Blackjack Staking Plans

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Playing blackjack, whether online or in a real casino, can be great fun and because of the low house edge – effectively the casino’s profit margin – it gives the player a great chance to make a profit. However, as with all gambling, be it playing blackjack, betting on the NBA or any other sport or casino game, a staking plan is an essential route to success.

A staking plan is a method of managing your money in order to give yourself the best chance of success, be that to guarantee a certain length of time at the table, to try to make a profit or to clear the wagering requirements of an online casino bonus. Your staking plan should change according to what your goal is and here we look at the three aims stated above.

Prolonging Table Time

If you have a fixed budget and want to make sure it lasts for a certain period of time, a staking plan for blackjack is crucial. Whatever staking plan you adopt, dividing your total budget into base units is essential. For example, if you want to play for a long time you may decide that betting 5% of your total funds on any one hand is sensible. If your total account balance is $500 that would mean betting $25 per hand (doubling and splitting would take that to more but as long as you do that only when basic strategy dictates, that’s fine). By doing this your risk of ruin – of going bust – is greatly reduced, although a more complex version of this blackjack strategy includes assessing how many hands per hour you would expect to play.

Making a Profit

A staking plan cannot change the casino’s advantage, merely alter the standard deviation and so in truth there is no staking plan that will guarantee a profit, despite what many sites may claim when they try to sell you their own staking plan.

Completing Bonus Wagering

Many bonuses are configured such that allowing for the house edge there is a small profit to be made by the player, based on expected returns. However, in order to reduce the risk of variance causing you to go bust, the smallest stakes possible are needed, which means completing the wagering may take many, many hours. One way around this is to play high stakes early on in an attempt to double, triple (or more) your stake, before switching to smaller (but larger than you would otherwise be able to had you not increased the bonus first) stakes to “grind” out the blackjack bonus.

What Makes a Great Blackjack Site?

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There are literally hundreds of online casinos and blackjack sites out there and whilst not all of them accept US players or make depositing and withdrawing easy, there is still a huge choice. That makes the issue of deciding where to play your blackjack a tough decision but we’re here to help by telling you exactly what to look out for.

Blackjack Bonuses

The bonus may not be top of everyone’s list but if you’re operating in a buyer’s market and with so many sites competing for your business, there are some great bonuses about. The important things to look out for are what the total bonus is, what percentage it is, what wagering is required before you can make a withdrawal, if there is a time limit on the wagering and, last but certainly not least, does blackjack count 100% towards the rollover? In terms of assessing the value of the bonus we feel the fairest measurement is the value of the bonus compared to the total wagering required to clear it (allowing for the fact that some sites may only count blackjack at 50% or even less).

The Site Itself

There are lots of things to look out for when it comes to the site itself but, assuming you’ve already checked if US players are welcome and won’t have a problem getting their money in and out of the online casino, the following are the most important factors to consider: Does the casino have a good reputation for safe and fair play? Are they licensed and regulated by a trustworthy organization? Have they been around a long time? Do they use good, reliable software?

The Games

The issue of the games is related to that final point about the software a site uses. You want to enjoy playing online blackjack and that means the games must function smoothly, have nice graphics, good sound and they must never crash. In addition, the speed of the games is crucial, too slow and working through a bonus can take forever but equally, too fast and you can lose a heap of money before you realize it. The final thing to check is whether or not the available blackjack games have a low house edge, with the most liberal rules offering the casino an advantage of less than 0.4% and offering the player a great chance to win.

History of Blackjack

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Blackjack is one of the most simple yet best loved casino games around and is a card game enjoyed by many. But where, when and how did it all begin? Here we take a look at the history of blackjack.

The exact history of this great game is, as with that of many casino games, inexact and uncertain. What is universally accepted is that it developed from the French game Vingt-et-Un – 21 in English. In Spain the same game was called Ventiuna, meaning the same, and although the game was mentioned in classical Spanish literature as far back as 1602, it only became widespread at the start of the 18th century.

The roots of the game may actually go back even further, however, with some suggesting blackjack ultimately evolved out of a Roman gambling activity that used numbered wooden blocks, whilst a more credible tale suggests a Spanish game called 31 was invented in 1440. It is thought that this game may have merged and melded with chemin de fer, a variant of bacarrat and ultimately ended up with 21 and then blackjack. I did say this history was uncertain!

