An Introduction To Blackjack

Before we get to discussing blackjack strategy, it would be prudent to give a brief introduction to the game itself. Blackjack, also called 21, is one of the most popular games at casinos, both traditional as well as online. The game is not just purely about luck; you need to have some basic skill and a utilitarian grasp at least of math to be able to win.

Winning at blackjack, or rather ensuring that you do not lose too frequently is possible with proper knowledge of blackjack strategy. Knowing the different strategies is important as they help you to come up with ways of beating the house advantage. How does it achieve this? A blackjack policy that works helps lower the advantage that the casino enjoys over its players. In some cases the house advantage falls drastically, plunging to a measly 1% from 7-8%.

With this brief introduction to the game, we are now ready to discuss and learn about blackjack strategy.

An Introduction To Blackjack Strategy

As mentioned earlier, strategy plays a crucial role in determining your fate at blackjack. Lack of knowledge about strategies in blackjack is one of the surest ways of ending up losing more than you win. There are a few different strategies you can adopt while playing blackjack. These are:

• Blackjack basic strategy
• Card counting
• Tournament strategy
• Strategy based on composition
• The strategy that uses techniques like shuffle tracking

Basic Blackjack Strategy

Basic blackjack strategy is what you need to learn first before you go on to pick up any other strategies or techniques, as the name speaks for itself. This strategy involves math in the form of values and systems in a chart that gives you, based on probability, the different play options available for each blackjack scenario. You have a basic strategy for both single and multiple deck blackjack.

To put basic blackjack strategy into practice you should know how to use the basic strategy charts. These are easily available charts and many casinos allow you to consult them during play. The chart itself is simple in terms of representation – the left vertical column is your hand and the top horizontal one is the dealers. All you need is to map the two values for each hand to get an accurate idea of how to handle a hand correctly.

The basic blackjack strategy tells you the different actions to take during a game. These actions are represented as abbreviated terms in the strategy charts. H stands for ‘hit’, S means ‘stand’, D stands for ‘double if allowed, else hit’, while the expansion for Ds is slightly different and refers to ‘double if allowed, else stand.’ The abbreviation P stands for ‘split’, H/P stands for ‘split if you can double after split, else hit’, H/R stands for ‘surrender if possible, else hit’, P/R stands for ‘surrender if allowed, else split’, and S/R stands for ‘surrender if allowed, else stand.’

To use a basic blackjack strategy, you need to know it thoroughly so you do not have to keep referring to it each time, as that is amateurish and, more importantly, can be a distraction.

Baccarat is a game that requires very little knowledge on the part of the player, which makes it highly attractive; however, the simplicity in the play of the game leaves little for a strategy to work with in terms of creating a reality where you can manipulate a positive outcome. Thus when it comes to Baccarat strategy there are certainly some guidelines that should be followed but in terms of a comprehensive baccarat strategy, you will not find one.

Understanding The Odds

Of course, as with any game, knowing the game is an essential part of winning the game, and with baccarat, the most important element of the game to know is what bets win what. As you know, there are 3 options for bets in a baccarat game, betting with the bank, betting with the player, and betting on a tie. The odds for the banker and the dealer are very close, however, the house advantage on the banker bet is usually around .2 % better than the house advantage on the player bet, thus the bank bet is usually the best way to go. Where the big difference comes however is between the bank or player bet and the tie bet. The tie bet in baccarat is notoriously one of the worst bets you can make in the whole of the gambling world. Whilst you can win a 9:1 payout on a tie win, the house advantage on that bet is a whopping, 14%-15%. Thus, for a basic baccarat strategy; never bet on the tie, sometimes bet on the player, and often bet on the bank. If you follow this general rule, you will be able to take advantage of some of the best odds offered by any gambling game in existence.

Baccarat Set Up

Another area in which knowing the game is very important is in the area of the game setup. Baccarat can come in several different forms, and knowing what to look for can help you win. The two most important things to look for vis-à-vis the game setup are the number of decks in use, and the commission taken by the casino. In both of these cases the lower the number the better, especially when implementing any baccarat strategy. For the most part, you won’t find a casino that takes less than 4% commission, but if you can find one that takes between 5% and 4% this is a good place to play. Furthermore, a 6 deck game will usually be better than a higher deck number game, and thus especially as a beginner, this type of game should be opted for.

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