Tag: Blackjack Rules

Surrender as a Part of Your Blackjack Strategy

Surrender is often an over looked part of blackjack strategy. In fact, not every basic strategy card even tells you when to surrender. But in some instances you need to surrender because it is what is best for your blackjack odds.

Part of a blackjack strategy is knowing when to play offensively and when to play defensively. Surrender is a part of playing defensively. Blackjack strategy is about improving your odds to make the most in advantageous moments, and to minimize losses when the odds of a round are against you.

Surrender is one of those defensive plays that are meant to minimize your losses. It is kind of like folding in poker, except you only lose half of your wager instead of all of it.

We are going to look at early surrender. This is when you can give up half of your wager before making any plays and before the dealer checks for blackjack. This means that you can surrender, give up half of your wager, and still keep the other half even if the dealer has a natural blackjack.

Being able to make an early surrender gives a healthy boost to your blackjack odds. How much? Try an added 0.39% to your blackjack odds. That is how powerful early surrender is, and why any blackjack player worth their salt should not over look this blackjack player.

And as a little extra in this blackjack tip I will tell you when the best times to surrender are, since so many basic strategy charts out there do not tell you. See? They over look it too.

Okay, so the best times to surrender are when you have a hard 15 and the dealer has an up card of 10 or when you have a hard 16 and the dealer is showing an up card of 9, 10 or an Ace.

You want a good blackjack tip? Then surrender when you have one of those two hands and the dealer has any of those up cards. Do it and boost your blackjack odds. Sure you will lose half of your wager, but that is losing all of it, and that is why early surrender is a good defensive blackjack play.

Bad House Rule: Dealer Can Hit Soft 17

I have noticed something rather interesting of late pertaining to blackjack. There seems to have been an increase in blackjack games that allow the dealer to hit on a soft 17. And this happens with the casino industry being hit harder by a hurting economy and an increase in online blackjack.

On the surface a dealer hitting a soft 17 does not sound like too big of a deal. If you are shrugging your shoulders and saying,

What Would Make Up the Best Blackjack Game?

While we all enjoy our blackjack games, be it blackjack in a brick and mortar casino or blackjack online, we all will imagine from time to time what would be our perfect blackjack game. Granted, we do not expect to ever actually find our perfect game of blackjack, but every now and then we will all sigh and let our minds wander to this perfect game and imagine the fun and the winnings.

So what would my perfect game of blackjack be? Well, naturally it has all kinds of player favorable rules.

For starters I would have natural blackjacks paying 2-1 instead of 3-2. While a 3-2 payout is awesome, a 2-1 payout will not only pay more but it will also increase a player

Blackjack Misconceptions

For being one of the easiest casino games to play both in the casino and in an online casino, there are a fair few misconceptions about blackjack. I understand that it is a card game and not quite as simple as pushing or clicking Spin on a slots game, but blackjack is not nearly as difficult to understand.

In looking over thirty sites with the objective of blackjack given, twenty seven of them were inaccurate.

Now poker, that I can see someone building misconceptions on and not understanding. But not blackjack.

So, I am going to discuss one of the biggest misconceptions about blackjack.

The biggest misconception about blackjack is its objective. Many people, players, nonplayers and so-called experts, claim that the objective of blackjack is to obtain a hand total of 21 using only two cards: an Ace and either a face card or a 10.

For starters the actual objective of blackjack, both blackjack played in a brick and mortar casino and online blackjack, is to beat the dealer

Playing for Charlies

Last week I wrote a post on a rule variation for blackjack that allowed for a Charlie. Charlie hands tip the odds in favor of the player in blackjack. So, right off, if you see a blackjack game that allows for automatic Charlie wins, sit down and play there.

Just a quick recap, in blackjack a Charlie is a hand with a certain number of cards whose total value is less than 21. If the Charlie rule is in place in the blackjack game you are playing, it will automatically win no matter what the dealer is holding and no matter what your Charlie

Rules to Improve Your Blackjack Odds

The better your blackjack odds are, the better your chances of taking home some extra money. Thankfully blackjack is one such game that you can do this with.

Blackjack is a casino game in which the odds are not set in stone, like how they are with a slots game. Tables and online blackjack games can have different rules that can either help improve your blackjack odds or hurt them. Naturally, you want to look for the rules that will improve your blackjack odds.

But do you know what house rules to be on the lookout for to improve your blackjack odds?

One of the best rules to look for is blackjacks that pay 2-1. This rule can increase your blackjack odds by 2.27%. With a 3-2 payout you would be paid $15 for a blackjack on a $10 wager. But your winnings for a blackjack at a 2-1 table is $20. You are being paid more for you blackjack and that hits the house harder.

Another good house rule to be on the lookout for is an automatic win for a Five Card Charlie. A Five Card Charlie is a hand of five cards whose total value is still less than 21. If you are playing at a table that allows a Five Card Charlie to beat anything the dealer has

Doubling Down on Soft Hands

Soft hands can be surprisingly hard to play in blackjack. I know, the name does not make these hands sound all that bad. But in blackjack having an Ace dealt to you at the beginning of a round can be a good thing and a bad thing.

The good thing about an Ace in blackjack is that you have the ability to change the value of that Ace if you need to. Aces start out with a value of 11 in blackjack. But if the player hits too high, that Ace can be reduced to a 1 to save the hand from busting. Think of it as having a second chance for your hand.

On the other hand, that ability to reduce can make it difficult to know how to play your hand. If you have a hard 14 versus a dealer

European Blackjack vs. Blackjack

For the most part blackjack is a pretty standard casino game. There are not a lot of ways to vary blackjack. And that is probably why most of the blackjack variations you run across in online casinos and in brick and mortar casinos are based on side bets, while the actual game is played the same as always.

However. There are a small number of blackjack variations which are true variations, meaning that some rules are different. European Blackjack is one such variation.

European Blackjack is not a variation based on a side bet. There are two rules in this game that make it different than regular blackjack. And these differences in rules are not to the player

Natural Blackjack and Even Money

There is no feeling in blackjack like being dealt a natural blackjack. Just seeing those two cards come face up in front of you is euphoric. It is because you won that round of blackjack and you know you have won. And then every now and then the dealer will rain on your blackjack parade and have an Ace for an up card. It does not mean that you have lost; it just makes the situation a little trickier is all.

Naturally the dealer