How to Play Blackjack

Blackjack is an incredibly popular casino game and one of the most played table games in the world. It is easy to understand why- blackjack is one of the few table games where you play against the dealer and the rules are basically simple, get a better hand than the dealer and you win. Blackjack is also one of the few casino games where you have the opportunity to influence the outcome of the game to some extent. In blackjack, it is not only chance that rules because you have to make choices that affect the game.

In other words, it is important to understand how blackjack games work and have a blackjack strategy that increases your chances of winning. There are over a hundred variants of blackjack and here we focus on the most played, classic blackjack variant. Note that blackjack rules may differ from game to game but also from casino to casino. Therefore, it is always important that you read the rules carefully before you start playing a blackjack game online.

The basic rules are often written on the game board, such as when the dealer must stop, while other rules are always available to read in the game. This is how card counting works, for each card dealt, you count plus or minus. Cards 2-6 are each counted as +1, 10s, face up cards and A each have a value of -1 while 7-9 you do not count at all (these numbers are worth 0). By counting all cards in this way, from the time the deck is shuffled, you will have a value that is either zero, plus or minus before each hand. If the value is minus, the dealer has an advantage and you should lower your bet, if the value is plus, you have an advantage and you should increase your bet.

Blackjack card counting is easier the fewer card games are used, for the simple reason that there are fewer cards to keep track of. If you want to use the card counting strategy, you should therefore sit down at a table with as few decks of cards as possible. Keep in mind that many online casinos shuffle the deck after every turn and there is therefore no point in trying to count cards at these casinos. If you want to be sure that you are playing at a blackjack table where the deck is not shuffled after each move, you can play live blackjack in an online live casino.