Blackjack is a game of chance, but it also takes some skill to get the most of it. Although we review blackjack strategies from time to time, there’s a whole other level of play that we need to take into account, and that’s betting.

Betting in this game plays a role that is equally as important as the game itself. If you cannot manage your bankroll, you’re definitely going to lose, no matter how lucky you get.

Therefore, apart from following basic tips and tricks for the game, try focusing on how you bet on blackjack.

Now, there are various betting strategies here, and some of them are available for many other casino games. For example, the Martingale betting system is unique, interesting, and will help us manage our bankroll better.

But one of the systems that are really great in this game is called the 1-3-2-6 betting sequence. As you review blackjack strategies, you may find this one of the most simple to follow.

Not Hard

Although this combination of numbers may seem complicated, the strategy itself is actually pretty straightforward. In fact, you only need to remember two rules.

The first is never to trigger a sequence on a losing bet. It only starts on the winning ones. The second rule is that the sequence consists of four bets only, and resets to the beginning once it is complete.

Let’s see how it works in practice. Say you made a bet that is $10 for a hand and lost. The next thing you need to do is to repeat the same betting amount and hope for a better outcome.

Let’s say that you won the very next time. Now, you need to trigger the sequence and make another bet, which would be three times bigger than the first bet, and that’s $30 in this case. If you win again, you need to bet $20 the very next time.

If you win again, it’s time to bet $60. The next bet after that is $10, regardless of your result. However, if you lose mid-sequence, you need to get back to $10 and start all over again.

This sequence is not made to help you improve your chances of winning in blackjack. Instead, it is there to help you control your bankroll and have fun in the process.

If you want to test this right now, there are many great online casinos offering online blackjack. All you have to do is register and start your blackjack journey. Once you start exploring the 1-3-2-6 sequence, you’ll understand how this game can be entertaining on different levels.

Every once in a while, we will review blackjack strategies and post our opinion on them. Right now, we are going to cover the so-called martingale betting strategy that could help you manage your bankroll better and increase the possibility of winning.

So, what exactly is martingale? It’s a type of negative progression system where players need to increase their betting amount every time they lose a hand. Opposite to that is the positive progression systems where players increase bet amounts every time they win.

The system is pretty easy to apply, but you need to understand how it actually works in order to make the most out of it. For example, if your bet amount is $1, and you win a hand, you should bet $1 again next time. However, if you lose a hand, you should double it up to $2.

At this point, you would have bet a total of $3. If you lose again, you will have to double up, which means that you would have to bet $4.

4+2+1=7. What makes it good is that payouts in blackjack are not 1:1, which is one of the bases for the strategy. However, it gets a bit more complicated here. If it was 1:1 and you win your $4 bet, you would have won a total of $8, which would cover all your previous losses and you would win $1 extra. However, blackjack has a 3:2 payout in most cases, so you would technically win a bit more than $1 extra.

Not Perfect

However, the problem with martingale is that there are streaks. Let’s say that your starting bet is $5 and you lose a hand seven times in a row. The first bet would be $5, and then, you will increase to $10, $20, $40, $80, $160 and $320. At that point, you would have to bet a total of 320+160+80+40+20+10+5, which is $635. In other words, you would require a significant budget to apply the martingale betting system well.

In other words, this system is risky, just like any other system. You have to remember that blackjack is still a game of luck, and as such, it cannot be “cheated” with a simple betting system.

On the other hand, you can minimize the house edge by using a blackjack strategy chart and improve your chances of ending up a winner in this card game.

Blackjack is definitely one of the most popular card games in both land-based and online casinos, but one of the main reason for that is that there are many strategies to increase your success. One of the strategies that are widely accepted both by players and casinos includes studying and applying the blackjack strategy chart, which tells players what to play in most of the situations. If you follow the chart, you could minimize the house edge and have fun along the way.

However, this is not the only thing that helps players who like blackjack. In fact, there is this black-hat technique which is often discussed among blackjack lovers, and it is called card counting.

What Is Card Counting?
It is an advanced blackjack strategy that uses math so that the players could count the probability of the upcoming hands. By applying this strategy, players not only decrease the house edge but sometimes even gain the edge over casinos. The risk and luck factor are minimized here, but they are not completely excluded and still play an important role. Now, this is an advanced technique that cannot really be explained in one short text, so we will not discuss it further as that is not the primary topic of this article. In fact, we are interested more in the legality of it.

Is Card Counting Illegal?
Casinos strictly forbid any kind of cheating techniques, but the truth is that card counting isn’t exactly cheating per se as players play according to the rules and only use math to gain an advantage. In other words, it is a sort of flaw in the game that is somewhat exploited by the players and as such cannot be welcomed by casinos.

Therefore, to answer the topic question — no, card counting is not illegal, and you can do it. However, casinos legally have the power to ask the players to stop playing blackjack if they notice that they are counting cards.

In the end, counting cards doesn’t really pay off, especially not in online casinos where such behavior is easy to notice and simply ban players from playing. Instead, you should stick to the blackjack strategy charts and have fun, leaving something up to chance. After all, blackjack is not only a game of skill but a game of chance as well, and luck plays an important role here. Make sure to check out sites that review blackjack casinos and games in order to play the best blackjack games on the web.

Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games ever, and its popularity stems from the fact that it is super entertaining to play and has a low house edge. The entertaining part is quite clear, as players usually love spending time playing this game.

When it comes to the house edge, it gets a bit more complicated, as this concept is not always familiar to the players who are new to blackjack. Therefore, before we proceed to talk about insurance bets, we need to discuss the concept of “house edge.”

When you read articles that review blackjack, you usually come across the term house edge, and it is nothing more than the approximate amount of money that the house (casino) earns from games. For example, slots have a house edge of approximately 2% to as much as 20-30% (don’t play the latter). However, blackjack has a house edge of only 1.5%, and if you apply the right strategy, you can lower it even further to 0.5%. In other words, gains from this game are usually very low for casinos.

In order to have a larger house edge, casinos decided to offer the so-called “insurance” bets, which are side bets that are treated separately from the main wager. The idea of this bet is to buy yourself an “insurance” if the dealer has a blackjack. This bet pays 2:1, meaning that you will receive $2 for every $1 that you bet. However, in order for this bet to make sense, you need to make the maximum insurance bet and only then will you be able to earn a lot of money if the dealer beats you in the main game.

The thing with insurance bet is that they don’t rely on strategy at all and are pure chance. They are often missed, and it is not advised for people who want to play blackjack seriously to place this bets at all. In other words, if you want to follow some of the basic strategies and refer to the blackjack strategy chart, insurance bets are a big no-no for you as they will probably make you lose more money.

In other words, the house edge gets much higher with this type of bets, and they can do nothing but harm in the long run. However, if you play blackjack for fun and want to take risks, feel free to place insurance bets whenever your gut tells you to do so, but make sure not to overdo it.