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Playing Real Money Blackjack Online and Beating the House

Blackjack has a very special place among all casino games as it’s not purely a game of luck but also a game of skill. Adopting the perfect strategy for the blackjack game you’re playing might secure you the lowest possible house edge but adopting a few other tricks might actually tip the scales in your favour. But before we even go there, you have to know the rules of the game and the impact that they have on it inside out. And step number one is to pick one of the best online blackjack sites so that you can start testing the game in practice mode in order to prepare yourself to play for real money. Here are the top three recommended websites where you can do that:

We’ve chosen these sites because they have great selections of different blackjack games, generous welcome offers and exciting promotions. If you go about it cleverly, you can not only enjoy your favourite game without spending too much, but also end up winning some real cash. But in order to do so, you’ll first have to know the games inside out.

Rich Variety of Blackjack Games

We might have given you only three suggestions for great online casinos to play real money blackjack, but the fact to the matter is that between these three operators there are over 50 different blackjack variations.

The difference between some of the above-mentioned games is not always substantial but rather visual. For instance, the regular blackjack games by Microgaming and the ones labelled ‘Gold Series’ differ only when it comes to how they look. On the other hand, there are many games that have quite the different rules and, consequently, quite the different house edges. Still, the core rules of the games are pretty much the same and those are exactly what we’ll examine next.

Basic Blackjack Rules

All blackjack games are played with one to eight standard decks of 52 cards, one dealer and up to seven players per table. The game starts after all the players and the croupier have placed their bets and received their hands, consisting of two cards. All the players’ cards are face up while one of the dealer’s cards is face down. All cards have a value equal to their natural number, face cards have a value of 10 and aces are valued as 1 or 11, whichever is best for the hand. Your goal is to have a higher hand value than the dealer without going over 21 points which in blackjack is called ‘busting’. The best possible hand that you can have is an ace and a ten-valued card. This hand is called blackjack and it pays 2:1 as opposed to all the other bets which pay 1:1.

First, it’s the players’ turn, starting from the one that is at the rightmost. There are several actions that the players can choose from, the most basic ones being to hit or stand. Hitting in blackjack means asking for another card and standing – taking no more cards and giving the turn over to the next in line. Then, if certain conditions are met, usually if your initial hand totals 9, 10 or 11, you can also double your bet and receive one more card. If your hand consists of two equally valued cards, then you can also split them into two separate hands. And, finally, if you think that the dealers might have a blackjack, you can also take insurance which is an additional bet that pays 2:1 if the dealer, in fact, has a blackjack.

Blackjack Game Options – Player’s Turn

After the players have taken their decisions and accepted their hands, it’s the dealers’ turn. Unlike the players, the dealer doesn’t have the option to choose between certain actions. They have to act on specific rules. They have to hit up until their hand totals at least 17 and they cannot double or split their hands.

So these are pretty much the basic rules of the game. If you find them confusing or hard to understand, simply open one blackjack game in practice mode and I’m sure you’ll be on top of things within 15 minutes. And now to the more advanced stuff.

Blackjack Rule Variations and House Edge

In the previous paragraph, we took a closer look at the core rules of the game of blackjack. Now it’s time to examine the little adjustable rules that make one blackjack game different in comparison to another.

First of all, let’s take for example the number of decks. If we consider a standard game to be one which is played with only one deck of cards, then a 2-deck game has a house edge bigger with 0.31%, a 4-deck game would have an increase of the casino advantage of 0.48% and an 8-deck game would have a house edge increase of 0.57%.

Another rule that might differ from game to game is when you can double. As we already said, most online blackjack variations allow you to double only if your initial hand totals a score of 9, 10 or 11, but, in fact, according to what is considered to be a standard blackjack variation, you should be able to double on any two cards. So, in fact, being able to double only on 9-11 increase the house edge by 0.09%. If you’re not allowed to double at all, then the house edge grows with the whooping 1.48% If, on the other hand, you are allowed to double not only on your first two cards, then the house edge decreases with 0.23% which in these circumstances is not at all a small number. On top of that, if you are allowed to double after splitting aces, you secure yourself further 0.14% on top of the return-to-player percentage.

How Blackjack Rules Variations Affect the House Edge

Another interesting blackjack rule variation is whether or not you can hit after splitting aces, as in most blackjack variations in such cases each ace gets only one additional card. If you’re allowed to ask for an additional card, then the house advantage drops by 0.19%.

Something else that greatly affects the house edge is the set of rules for the dealer. Usually, the dealer has to stand on any hand totalling 17 or more points, including a soft 17 (i.e. a 17 made of an ace and a six which can be also counted as 7). If they are allowed to draw on soft 17, though, then the house edge increases with 0.22%. But the worst rule of all is if a dealer’s 22 is a push and not a bust. If this rule is valid the house edge increases with the unbelievable 6.91%.

Another rule that has a huge impact on the RTP is how much a blackjack pays. As we already mentioned, a blackjack usually pays 3:2, but there are games where this rule isn’t valid. In a game which pays 1:1 for a blackjack, the casino’s advantage grows with 2.26%. If on the other hand, it pays 2:1, then the 2.26% become an advantage for the player. There are also games in which a blackjack pays 6:5 where the house edge grows with 1.39%. There are many other examples for such little changes that can impact the house advantage, but the ones that we covered here are definitely the ones that are encountered the most.

