If you want to walk away from a casino with more money than you entered (or logged on) with – you should be playing at the Blackjack table. When you play poker, you have to compete against others. When you play slots, the house has an edge of 2.5%. When you play Roulette the house can have an edge of up to 6.5%. However, in Blackjack, the house only has an edge of 0.8%. 

#1 – Do Not Card Count 

If you are playing in a physical casino then you should never card count. You won’t get away with it, despite what the movies suggest. Card counting is not illegal but it will get you banned from the venue for life. Casinos hate card counters and they have the right to strip you of all your winnings.  If you are playing online then you won’t be able to card count, so the temptation won’t be there. 

#2 – Practice Before You Place A Single Bet 

Remember, that it is only your own money you are going to lose when you place a bet. Take your betting seriously – remember that if you don’t prepare properly you are only hurting your wallet.  So, before you start to play blackjack online for real money you should practice online for free. Make sure that you don’t put your money on the line until you are winning most of the games you play. 

#3 – Know Which Hands Are Good Hands 

There are three really good hands that you should be aware of in Blackjack:

21 – This hand will win you the round. 

20 – You will be very unlucky not to win the round with this hand. 

11 – This is the third-best hand in the game. You can take an extra card and guarantee that you won’t go bust. And you have a high chance of scoring 20 or 21. 

You should also be aware that a lot of casinos offer a bonus jackpot for anyone who plays the Ace of Spades with either of the blackjacks. 

#4 – Know What A Bad Hand Looks Like 

16 is the worst hand in the game. If you take another card it is very likely that you will go bust, but it is not high enough on its own to win you the average game. If you take another card it is very likely that you will go bust, but it is not high enough on its own to win you the average game. On average, the dealer has a hand of 17 or above. Knowing this will mean that, when you have a 16 (that you can’t split, more in section 9) then you are better off risking it and taking another card. Going bust isn’t any worse than losing on a 16. 

#6 – Remember, You Are Only Playing Against One Person 

Lots of people move over to Blackjack, from Poker and waste a lot of their energy keeping track of the other people at the table. When you are playing Blackjack, you are only playing against the dealer. Someone else at the table winning, doesn’t make it any less likely that you can also win that round. 

#7 – Keep An Eye On The Dealer’s Cards

At the start of each round, the dealer will reveal one of their cards. You should keep this card in mind when you are deciding if you will play the round. If the card they show is less than a 9 – then we recommend playing that round. If it is a 10 or a face card then we would think twice about competing in the round. 

#8 – Learn From The Experts 

If you find that your Blackjack progress is stagnating and you are not where you want to be then you should take some time to study the experts. Find some videos of professional Blackjack players taking part in the game – make note of the choices they make and apply their tactics when you are playing your own games. 

#9 – Split Some Of Your Pairs 

One of the rules of Blackjack allows you to split any pairs you are handed. 

There are not many pairs that you should consider splitting, the three that we recommend splitting are 6s, 7s, and 8s. Whenever you get a pair of 8s you should split it, but 6s and 7s can be done on a case-by-case basis. 

#10 – Don’t Chase Your Losses 

No matter what table you are playing at in the casino – you should never chase your losses. Most of the time this will result in you losing even more money. We also recommend that you stop playing when you are no longer having fun or when you start to feel tired. If you want to be consistently winning money then you need to play at your best and only play when you are feeling your best. By following the ten tips above, you can improve your chances of winning money while playing Blackjack – without doing anything that will get you kicked out of the casino. Remember, don’t chase your losses and stop playing when you stop having fun.