Online Blackjack

What is Blackjack?

Blackjack is a casino card game played between the player and the dealer and mainly consists of making the sum of all the numbers on the cards close to or equal to the number 21. The name itself, marked by the Blackjack’s position, comes from a bet that 100 percent gave the player a chance to win the game 10 to 1. When the player starts with the first two black cards in the form of an Ace and Jack of Spades, he immediately gets a win. Many players are also interested in how Blackjack has developed over several decades and what game variants have developed in different countries.

Blackjack history

It’s really hard to say who and when invented Blackjack. And it is no exception, as most card games have their origins shrouded in a hint of mystery. Like many modern versions of games, Blackjack probably comes from a combination of the rules of several card games. Contemporary Blackjack comes from, among others, “chemin de fer” and French “ferme”, which, when combined and added to the rules, determine the winning score of 21 points. I have created a game shining in popularity and triumphs in the United States.

As you can see, both games originated in France at the turn of the 18th century, and it was also in France that the first rules of Blackjack were created. However, it functioned under a completely different name: “Vingt et un”, which means twenty-one. The very name Blackjack derives from the USA, where a player could pick the highest reward set was a blackjack with a black ace.

Blackjack was gradually gaining in popularity and today it is one of the most popular gambling card games (next to poker). An interesting fact is that over the years, attempts were made to work out Blackjack in such a way as to minimize the advantage of the randomness of the game to zero. Many publications have been written on this subject, including the problematic “Beat the Dealer: Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One” by Edward O. Thorp, which causes many problems for casino owners. He invented a way to count cards appropriately to predict the next one and minimize the risk of losing. The most skilled players can apply this technique successfully.

Interestingly, chemin de fer, the basis of blackjack, is a game loved for centuries in aristocratic circles and known more widely as Baccarat. It is a very easy game of chance based on a scoring system. We describe its exact rules in another article, but it is worth noting that Baccarat is also available online.

Both Blackjack and Baccarat games are moving with the times. Online gameplay also applies to mobile devices such as tablets and phones. This allows players worldwide to meet at one table and experience unforgettable emotions.

Most important information about Blackjack

• Blackjack can be played with a different number of decks of cards. Usually, 1 to 8 decks of cards are used.
• There are over 40 common card game variations with different blackjack rules.
• The game is considered one of the casino games with the best odds of winning. With an optimal playing style, you can enjoy a payout rate of over 99.5% with many real money variants.

Why online blackjack is so popular?

The enormous popularity of Blackjack can be explained very clearly: Blackjack and the game’s rules are very simple. For this reason, scientists and players began to look for ways and methods to obtain better results for this game. It is also worth noting that another reason for the popularity of the game of Blackjack is the relatively small house edge over the player, which gives players high hopes of winning. The popular game was also constant when, in the 1960s, gamers and experts started displaying their strategies in the form of written books and guides. So Edward Fr. Thorp in 1963 wrote a book on counting cards in Blackjack, “Beat the Dealer: a Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-one”. The book became a bestseller, and several casinos changed the game’s rules a bit for this reason.

Blackjack variations

We are aware that we will increasingly handicap the emergence of new types of this table game. Even at the moment, we can already distinguish many interesting variations of the game of Blackjack, each of which has its details and characteristics, so we recommend that you first think about which type of Blackjack game you prefer most by choosing from the following:

European Blackjack

This unique type of Blackjack is very similar to the standard version of this game but differs from the others in one little detail: the player determines his playing odds before the dealer picks up the second card. In this case, the player cannot verify whether the dealer has Blackjack until the dealer’s hand is complete.

Progressive Blackjack

This type of Blackjack is very similar to classic blackjack, but Progressive Blackjack allows players to win larger jackpots. The main prize in such a game usually increases during gameplay.

American Blackjack

In this version, the dealer picks up two cards, one face down and one face up. It is possible to double down on any two cards and split them up to three times.

Hard 17 Blackjack

17 cards can have two different variations: soft 17 and hard 17. The layout of a soft 17 is 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Hard 17 consists of 2, 3, 4, and an ace. With the soft one, we draw cards, and we can even double the bet, and with the hard one, we have to stop drawing cards.

