Online Casino blog

In this article I am going to talk about the decks and the player positions at blackjack.

The Decks

Blackjack can be played with a single deck of cards or with multiple decks. The player odds decreases as the number of decks grows. The casinos realized that and introduced more decks; initially the game was played with a single deck.

The casinos rarely offer single deck blackjack games and even if they do, usually you have to pay $25+ per hand. The most frequent blackjack games are the ones that have 4,6 or 8 decks.

The online casinos claim to have single deck games but you should know that usually the online casinos shuffle the deck of cards after each hand. The land based casinos don’t do that, so if you really want to play single deck games, play them in a brick and mortar casino.

Of course this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t play online blackjack, but you should know that card counting won’t do you any good if the deck is shuffled after each hand.

The Player Positioning

The player positioning matters only when you play the game with other players. The player positioning starts from the dealer’s left: the seat on the dealer’s left is called first base, and then we go clockwise all the way to the seat on the dealer’s right, which is called third base.

The third base position is the most important as it can decide the outcome of the round. Any mistake can make the dealer win, so if you are a blackjack beginner, don’t seat there. Some players have favorite seats, believing that they are luckier than other seats, and that’s all it is: luck.

You won’t get better cards if you sit in a better position; this depends on your luck. One thing is for certain: the third base can make the dealer the winner. If you make poor decisions in that position like hitting a card when you shouldn’t have, the dealer could win.

When this happens you won’t feel comfortable because the rest of the players will pay attention to your every move. If you are a beginner sit in the first base, because even if you make mistakes in that position you won’t make the rest of the players lose their money.

Blackjack is my game of choice. I cannot even remember when I first started playing it. During all this time I have researched blackjack odds and policies and I have played blackjack in numerous land based and online casinos. There is no major online casino or casino group that I have not tried out. By major I mean that they must own more than just one casino.

I have made a startling discovery: most online casinos do not offer fair games. Here is what I have discovered. It seems that most online casinos have a so called “fairness policy”. Of course, they will never admit to it. This fairness policy refers to the card algorithm, similar to party poker.

Party poker is well known for its fairness policy. Whenever you win too much, the algorithm kicks in. The cards are not dealt to you in a random fashion. Instead certain cards have better chances of being dealt out, while other cards have slim to no chance of coming up. This in turn means that certain poker hands are more difficult to get than others.

Here is a simple example. In a regular deck of cards a particular card has a 20% chance of coming up. Because of this fairness policy that card may now have a 60% or even 80% chance of coming up. So after you win a few hands you will find that some cards come up less often than they used to.

There are ways to ensure that you do not fall pray to such scams. Always make sure to play at reputable, independently reviewed online casinos. And most of all just say no to the fairness policy. Mathematics and luck should run the game, not such unfair algorithms.

Most of the online casinos offer deposit bonuses, but also those casinos impose some requirements in order to be able to receive the bonus. At most of the casinos you have to bet a certain amount of money before being able to withdraw the bonus and in many cases your own money.

Most of the times the bonus requirements are too difficult to accomplish especially if you bet the minimum bet. It would take to long to bet that required sum, so many players would raise the bet. That will put him in a disadvantage because if the player increases the bet, then he will depend on luck in order to win. The casinos hope that this will happen because in case the player raises the bet they will make a bigger profit.

If the player would use the minimum bet and would manage to bet the required sum, then most of the bonus would be a profit. Playing in such a way is difficult but now the blackjack bot can simplify it. The bot plays the strategy that will be the most profitable for you. You can set the playing style, depending on the requirements. After you have set the bot, all you have to do is wait and let him play.

A blackjack bot user explains that the casinos offer these bonuses as a strategy, saying that they know most of the players will raise the bet in order to receive the bonus. After they raised the bet, and lost, they would stop playing, sending money to the casinos. The user also says that the bots are very profitable for the players, because the bot will make 80% of the bonus a profit for the player who uses them. If a player would use a raised bet and win, he would not make that profit.

It seems a great way to make money, if it works of course. Most of the casinos prohibit the use of such bots and do their best to stop them. Anyway it seems that they are always a step behind the bot users, but it is unknown how longer will the situation remain this way.

Blackjack is a very popular and widely spread casino game. Millions of people play it in land based and online casinos alike. One of the reasons it is such a popular game is the reason it is a simple game. Learning its rules and how to play it should only take you a little time. Mastering it on the other hand will take considerable practice and effort.

The main goal of blackjack is to get a card total as close to 21 as possible. If you go over 21 you are bust and you automatically lose. You do not necessarily have to get a 21. As long as your card total is higher than the dealer’s, you will win.

