How to Play Blackjack (The Ultimate Guide)

Probability in Blackjack

In a standard situation in a game with eight decks, where the dealer stands on a soft 17, doubling the bets for any two cards is allowed. The player can split, resplit, and blackjack pays 3:2. The house edge is about 0.43%, which in practice means that for every $100 played, the player will lose about 43 cents in the long run.

Specific probabilities

Changes in rules can affect the house advantage. E.g. if the dealer has to draw on soft 17, the house edge jumps to 64%.

If the number of decks is reduced to six, the house edge is reduced to about 0.40%. If the player is allowed to surrender, the house edge is even lower - about 0.33%.

Table of chances

We recommend to players to get acquainted with the specific probabilities. Try to study the table below for a better understanding of the game.

The first table shows player's chance of bust if he decides to draw another card in addition to his starting two-card hand.

The second table shows the likelihood of dealer's bust depending on the card he has. As you can see, the biggest chance of dealer's bust is when he holds a five.

Studying these two simple tables will give you an initial closer look at the game. Note that the advantage of blackjack in a casino is that the dealer only plays after the player. This makes it easy for the player to bust without the dealer having to do anything at all.

Advanced Play - How to Use Surrender in Blackjack

The surrender option differs from the other options radically. For beginners, the "surrender" rule is not an option you can see very often. One of the reasons why is that most casinos don’t even offer the Blackjack variant with Surrender. If you want to apply this rule in a live game, you have to say it aloud. There is no gesture to invoke Surrender, you have to say "surrender" or "I surrender". In brick and mortar casinos, however, this version is virtually non-existent.

What surrender actually means:

• Surrendering means discarding your cards at the cost of half the original bet.
• It is only possible to surrender immediately after the cards have been dealt, before any action like to hit, split or double.
• Cards are discarded only if the player has a chance of winning 25% or less.

Once the dealer understands that you want to surrender the game, he will remove your cards and wait for the next deal. You have to realize that even though Surrender in Blackjack is a good option that reduces house edge, it's not very friendly. When the dealer takes your cards, he also takes 50% of the original bet. This means that you can only get back half of what you have bet. However, it is better to look on the bright side and to realize that it is definitely better to get something back rather than nothing at all.

Variants of Blackjack Surrender

There are only two basic variants of this blackjack – so-called "early" and "late". The late version means in practice that the dealer checks both his cards to see whether he got a blackjack. If the dealer lets you surrender even before he can check his cards, it's a so-called "early" surrender.

The Surrender rule is a great option, but you must be clever about using it and know it well enough. Then you can use it to your advantage.

Strategies for Blackjack Surrender – a table

The following table shows the optimal strategy for BJ Surrender, which you will encounter most frequently in online casinos. As you can see from the table, it’s advisable to use his rule very rarely. Even so, the house edge will be reduced.

This is a variant with the following rules:

• Six-deck game
• Dealer stands on soft 17
• Doubling after splitting allowed
• Late Surrender

Key

Is it better to play blackjack at the online casino or classic casino?

Playing at the online casino has many benefits for you. First of all, you don’t have to travel. You can play from the comfort of your own home, anytime you want.

Compared to classic casinos, online casinos can offer you a much more varied range of games, including lesser known variants of blackjack. Most online casinos also allow you to try blackjack for free. If you decide to play for real money, you often get a generous bonus to your deposit or sometimes even completely free of charge.

The only advantage of classic casinos compared to blackjack online is the possibility to use the Card Counting method.

Why play blackjack online

• Clear rules. The goal is to get a sum of 21
• Possibility to try a free game
• A one-on-one game against the casino
• Bets of an arbitrary value and high-value prizes

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