Separating Aces and Eights Blackjack

It is a game of Blackjack that allows you to split the numbers 8 and an ace. It looks like this: when a player is dealt two cards with a value of 8, he can split his two cards into two different hands. As is also divided due to its double value. Players usually choose a value of 1, thus getting 2 points on two different hands.

Spanish 21 Blackjack

Casino players consider Spanish 21 to be one of the best varieties of Blackjack in casinos. During this game, the dealer uses 6 decks. Players can split pairs and continue betting on 2 hands.

Super Fun 21 Blackjack

This type of Blackjack game differs from the others in that the aces can be doubled and each pair can be split into 4 parts. Players also have the option to surrender if the cards have not been doubled to the player’s benefit. A hand with 5 cards totaling 21 points must pay two to one.

Blackjack Common Draw

This version of Blackjack is usually played in a live casino. Its main feature is that players can make very low bets.

Blackjack Double Jack

In this version, we play with four cards. The main goal is to collect 21 points and hit a jack (or two jacks). When a player is dealt a jack for the first time, his winnings can be increased by 50%.

Blackjack Surrender

This version of the game means that the player can reduce his losses by surrendering; the game is over, and the dealer only wins half the stakes, and the player gets the other half.

Blackjack Switch

A player may trade cards between his two hands. It is also possible to place two bets of the same size. The game can be played with 6 or 8 decks.

Blackjack Double Exposure

All cards in this version are dealt face up, thus the player can easily find out about the value of the dealer’s cards. Casinos that accept this type of Blackjack usually reduce their winnings.

Blackjack Pontoon

This game is played with 52 cards. The first player to draw a jack becomes the dealer or banker. Any player with a pontoon (ace or 10-point card) declares it immediately after receiving the second card and places it on the table. The player can buy up to 5 cards that beat everything except the pontoon. The player with the pontoon gets double the payout unless it is part of a split hand. If two or more players have a pontoon, the position takes precedence.

Atlantic City Blackjack

The Atlantic City version of the game is played with 8 decks of cards. It features a surrender option, double-down, and up to 3 splits.

California Blackjack

California Blackjack is the only popular game variant with one joker per deck. The joker counts as 2 or 12 and two jokers win 2:1.

Classic Blackjack

The most common game version is also often played in online casinos. You can always double down and split up to 3 times. There is no surrender option.

Vegas Downtown Blackjack

Played with 2 decks. The dealer hits on a soft 17. Doubling down is always possible, and you can split up to 3 times. Surrender is not available here.

Vegas Strip Blackjack

The most common blackjack variant in Las Vegas is played with 4 decks. There are up to 3 splits, and you can always double down. The dealer stands on all 17s.

In addition to the above versions, there are others that players should be aware of:

RNG Blackjack

Random Number Generator (RNG) is a complex computing device that generates sequences of random numbers, this system is essential for the online gaming industry and especially online gambling. RNGs have been implemented with a specific purpose to ensure complete fairness and unpredictability of the playing formulas, for example with blackjack on the sites it is such that every hand and all values ​​are shown randomly, the RNGs in this online game are designed to ensure that each the blackjack game is played fairly so that each person has an equal chance of winning.

Live Blackjack

Playing with a live dealer, entertainment takes place in real-time via video transmission, which gives the player a feeling of greater reality in the game on mobile devices or laptops.

Mobile Blackjack

Whether you are playing for fun or real money, both versions can be played via mobile blackjack games at your fingertips. You can download the application or visit the casino website on any mobile device and enjoy playing blackjack online.

High-Stakes Blackjack

The rules and gameplay are the same as in standard blackjack, except that the stakes are high. This game option exists for players who want to invest money to change their fate, but this version carries a high risk of failure. At the same time, practice and the right strategies form the basis of this game.

Low-Stakes Blackjack

In most low-stakes blackjack games, you can bet as high as $50 or even $25. Sometimes, you can find even lower stakes, like 50 cents, which is great. This type of blackjack allows players to win money at low stakes, which is already winning.