What is better documented is the rise of 21 in the 18th century, the game being played by travelling European merchants, as well as in continental casinos. The game made its way over the Atlantic with European immigrants at the end of the 18th century and quickly became popular in the US too.

However, at this stage the game was still 21, blackjack only really evolving at the start of the 20th century. The extra reward for a “natural”, a 21 made with just two cards, was introduced and when gambling was legalized in America in the 1930s Nevada casinos introduced an even bigger payout for a “natural” made with the ace of spades and a black jack. That paid out at a generous 10/1 and the game, and the name, grew rapidly.

Whilst both the game and the name would endure, that 10/1 payout was short-lived and casinos reverted to the original 3/2 bonus for any two-card 21. Since that change blackjack has remained largely the same, although as with almost all aspects of life modern technology has impacted on blackjack.

Nowadays online blackjack and live dealer blackjack are massively popular and growing all the time. The low house edge of blackjack, combined with the element of skill, or at least player decision, as well as new online progressive and bonus blackjack games means that blackjack may have an uncertain past but its future is certainly assured.

Can You Make a Profit From Online Blackjack?

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Blackjack is a hugely popular casino game and part of the reason it is so loved is because the casino has very little advantage over the player. The house edge under the most liberal blackjack rules around is just 0.28% but a better guide is around 0.5% as that covers a variety of the most commonly found rule variants.

However, that still means the casino has an advantage over the player and that in the long-term the casino will win, whilst of course in the short and medium term the player maintains an excellent chance of making some money. So, is the answer a straight “no” to the question of our title, “Can You Make a Profit From Online Blackjack?”, if we are thinking long term?

Well, in fact, the answer is yes, you can make, and expect to make, a positive return from playing online blackjack assuming you take advantage of the lowest available house edge, the best online casino bonuses and strictly adhere to basic strategy, the optimum method of playing any given blackjack hand. Throw in extras like comp points, loyalty schemes and extra promotions too and you can certainly leave the (online) casino with a few extra bucks in your pocket.

In years gone by there were excellent profits to be had by using the low house edge and generous bonuses but as some players began to cash in, the casinos tightened up, introducing rollover requirements on their bonuses that were more and more restrictive. Some even ban blackjack entirely, or at the very least make it contribute only a very small (sometimes as low as 1%) percentage towards the necessary wagering.

How to Profit

Assuming you find an online casino that allows blackjack – and some do exist – and has a 100% bonus worth $1,000, with a rollover requirement of 25 times the bonus plus deposit, that would mean in order to withdraw the bonus you would need to wager $50,000 at blackjack.

Now, if we assume a house edge of just 0.5%, one would expect to lose around $250 during that wagering, leaving a very healthy profit of $750. You’d have to play a lot of blackjack – 5,000 hands at $10 a time or even more hands if you want to minimise your risk – but even so, for those with time, the inclination and who enjoy playing online blackjack, this does prove that yes, you can indeed profit.

What is Card Counting and Can it be Done Playing Blackjack Online?

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Many people have often toyed with the idea of trying card counting when playing blackjack and with the growth of online casinos and blackjack sites, trying your skills at home while playing online seems like a good idea.

This begs the question, is it possible to count cards playing online blackjack? Sadly, the answer is no.

For those that don’t know what card counting is, it is a legal technique that is thought to have been “created” in the 1950s, though it wasn’t until mathematician Dr Edward O Thorp, the godfather of card counting, published his 1962 book “Beat the Dealer” that it really came to prominence. Card counting involves keeping track of the high and low cards that have been dealt because a deck with an above average number of high cards creates conditions favorable to the player.

The key principle which makes card counting possible and blackjack, unlike all other casino games, beatable, is that what has gone before has an impact on what is to come. In roulette, 50 reds in a row – though unlikely – does not alter the probability of a red next. However, in blackjack, if a large number of low cards come out in the early hands, leaving the remaining deck stacked with high cards, we know that DOES influence what happens next.

However, almost all online blackjack sites and casinos that feature blackjack use continuous shuffling, such that after every hand all cards are automatically returned to the deck and shuffled before the next hand. This is done electronically, of course, using Random Number Generator software, but the impact on the potential for card counting is the same – it is fatal. Each deal starts with a full complement of cards and so the deck never changes in composition, thus rendering card counting impossible.

