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Blackjack
Blackjack is a game with many variations. If this format just isn’t doing it for you or if you’d like a little break from the norm, you can find fun variations to play. Over the course of this article I’ll talk about a couple of the blackjack variations that you’ll find out their in the real world and online. Without further ado let’s get started.
Double Exposure Blackjack
This is one of those blackjack variations that gets players all excited. In this variation both dealer cards are shown, so you can see why many blackjack players think they are just going to destroy the casino.
There is one major caveat to this blackjack variation. The dealer wins all ties. Now think about that for just a minute. If you’ve been playing blackjack for any period of time you know that this happens fairly frequently. In this variation of blackjack all of those ties are now losers.
My basic strategy for this variation is not to play at all. However, if you’re going to play it, just enjoy yourself. Not surprisingly, there is a strategy to playing double exposure blackjack, but it would take more space than we have for this article.
Spanish 21
Spanish 21 is very popular in some casinos because of all the options it affords players. For instance, a player’s blackjack actually beats a dealer’s blackjack and if that weren’t good enough, your blackjack will still pay 3-2.
Here’s another fun rule variation. You can double down at any time no matter how many cards you have. And if you manage to get 21 and the dealer gets 21, you win. Want to hear something really crazy? If you double down, and don’t like your double down card, you can take back your double down bet. You will just lose your original wager.
There’s also fantastic bonus payouts if you happen to get 21 with five or more cards or if you get 6-7-8 or 7-7-7. And how about this. Get 7-7-7 of the same suit and a dealer up card at seven and you’ll win the jackpot, which can be thousands of dollars.
Another rule Spanish 21 is that the dealer always hits on soft 17.
Spanish 21 is one crazy variation of blackjack. If you haven’t tried it, I’d encourage you to play a few hands and enjoy yourself.
In the next installment of our blackjack tutorial series, I’ll present you with a point-by-point analysis of what it takes to play blackjack like a pro and win consistently. Whether you’re playing online blackjack or in Las Vegas you’ll want to read this.
Tags: Bet, Blackjack, Blackjack Dealer, Blackjack Game, Blackjack Players, Double Exposure, Jackpot, Playing Blackjack, Spanish 21, Wager
Categories: Blackjack, Card Games, Strategies, Systems
Blackjack is a game full of wild myths and fantastic misconceptions. Over the course of this article I’ll try to set you straight by dispelling some of the wrong information that surrounds a great game of blackjack. Whether you play blackjack online or in real-world casinos, you’ll want to read this information.
Okay, let’s get this installment of our blackjack series started right. Today, I will be tackling serious myths that surround this fabulous game. Walk into any casino in the world and you’ll likely hear at least one of these blackjack myths. Hopefully, after reading this installment of our blackjack tutorial series you’ll be a much better blackjack player.
Object of Blackjack
Unfortunately, most blackjack players think the object of blackjack is to get as close to 21 as possible. This just isn’t so. Many players fall by the wayside as they foolishly try and press their hands toward that magical number.
No my friend, the true object of the game of blackjack is extremely simple. Beat the dealer. You can beat the dealer with a hand of 12. You can beat the dealer with a hand of 20. All that matters is that you beat the dealer and win money.
Card Counting Works Online
I’ll cut to the chase. Card counting does not work at online casinos. Unless you are going to play in a real-world casino learning and knowing how to count cards in blackjack will do you absolutely no good whatsoever.
Even though an online casino might have single deck blackjack it’s not like the real-world casinos because they shuffle after every hand. Therefore, each hand is completely brand-new. You can’t count cards in an online casino.
You Can’t Beat Blackjack
There are many people running around the world that believe you can’t beat blackjack ever. I’m sorry, but it’s been proven. Yes, you can win at blackjack and be a winner over the long-term with this fabulous game.
The key to beating blackjack is knowing the game inside and out and playing properly. Many people have won a lot of money playing blackjack and there are many people in Las Vegas to do nothing but play blackjack for living. The game of blackjack can be beat and you can be a winner over the long term. Read that again.
In our next installment of this blackjack instructional series, we’ll talk about various blackjack variations. Most of the blackjack variations are fun to play from time to time, but some can be hazardous on your wallet. When playing a blackjack variation you have to adjust your playing style or you’ll just be handing money to the casino hand over fist. Until next time, good luck at the blackjack tables.
Tags: Beat The Dealer, Blackjack, Blackjack Game, Blackjack Player, Blackjack Players, Blackjack Tutorial, Deck Blackjack, How To Count Cards, How To Count Cards In Blackjack, Online Casinos, World Casino, World Casinos
Categories: Blackjack, Card Games, Strategies, Systems
In this installment of our blackjack series, we’ll be looking at a few things, such as insurance. It’s taking insurance a good thing? What happens if you have a blackjack and the dealer asks for insurance? Should you take even money? These are some of the things that we’ll be covering in this article.
Whether you’re playing in Las Vegas or at an online casino the procedure is pretty much the same. Everyone, including the dealer, receives two cards. It’s at that point that the dealer will check for blackjack if the up card is an ace. But before checking for blackjack the dealer will ask you if you’d like insurance. Should you take insurance?
In my opinion, insurance is a bad bet. Think about that for a minute. If you take insurance, you’re really hoping that the dealer has blackjack. If the dealer does not have a blackjack, you lose half of your bet immediately and the best you can do is win half of your bet. In the worst-case situation, you lose 1.5 times your bet.
There’s only one time when I would take insurance. And no it’s not when you have 20. If the dealer asks for insurance and you have a blackjack, take even money. It’s foolish not to. You have a guaranteed winner in your hand so take it. Other than that, in my own opinion, taking blackjack is simply a bad bet.