Differences between blackjack variants

As you can see some blackjack variants are named after their place of origin. For example, there is Atlantic City, Vegas Downtown, Vegas Strip and Spanish 21. In land-based casinos, there is often only one variant. With online blackjack, however, you can gamble on several game types. Here, you will find an overview of the most popular game variants with their special rules:

Online and land-based casinos offer more and more tables where the payout for a blackjack is only 6:5 and not 3:2. If you have several games to choose from, always opt for the 3:2 tables. There you will enjoy better odds thanks to a smaller house edge of the casino.

Blackjack rules

In blackjack, you play against the bank just like all the other players. The many game variants, which can differ in certain details and special rules, always follow certain basic rules.

Blackjack card values

Blackjack game goal

In blackjack, you must try to get your total cards to 21, or at least closer to 21 than the dealer.

Blackjack gameplay

Blackjack playing

Possible moves in blackjack

The next step is to learn about probabilities and different plays. In blackjack, you must make decisions that ultimately affect your chances of winning. Below we explain game actions that are available to you in blackjack.

Blackjack strategies

If you want to play blackjack as successfully as possible, you should always make decisions that give you the best chance of winning. For every possible combination that results from your two cards and the one-up card from the bank, one decision is more likely to lead to success than all alternatives.

In an American study on the psychology of the blackjack game from the 1980s, it was found that the supposedly low house edge of 0.2 to 1.5% is often, in fact, more than 10% due to incorrect decisions by the player. If you avoid these wrong decisions, you have an optimal starting position to secure profits. All in all, error-free play is the best blackjack strategy you can learn to significantly increase your chances of winning the game.

Basic blackjack strategy

The Blackjack Basic Strategy table created by our experts can help you avoid these common mistakes. Here, you can read the best decision for each possible combination of cards. Following this guide will teach you how to play as effectively as possible and maybe even take home some decent winnings.

Extensive research by expert Julian Braun in the early 1960s proved that this strategy works. The results of his experiment served as the basis for creating a basic strategy chart for the blackjack game.

• Dealer strategy, i.e. copying the dealer’s tactics. The player can draw cards up to the limit of 17 points and stop there when this limit is reached (do not draw any more cards). Therefore, it minimizes the risk of exceeding 21 and losing the entire round. The house edge will be 5.48% for such a strategy that can be mathematically calculated.
• “Never bust” strategy, in which the player stops drawing cards when his hand reaches 11 points. In this case, the house edge will be 3.91%.

We’ve discovered the tools for playing Blackjack, so it’s time to learn how to use these tools to play the game perfectly. Since then, when blackjack only started appearing in land-based casinos and later in online casinos, a long time has passed, during which some people wanted to have fun and explore the game. In 1953, the so-called guide for players who play Blackjack was published. This guide, written by Roger Baldwin, set out the basic Blackjack strategies that are known to date.

A lot of interesting literature was written about card counting in Blackjack, and players immediately started testing it all. Roger Baldwin started waves of interest in blackjack, and later, these missions were picked up by Edward Thorpe, who used the strategy of counting discarded cards. The early 1990s became peculiar to Blackjack in that the card counting method was moved to a higher, more professional way by the Massachusetts University of Technology student team. The casinos’ reaction to student success was lightning-fast, resulting in an increase in the number of decks at Blackjack.

After such a brief introduction, we go directly to the main developed strategies that players worldwide now use. The basic strategy of the game of Blackjack should be considered one developed by Julian Braun in the 1960s. Such a basic tactic is card counting and is based on a specific table in which some symbols are translated like this:

• S (Stand) – it’s not worth drawing a card.
• H (Hit) – draw a card.
• D (Double) – double the stake.
• P (Split) – cards should be split.
• DS (Double or Stand) – double the stake; if you fail, do not make any moves.
• DH (Double or Hit) – you should double your stake; if you fail, it is worth drawing a card.

This strategy is a good start for new players learning to play Blackjack. Experienced players can also use other methods and strategies developed and tested by real experts.