However, the position is slightly different with live dealer casinos, which replicate, to a large degree, the conditions of a normal land casino. Here, card counting is possible, especially if you happen to find a live dealer casino that only reshuffles the cards when the whole deck is almost played. To combat the threat of card counting most such casinos shuffle the cards when only about half the deck has been played and this limits the accuracy of card counting, though it may still be worthwhile.

Overall, card counting doesn’t sit well with playing online blackjack and, as ever, our main tip is to use good bonuses and freebies with basic strategy in order to maximize your chances of making a profit playing online blackjack.

Blackjack Tips and Strategy

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Playing online blackjack is hugely popular and it is no wonder the casino owners in Vegas are keen to stop the growth of online gambling in the USA because, fun as a trip to Vegas, Atlantic City or another great resort is, playing blackjack online from the comfort of your own home also offers great appeal. Here we offer up some tips, advice and strategy for playing blackjack – having fun is great on its own, but having fun AND making money is even better!

One of the first things to know about blackjack is that whilst the adage “easy to play, difficult to master” is true in some respects, in others it isn’t, because the mastery part has been done for you. “Basic strategy” is the name given to the mathematically proven method of playing blackjack – both online or in a physical casino – that will deliver the best results and reduce the house edge to its minimum, that is it gives you the best possible chance to win money.

Learning the full details of basic strategy is tough because different blackjack rule variants have slightly different optimum strategies. However, there is no need to learn all of these – you can find a general chart right here, whilst other variations are also available online. Whatever you do, always follow the course of action basic strategy dictates, even if it seems risky or wrong: this is mathematically the best option and, if you want to give yourself the best chance of winning, making any other call is throwing your dollars away.

The other most important thing to do when playing blackjack online is to play a version of the game with the lowest house edge. Playing hard-to-find liberal Vegas rules gets the casino’s advantage down to less than 0.3%. On the other hand, if you play a version of blackjack with eight or more decks, 6/5 odds for blackjack and all the other bad rule variants, that house edge can go up to 10% or even higher (on some bonus and progressive games).

The other key thing to consider is your staking plan – how much you will bet on each hand of blackjack? Dividing your bankroll by 30 and then staking the same amount on each hand is a good option for beginners but one major tip is to avoid doubling your stake after a loss. Although this can work in the short term, long term it is doomed to failure.

Playing Online Blackjack

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Playing blackjack online offers easy access to one of the world’s greatest casino games and with some casinos also offering mobile versions of their site you can even play blackjack on the move, meaning you can pretty much play anywhere, anytime.

If you’ve never played online blackjack before, or even never played blackjack at all, our basic guide talks you through every step of the process and helps you choose a great site at which to play. Blackjack is hugely popular for two reasons: it’s really simple to play and the casino’s house edge is very small, meaning the player has a great chance to win.

Choosing and Joining an Online Casino

When selecting the casinos and blackjack sites you play at it firstly is worth considering welcome players from the USA (for US residents), whether it can be trusted to use fair and secure software and whether it offers bonuses to new players. If you can tick those important boxes straight away then away you go.

Joining an online casino is easy and it is very similar to making any other online purchase in that all you need to do is enter a few details to create an account and then fund the account in the same way you would pay for shoes, groceries or a new cell at another retailer.

Getting a Blackjack Bonus

Check the “Promotions” (or similar) page at whichever site you are looking to join and there is probably a high chance you will be eligible to claim a bonus based on your first deposit. Check the terms as you may need to enter a bonus code and there will probably be wagering requirements attached to the bonus, meaning you have to bet a certain amount before making a withdrawal, and note that blackjack is sometimes a restricted game due to its low house edge.

Choose the Right Game

Many casinos and blackjack sites offer a range of blackjack variants with slightly different rules and options. These can turn the house edge (the casino’s advantage) from less than 0.5% into almost 10%, so choose wisely. In short you want a game with full pay on blackjack (so odds of 3/2 rather than 6/5), as small a number of decks as possible, the dealer to stand on a soft 17 and late surrender.

Play Basic Strategy

Basic or optimal strategy is a mathematically proven way of playing that gives you the best odds of winning. Check out our basic strategy chart… and always stick to it!

Welcome

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Welcome to our news section of reviewblackjack.com where you can find recent headlines for anything related to blackjack and online casinos. Feel free to stop by often for recent news articles and promotions for playing blackjack online.