Side Bets and Bet Behind

Except for the standard betting options that you have in blackjack, i.e. betting on your hand and on insurance, there might be additional betting opportunities that the game features called side bets. There’s a wide variety of side bets available in online blackjack games, but the most popular ones are the following three:

Another special option that some games offer is to bet behind. To bet behind means to bet on another player’s hand and accept his decisions as yours. If he wins – you win, if he doesn’t – well, say goodbye to your wager. This is an especially handy option if you notice that there’s a pretty good player at the table.

Software Developers, Options and Settings

Something else that might make a blackjack game different in comparison to the others is the interface of the game software and also the settings of the game. For example, one game might allow you to play with more than one hand at a time while the other might be a single-hand version. Some games allow you to personalise them by changing the colour of the table or the speed of the card dealing. You can also enable/disable the dealer’s voice or the background music. These options, of course, don’t impact the results of the hands in any way, but can render your experience a little bit more pleasant, so it might be worth it to play around with them a little bit before starting the game in real money mode.

Live Dealer Tables

Something that many players miss when they play RNG games is the experience of playing in the company of a real dealer and also with other players. For those of you who relate to that, there are the live dealer online casinos where you can play roulette, baccarat, Casino Hold’em and, of course, blackjack with professional croupiers via video stream. All three of our top recommended casinos offer live dealer blackjack but are powered by different live gaming providers: 888 offers the live games of Evolution Gaming and Betway is powered by Microgaming.

Something else that is really nice about playing live dealer blackjack as opposed to RNG games is that there you can use some strategies that aren’t applicable otherwise. Also, you can take advantage of the bet behind options – something that can hardly be found in computer-generated games. Of course, it’s not all good – naturally, live gaming is considerably slower as there’s a real croupier dealing the cards as opposed to a computer software and also because there are other players who you have to wait to make their moves. Other than that, there are only positives to playing at the live dealer casinos.

Mobile Friendly Blackjack

888 Casino's Mobile Blackjack Games - QR CodeOne of the best things about playing blackjack online is the fact that you can take the experience of enjoying your favourite game anywhere you go, thanks to the handy mobile casino apps that the operators provide. In fact, all reputable online casinos on the market today offer mobile applications which are compatible with the most popular and widely used portable devices – iPhones, iPads, Android smartphones and Android tablets. Unfortunately, Blackberry and Windows Phone users are not well supported as the market share of these devices is quite small and very few operators optimise their platforms for them. Still, if you’re an Android or an iOS user you will be able to enjoy a nice selection of blackjack games anywhere you go, including live dealer games, thanks to the state-of-the-art live-dealer apps that the top casino software providers have developed.

Strategies and Tips

All blackjack variations are designed in such way so that even if you play with a perfect strategy, the casino will have a slight advantage. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t play with a perfect strategy, though, and you can do that by finding a strategy chart for the specific game variation you’re playing – you can find it by googling the name of the game and ‘strategy chart’ in Google or in the ‘help’ section of the game. Still, this is only the first step to securing yourself the best possible results, as this way, you’ll reduce the house edge to the mere 0.15%-0.30%, but won’t eliminate it altogether.

The next step for many players would be to incorporate some progressive betting system with the basic strategy, but the fact to the matter is that these systems are way to risky and might cost you your whole bankroll. A much better strategy is to take advantage of the many bonus opportunities that online casinos offer and, this way, play with cash that isn’t yours per se, but might bring you winnings. Of course, you should always take into account that these bonus offers have certain wagering requirements and that blackjack usually contributes to them at a rate of only 5% or 10%. Still, if you choose the right one, you might just find yourself ahead of the game. Need some help finding a suitable offer? You’ll surely find the next section of this review quite helpful.

Last, but not least, if you want to increase your chances even further, you can also incorporate card counting into your gameplay, but note that this strategy is applicable only to the live games as in the RNG ones the deck is virtually shuffled after each hand.

Recommended Offer for British Players

As you may have noticed, the online gambling market in the UK is overflooded with hundreds of operators, each of them offering a juicy welcome bonus with the mere scope to lure you into becoming their customer. Not that you cannot take advantage of every single offer that you stumble upon, but if you want to go with the best, then I recommend you pick 888. There, you will not only enjoy a nice selection of blackjack games which you can play also on the go, but you will be welcomed with an £88 FreePlay bonus which you can claim with a simple registration followed by an email confirmation. Sounds good enough for you? Click on the ‘Get Bonus’ button below and start your blackjack journey right away!

Something else that is nice to know about the bonuses of 888 Casino is that they have pretty nice wagering conditions. Therefore, even if the first-deposit bonus is not among the biggest ones (the maximum is set at £100), it’s still very convenient for the player to claim it as it is really easy to release, given the fact that you have to playthrough its amount only 30 times in the span of 90 days. If you plan on spending these bonuses on blackjack, though, you should take into consideration that this category of games contributes only 10% toward the wagering requirement which is a pretty standard practice at online casinos, since blackjack offers very low house edge and low-risk bets to the players.

Play Online vs. IRL

I think that it’s more than obvious that playing real money blackjack online holds no disadvantages compared to playing in real life. The odds of winning are the same, if not better. Then there’s the fact that if you miss the real casino action you can always play with a real dealer. Also, you can use all the strategies that you know about the game, including strategy charts and card counting. Last but not least, online casinos are way more generous when it comes to bonuses compared to land-based casinos which further increase your chances to end up ahead of the game.