Card counting strategy

The next method is card counting. We will track which cards have been removed from the deck and which are left there. The player must keep track of the game and watch the high and low cards. This is a system known as High-Low or Hi-Lo. It is this system that is described in Edward Thorp’s book. You can follow only Queens or only Jacks and Aces. These cards together must form Blackjack. In this case, we have to add value to the cards:

• 2,3,4,5,6 have a value of +1;
• 7,8,9 have the value 0;
• 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace have a value of -1.

Games assign an additional value to the card, we will get the current value. When it is higher than zero, we have more high cards to deal with; when it is lower than zero, we have to turn. To get the true value (the average position of high and low cards), divide the received current value by the number of decks left to hand. So here’s a comparative table that explains what the advantage of the casino over the player is based on the true value:

Martingale strategy

Another Martingale system is to double each losing bet to obtain earlier losses. This system is a very good solution for High Roller players.

Oskar Grind’s strategy

Oskar Grind’s system consists of the smallest bets that must be increased only if we have picked up a win. We also want to show you the chances of a break for each player’s hand. It looks like this:

Thanks to this table, each player can understand faster when he has to refrain from drawing cards. We believe that a player with a hand with a value of 2 to 16 must use Hit to draw another card.

Betting and winning

As in every casino game, we have limits in blackjack. When looking for a table, always choose one that offers the minimum bet that suits your budget. The normal game mode should be at the level of 1% of our financial resources. This means that with $100, the minimum bet that is right for us will be 1. Each winning hand is a payout of 1: 1 or 3: 2. To get out of a casino with a blackjack win you need luck and time.

Play blackjack online

There is a minimum stake limit in Blackjack. And that’s good news because we operate in a specific, imposed range. However, please note that the limits between individual casinos and the tables at the same casino may vary.

In the online version, we can play Blackjack Switch, which adds several amenities to the game. The general rules are very similar, but the player plays two hands. An additional attraction of such a game is the ability to exchange cards between fields so that they better fit the layout.

Players opting for the online version also gain more bet types and additional features not found in classic land-based casinos. One of them is, for example, the game’s speed regulated by the player or bonuses and loyalty programs for regular visitors to online casinos. The online blackjack interface is intuitive and natural; it does not cause problems for anyone who knows even the game’s basic rules.

For fans of playing live, there is a version of Blackjack Live with a real dealer. In this case, however, you must be even more careful than usual to ensure the casino is fair and not cheating. How to do it? The popularity of the casino says a lot; if it is known and recommended, it is most likely trustworthy. Players spot cheating at the casino quickly and tell each other what places to avoid.

Online blackjack: free or real money?

The game of blackjack has spread rapidly, even on the Internet. When we look at the gambling set at the best online casinos, we will see a list of different Blackjack titles and variations. In addition, every game is available when we make a deposit, and we can also play Blackjack for free first. Everything is possible in online casinos. Novices can try their skills in the demo version on our website. Especially for them, we have prepared a ranking of the top 10 of the best Blackjack games on the Internet. Both Cash Blackjack and Free Blackjack have many benefits. We have gathered the most important ones here:

Best online blackjack games

Online blackjack comes in many different forms. Our experts checked a few of them and presented the popular versions of this card game in the table below. Of course, these are just a few games from thousands of items on our website or online casinos.

Most effective ways to win online blackjack

Of course, just like any gambling game, winning online blackjack also takes a bit of luck. However, there is a fundamental difference here – card games allow you to use a variety of tactics and methods that can increase your chances of winning. What are the most effective methods of winning this game?

• Play double on card 11. If you hit a good combination, 11, you have a good chance of winning. In such a situation, it is worth doubling your stake.
• Don’t separate fives and tens. If you hit these cards, we recommend leaving them and not separating them. In the case of other couples, you can change them.
• Split Aces. If you hit two aces in online blackjack, split them.
• If the dealer draws 10, keep as close as possible to the card value of 16. There is a good chance the dealer will draw too high a card value.
• Double your stake when the dealer draws 5 or 6. This tactic will work especially well when you have a higher combination of cards, such as 7 or 8.