Here are some tips and helpful advice that will help you in mastering blackjack:

- Getting a 21 is not the main goal;

Of course, you will win if you have a 21. Blackjack refers to getting a card total of 21 by using only the first two cards that are dealt to you. Let’s say that you are dealt a 10 and an Ace. You have a 21, blackjack. But what if the dealer also gets 21? The game will be pushed and you will not win anything.

As a rule of thumb you should not try to get a 21. Statistically speaking your chances of busting are greater than getting a 21. Going for a 21 all the time is amateurish and you will most likely loose.

- Beating the dealer is the main goal, and not getting a 21;

When playing blackjack you must remember that you are playing against the dealer and not against all the other players around the table. You must defeat the dealer if you want to get a payout. All the other players have little to no significance.

Focus on getting a better card total than the dealer’s, and not on getting a 21. If you are lucky enough to get a natural blackjack then good for you. But the best way to increase your chances of winning is guessing what card total the dealer will have and trying to beat it.

Note that the dealer must follow certain casino imposed rules. If he has a card total of 16 or less he is forced to draw. If he has a card total of 17 or more he must stand. You on the other hand do not follow such rules, and best of all you can use this information to your benefit. You should play your hand according to the dealer’s cards thus increasing your chances of winning.

- Pay attention to the dealer’s face up card.

As a rule of thumb you should always play your hand in accordance to the dealers’ cards. The dealer always deals himself one card face up. This one card is enough for the player to get an idea of what card total the dealer will get.

Let’s say that the dealer’s face up card is a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7. Chances are that his face down card is a ten valued card. Statistically speaking a ten valued card has the best chances of coming up since there are so many ten valued cards in the deck: 10s, Jacks, Queens, and Kings. You should try to get a high card total.

Note that the dealer must stand on 17 and draw on 16 or less.

Let’s say that the dealer’s face up card is a 9 or 10. Chances are that his face down card is a ten valued card which makes his card total 19 or 20. The dealer will then have to stand on such a total. 19 and 20 are high card totals and are rather difficult to beat. Your only chance is to get a 20 or 21. Try not to go bust and stand even if you have a card total of 18 or 19. Maybe the dealer will bust and you will still win.

Playing blackjack in a land based casino:

- Step one: place your wagers;

This applies to all casino games. If you want to play you must first place a bet. Blackjack tables have betting limits. This means there is a minimum and a maximum wager: you cannot bet less than the minimum limit and you cannot bet more than the maximum limit. There are various table betting limits and you should find the table that best suits your budget.

After you place your bet you can play. The dealer will notice you placing a bet and he will know to include you in the next round.

- Step two: you will be dealt one card;

After all the players have finished placing their bets the game will begin. All the players at the table will receive one card, face down.

- Step three: one card is placed on the table, face up;

This is the dealer’s card. It is placed face up on the table for everyone to see. You should pay attention to this card and use it to predict what card total the dealer will get.

- Step four: you will be dealt a second card;

All the players at the table will receive one card, face down. You now have two cards. Take a look at them and see what card total you have. According to your card total you must decide if you want to stand or draw.

- Step five: playing your hand;

This is when the game really begins, this is decision time. The dealer will turn to each player and ask him if they want another card. You have two options: you can stand or you can draw.

Standing means that you do not want to receive another card. You are satisfied with your card total and confident you will win. Or you simply do not want to risk going bust. If you decide to stand the dealer will turn to the next player.

Drawing means you want to receive another card. That card’s value will be added to your current card total. After you draw a card the dealer will ask you again. You can draw for as many times as you want, just make sure not to go bust. The dealer will keep asking after each draw, but you must know when to stop.

- Step six: the dealer plays his hand.

This is when the dealer gets to make decisions. It is not that hard for him as he has to follow casino rules. According to casino rules he must draw on 16 or less and he must stand on 17 or more.

- Step seven: the showdown.

After the dealer has finished playing his hand he will turn to each player and compare card totals. All the players at the table will have to reveal their hand and all of them that have a higher card total than the dealer will receive a payout.

Note that if you have a card total of 21 you are bust. You will automatically lose your wager.

Blackjack is one of the most popular card games in the world and maybe that is because it has very simple rules which anybody can learn very fast. On top of the rules, one must learn some particular aspects of the game in order to be successful at the table.

The game is also called Pontoon or 21, and the aim of the game is to beat the dealer by making 21 points or a value as closer to 21 as possible. The dealer deals two cards to each player, including herself/himself. After the two cards are being dealt, the player has the possibility of hitting which means he wants another card. If the value of the hand has not exceeded 21 points he can choose to stay which means he doesn’t want another card. If the value has been exceeded that means the player is bust. The player is not restricted to a single card after he has received the initial two, he can hit as many times it takes him to make a good hand.

