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.

Blackjack comes in various shapes and sizes, and one of the popular variants is called Spanish 21. It was introduced to American casinos back in 1995, although the game itself originated in Spain long before that. The game is heavily based on classic blackjack, with a couple of differences that make it very entertaining.

If you are interested in trying this type of game, make sure to check out sites that review blackjack casinos and find the one includes this blackjack variant. Even if you don’t manage to find it, there will always be the classic type of blackjack which is very similar and equally enjoyable to Spanish 21.

The game is played on a custom table layout which is pretty similar to the classic table. Furthermore, six to eight decks are used, but all suited 10 cards are not included in the game like in other forms of blackjack. On the other hand, Jacks, Queens, and Kings are in the game.

Furthermore, one of the interesting rules is that a players 21 will always beat 21 that dealer has. Also, a dealer can choose to hit or stand if being on a soft 17, and some casinos will enable players to redouble up to three times.

One of the interesting rules is that late surrender while the player is on the first two cards is also enabled much like double after a split. Players are allowed to draw several cards after Aces are split.

When it comes to hit, stand and split rules, they are actually pretty much similar to the classic blackjack games. You can choose to hit, stand or split only after you place your bet and the dealer gives you the first card. Nevertheless, make sure to check out some of the Spanish 21 strategy sheets and charts before you actually start playing the game in order to get the most out of it. As a matter of fact, even if you want to play an ordinary blackjack game, you should check out a blackjack strategy chart to understand how to deal with most of the possible situations when playing this game.

To sum up, if you like playing online blackjack and all of its variants, make sure to claim welcome bonuses in casinos you choose to register at and boost your blackjack experience. These bonuses usually reward you with extra money that you can use to play games such as blackjack and other popular online casino games.

Here we take a look at the house edge at online blackjack and consider why and how blackjack is somewhat different to a lot of other casino games when it comes to the house edge.

First off though, let’s explain what the house edge is. The house edge is the name given to the advantage the casino holds over the player, with every game designed to ensure that in the long term the casino wins and the player loses. Normal statistical variation – or luck if you prefer – means that the player can win in the short term but overall the house retains the advantage.

Roulette is perhaps the easiest game to use to illustrate this. A standard American roulette table has 36 numbers and two zeroes, for a total of 38 possible results. In a totally “fair” game with zero house edge the casino would pay a single number at odds of 37/1. You could bet $10 on every number, staking a total of $380 and whatever number came up you would get $370 for the win, plus your $10 stake back, thus breaking even.

However, the casino doesn’t pay at odds of 37/1 but at 35/1, meaning you would lose $20 from your $380. The house edge expresses the percentage of total stake the player will lose and so playing double zero roulette the house edge is 5.26%. The existence of the zeroes creates the house edge, or at least the odds that don’t reflect their existence do.

In blackjack things are slightly more complex because there are a huge range of rules and variations that impact on the house edge. What is so clever about the game of blackjack is that it’s created in such a way that despite all the different options and possibilities, the dealer, that is to say the house, always has a slight edge. The game is almost even but the house has the slightest of advantages that ensures their long term success.

Much of the advantage the dealer has in blackjack is that the player goes first and can bust, automatically losing their stake regardless of what the dealer does. However, all the intricacies of the game also contribute towards the house edge and the different rules you will find slightly alter the house edge.

For example, the more decks used, the greater the edge, such that a game with a single deck will usually have a house edge around 0.5%, whilst eight decks significantly increases that. Other rules, such as what value the player can double on, splitting rules, blackjack payouts and surrender terms also have an impact.

Regardless of all this, online blackjack remains one of the most competitive games when it comes to the house edge, making it a great option for the savvy casino fan.

Whether you play online blackjack, in a traditional casino or even just with friends, knowing what call to make in any given situation automatically improves your odds of winning in the long term. Playing online blackjack should be fun but as with most gambling activities, much of the fun comes from winning, so you may as well give yourself the very best chance possible to do just that.

In order to reduce the house edge at real money blackjack to its theoretical minimum you should use basic strategy and one key element of that is knowing when to split and when not to split.

What is splitting?

Let’s start at the very beginning by explaining what we mean by splitting. Splitting is an option a player has when their first two cards are a pair, with anything from 2s to aces being “splittable”. When the player splits a pair they get a new card with each original card to create two new hands and they must bet the same stake on the second hand as they did originally, effectively doubling the overall bet.

When should I split?

The easiest thing to remember is to always split aces and eights no matter what. This is because splitting eights turns the worst hand, a 16, into two decent first cards, whilst splitting aces turns one average to poor hand into the best two cards possible, giving you a great chance of a big double stakes win.

There are lots of other times you should split too, with sevens a good example unless the dealer has an eight or above, whilst nines should be split unless the dealer has a seven, 10 or ace, in which case the player should stand. For full and thorough information you should consult a basic strategy chart that is applicable to the exact rules you are playing.

When shouldn’t I split?

In general you shouldn’t split when the dealer has a high card. If the dealer is showing an eight or higher the only cards you would split would be eights, nines and aces, subject to the exceptions listed above on nines.

However, the simplest rule regarding what not to hit is that you should NEVER split a pair of fives or a pair of 10s (or face cards). As before, for the fullest information on all possible splits, including re-splits, always consult a full and proper basic strategy chart based on the rules and number of decks relevant to the blackjack you’re playing.