Essential blackjack concepts you should know

• Hit: In Blackjack, you start the game with two cards. If you “hit,” you ask the dealer to deal you one more card to improve the hand you received at the start of the game.
• Stand: A player’s decision not to draw more cards, either because they believe their hand is sufficient to win or because the risk of exceeding 21 is too great. Typically, the dealer must stand with 16 or more.
• Bust: When players or dealers score more than 21 points, they have “busted.” It means the end of the game for them. If the dealer busts, all remaining players win.
• Split: Dividing the starting hand into two separate hands when the initial two cards are of the same value. For example, if you receive two tens, you can split them into two hands, each with a bet equal to the initial bet. Cards are then drawn separately for each hand.
• Double: Players can “double down” or double their original bet when they receive a favorable starting hand. In this case, only one additional card is dealt.
• Push (Tie): This occurs at the end of the game when the dealer and the player have hands of the same value. In a tie, the bet is returned to the player. There are no winners or losers.
• Face Cards: Cards in the deck that represent the King (K), Queen (Q), and Jack (J), each worth 10 points.
• Hard 17 (Hard Hand or Hard Total): A hand including an ace counted as 1 point because counting it as 11 would cause the total to exceed 21.
• Soft 17 (Soft Hand or Soft Total): A hand where the dealer has 17 points, including an ace counted as 11. This ace is “soft” because its value can change.
• Insurance: An additional bet is offered when the dealer’s upcard is an ace. This bet protects against the dealer drawing a natural blackjack. The cost of insurance is 50% of the initial bet. If the dealer gets a blackjack, the insurance pays out at 2:1.
• Surrender: A player may surrender if they believe their hand is unlikely to win. This option is available after receiving the first two cards and before further action (Hit, Stand, Split, or Double). Surrendering ends the game for that player, and they lose half of their stake.
• Pairs: While you can split any pair, it is not always in your interest to do so. Splitting should be considered based on the specific value of the cards and the dealer’s upcard.
• Dealer’s Hole Card: This card is dealt face down to the dealer. In some versions of Blackjack, such as American Blackjack, the dealer receives their hole card before players make their decisions.
• Deck Penetration: Refers to the percentage of the cards that are dealt from the shoe before it is reshuffled. Higher penetration is generally favorable for players using card-counting strategies.
• Early Surrender: This option allows players to surrender half their bet before the dealer checks for Blackjack. It is not available in all versions of Blackjack but can be advantageous if used correctly.
• Late Surrender: Unlike early surrender, late surrender is allowed only after the dealer checks for Blackjack (if the dealer’s upcard is an Ace or ten-value card). This option is also not always available and depends on the house rules.
• Upcard: The dealer’s first dealt card was placed face up. The value of this card is a significant factor in players’ strategy decisions.
• Natural: Often referred to simply as a “Blackjack,” this is the best hand in the game. It consists of an Ace and a ten-value card dealt as the first two cards to a player or dealer. This hand pays out at 3:2 in most casinos, rather than even money for other wins.
• Shoe: The device that holds multiple decks of cards, typically used in Blackjack to minimize shuffling and speed up play.
• Soft Total vs. Hard Total: A “soft” total includes an Ace that currently counts as 11 points without busting the hand. A “hard” total is one where the Ace can only be counted as 1 without busting or where no Ace is involved. Understanding whether a hand is soft or hard is crucial for decision-making in Blackjack.
• Card Counting: A strategy some advanced players use to keep track of the number of high and low cards remaining in the shoe. This can influence their bets and playing strategies. Card counting is legal but frowned upon by casinos.
• Hit Soft 17: A rule where the dealer must hit on a soft 17. This slightly increases the house edge compared to the dealer standing on all 17s.

Final thoughts on online blackjack

This article presented our readers with the most important information about playing Blackjack in online casinos. As we can see, there is still a lot to check and test ahead of us, and we often have to try new methods. Also, software providers are increasingly developing new and exciting live and online blackjack games distinguished by intriguing graphics and great payout opportunities. We hope that the information we have written will be useful to everyone in the future.