Let’s talk about surrender for a moment. Should you ever surrender? There are many conflicting thoughts about using the surrender option when it’s available to you. In my book, I will surrender if the dealer is showing a 10 or face card and I have a really poor hand, like 16. However, if that 16 is comprised of two 8s, I might consider keeping a hand and splitting it.
Generally, surrender can really come back to bite you in the butt. If you’re playing in the real world it pays to know how many big cards and how many little cards are left in the deck or shoe. This will help guide you toward the right decision.
Learning to master or ignore two key options, such as surrendering and insurance, are vital toward you becoming a great blackjack player. Initially, I would simply ignore surrender and never take insurance, but take even money when you have a blackjack. By following this simple strategy you’ll do just fine.
In the next installment of our blackjack series I will be talking about blackjack myths and blackjack misconceptions. Is there a perfect seat to sit in at the table? Does card counting really work? How about online blackjack? I’ll be covering all these things. Until then, good luck at the blackjack tables and may all your bets be winning ones.
Tags: Ace, Bet, Blackjack, Blackjack Dealer, Cards, Face Card, Insurance, Las Vegas, Money, Online Casino, Surrender
Categories: Blackjack, Card Games, Strategies, Systems
To play blackjack you need to know two important things—hand values and card values. Fortunately, learning both of these things takes just minutes. As part of our continuing series on playing and winning a blackjack I’ll be covering hand values and card values and a couple other odds and ends. I may even throw in a couple winning tips.
Card values in blackjack are pretty simple. The first thing you need to know is that unlike poker the suit of the card has absolutely no meaning at all. It doesn’t matter if your cards are clubs, diamonds, hearts, or spades.
The value of a card is the same as its number. For instance, a two is worth two points. There are two differences in blackjack. Face cards are worth 10 points. An Ace can be worth either 1 point or 11 points.
So, let’s look at an example. You are dealt a 6 and an Ace. You would have 17. Whenever you have an ace that is being used as 11 points that number is a soft number. For instance, an Ace and a six would be soft 17. This is important to know because some casinos have the dealer stand on soft 17 and other casinos have the dealer hit on soft 17.
Here’s another note about lingo. A “stiff hand” is when you have a hand that could possibly bust. For instance, if you had a 16 this would be a stiff hand. All it would take is one more card valued at six or greater to bust you. Therefore, hands 12 – 16 are considered stiff hands.
You may have a heard someone say “I’m going to stand pat”. This comes from blackjack. When the hand is valued at 17 – 21, it’s called a pat hand. Therefore, when someone has a hand like this you may hear him say that they’re going to stand pat. Unless someone has a real desire to push the limits these are the hand you stand on. The only exception would be if you had a “soft hand”.
And of course if your hand goes over 21, you have busted and the hand is over for you immediately. Remember, the object in blackjack isn’t to get as close to 21 as possible, it’s to beat the dealer. I’ll probably say this a couple more times in the series because it’s so important to understand.
The next part in our series, we will talk about splitting pairs, insurance, dealer’s play a little bit, and about basic strategy. Now that we’ve laid a decent foundation for playing blackjack, we can start to expand our horizons into playing the actual game and winning at blackjack. Until we meet again, good luck at the blackjack tables.
Tags: Ace, Blackjack, Card Values, Casinos, Face Cards, Hand Values, Pat Hand, Play Blackjack, Poker, Poker Card, Stiff Hands, Winning Blackjack
Categories: Blackjack, Card Games, Strategies, Systems
Last installment we started talking about blackjack action. We talked about placing a bet, how the cards are dealt, and some other action items. When we left off, we were talking about your different options during the hand you hand you have to decide what to do. We already talked about and standing. And it’s here where we’ll pick up the discussion.
So you’re sitting there looking at your two cards and deciding what to do. You already know that you can hit, which means take a card, or stand, which means to end your turn. But what if your two cards are the exact same? You could split them. Let’s imagine that you have two Queens. You could split them into two hands. This of course would mean that you would have to make an additional bet that’s equal to your original wager.
Let me just say right now that if you have two Queens do not split them. However, if you were to receive two 8s, for example, you may want to split them. But we’ll talk more about blackjack strategy in a little bit.
When you split a hand you need to make an additional bet, which is equal to your original wager. Splitting is not something that happens too often and some players never split their hands.
During your turn another move you may make is to double down. When you double down you are first making an additional wager that is equal to your original wager and then excepting one final card. A common hand to double down on is 11. You’ve probably heard the saying “always double down on 11″. You can also double down for less. Let’s imagine that you have a $100 bet out there and you want to double down. You could add just $50 more and double down for less. That’s your option.
Another option you have during your turn, which isn’t offered by every casino, is to surrender. A lot of people like surrender, but many casinos don’t offer it. This is why you should check the blackjack rules before playing again. Here’s how surrender works. You get your first two cards and you can surrender and lose half of your bet. An example when one might want to surrender would be when you receive a really bad hand, such as 16, and the dealer is showing a face card. Many blackjack players will surrender in this instance.
And that about does it for this installment of our blackjack series. In our next installment will be talking about card values, hand values, and how it all plays out. Also I’ll make sure to drop a couple more nuggets of wisdom for winning at blackjack. Keep reading and good luck at the blackjack tables.
Tags: Bet, Blackjack, Blackjack Action, Blackjack Rules, Blackjack Strategy, Cards, Casinos, Two Hands, Two Queens, Wager
Categories: Blackjack, Card Games, Strategies, Systems
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