The cards have different values, the Jack, Queen and King have 10 points each, and the Ace has 1 or 11 points, depending on the player’s choice. The cards from 2 two to 10 have their respective value. Seven players plus the dealer can play the game in the same time. In the “Shoe”, which is a box containing card decks can be found from 6 to 8 decks for a game.

It is common for a player to sweep his hand towards himself if he wants to hit, and to wave his hands across the cards with palms down if he doesn’t want another card. The dealer will understand the signals and that simplifies the game very much.

Playing the Game

After the two cards have been dealt the player must make 21 points or a value as closer as possible. If the player busts he will lose automatically, it the dealer busts the money will be divided among the remaining players. If the dealer has 16 or less points that he can hit, if he has 17 or over 17 he can’t hit.

Before the cards are dealt each layer bets. Depending on the casinos the player may have both cards faced down or only one of them, this being applied to the dealer as well. The player automatically wins the money if he hits 21 from the first two cards. If those cards are a 10 and an Ace than the player has a blackjack and will be paid one and half times his wager. If he wins by having a better valued hand than his opponents he will be paid the amount of money wagered. If he loses, he will lose his money wagered.

You can find free tournaments at most of the online blackjack sites. It is a good way to learn the game if you are a beginner or improve it if you have some playing experience. Usually the top prize in such tournaments is from 2 to 15 dollars, the total prize pool being from 5 to 50 dollars.

The prizes might not seem attractive but at least you have nothing to lose and especially if you are a beginner winning some money will definitely boost your confidence. Most of the times the regular tournament area display such free tournaments and they are easy recognizable as they have a “0$” listed at the buy-in. All you have to do is register to enter in the tournament.

A characteristic of this type of tournaments is that the players will take much more risks than at a tournament which requires payment. You can easily take advantage of these players. Let’s say if it’s late in the game and most of the players have placed maximum bets, you could place a minimum bet and hope that the dealer will win. In such case you will be more advantaged than the rest of the players. One of them might win, but it’s only one and then you can change your playing style according to his actions.

Many times registered players will be logged out and in this case the computer will play in their place. The computer will always select the minimum bet and you should take advantage of that. You should always pay attention to these players as they may enter the game any time and you might have a surprise.

Play carefully, use a blackjack strategy and most certain you will go deep into the game. You need to be careful at the last hand play since then are made the most mistakes. There are players who stop at 17 in hope they will win, others will hit more cards and lose even if they should have stopped. Do not make these mistakes, and one way to avoid them is to play with maximum concentration. Stop all those distractions around you when you are playing: music, internet browsing, and so on. It is a tournament and it requires your full concentration.

You can win wildcard spots by finishing on certain places in most of these free tournaments and this should be another good reason for you to play concentrated. Playing seriously will bring only advantages: you will have more experience, you will make money and you will be more prepared than the other players.

Blackjack is not a game with one specific rule. The phenomenon of the game of blackjack takes in its diversity. Different versions of blackjack characterize with different rules. That means that blackjack enthusiasts are able to select version they like. Though if you are not professional gambler you might not be acquainted with it and in result, while playing one deviation like another, lose big sum of cash. In some cases, the dissimilarities are slight while other sorts of blackjack require sophisticated system of play. We will present you a few variations from the traditional Vegas Blackjack. They come in two forms identified as Las Vegas Strip and Downtown.

European Blackjack
You will need two decks. In European Blackjack, in compare to regular Blackjack, gamblers could double down only in case of having 9 and 11. Aggressive gamblers, who double every time the dealer shows 5 or 6, may not like it. Soft 17 are what the dealer has to stand on. Players have no authorization to double down on a split or split if they have already done it once. Players could not make use of surrender alternative. European Blackjack has 0.39% house advantage.

Double Exposure Blackjack
This version of Blackjack is played in a shoe with 8 decks of cards. Double Exposure Blackjack is very popular as it is announced that this game gives the highest odds of winning. The gambler as well as the dealer has cards dealt face up. But this version is not as simple as it looks like. Initially, there are no bonuses for receiving cash. Secondly, all ties excluding Blackjack are won by the dealer. The dealer hits on soft 17. You could split your hands, creating to four separate hands. Though, in case of splitting aces, you get last card on each. Only in case of having hard 9 and 11 could you double down. The house has 0.69% house advantage.

Atlantic City Blackjack
The Atlantic City Blackjack version is played with a shoe and 8 decks of cards. Soft 17 (for example an Ace and a Six) this is what the dealer have to stand on. Gamblers have authorization to double on first two cards as well as right after a split. You are able to split your hands, making up to three total hands. Surrender is permitted after the dealer checks for Blackjack (before the hand continues). The house advantage on Atlantic City Blackjack is 0.35%.