chances that the dealer will beat us by standing with fourteen.

For example, supposing the dealer has an up card of seven, while we hold eight – six. The correct thing to do in this situation is to hit our hand. If we draw a two or an ace, we should take yet another card. If we draw anything above that, we either bust or should stand.

Blackjack Games

Blackjack is a great game, however, from time to time any game can benefit from being spiced up a little. Just look at all the poker variations that are out there, invented pretty much by typical home players looking for a different way to lose next week’s alcohol money to their scheming friends. And while you might not find these available for play at your local neighborhood casino, blackjack online offers it’s fair share of “variations”, as well. Some are a different way to play, and some simply piggyback on the standard rules of play, elaborating with opportunities to bet on something outside your cards alone. Let’s take a look at some, call them what you like.

- Here’s a side bet option. The player gains the ability to wager the first two cards in his hand will be of the same suit. Odds are 3:1 on the payout. If the lucky player makes this wager and the King and Queen, or Queen and Jack come up of the same suit, the odds are 10:1 and 8:1 on the payouts.

- Staying with the suit bets, instead of waging on your cards, this one allows you to gamble online as to whether the dealers’ up card will be red or black…you can put your bet in the corresponding R or B area. Odds are just a one to one return, and the dealer takes an automatic win if his up card is a deuce.

- Spanish 21 (This one does have an official name) – Up to eight decks used, but no fewer than six. The strategy requires adjusting because 10’s are eliminated from the deck (increasing the difficulty for the player). Other basic changes (ones that actually do benefit the player): Getting 21 is a guaranteed winner (no ties with dealer), and blackjack is a guaranteed winner. Other general rules apply regarding doubling, splitting, surrendering, hitting, etc… Now for the extras: Suited bet odds pay two to one. If that suit is spades, the payout is three to one, and, get this, if you have three sevens against the dealer’s seven up card, you’re cashing in a cool grand.

- Lastly (for now), a straight switch game from golden casino. We used to do this playing home games of Caribbean Stud, but it definitely works well for online blackjack. Each player gets two hands to work with, same bet for each. Everything remains separated except the second dealt card, which you can switch between hands. However, the dealer won’t give up this advantage without implementing one of his own. So, if you think the dealer’s busted on this one, be careful. A dealer 22 is actually going to push, no matter what you end up with.